When disaster strikes, Southern Baptists are renowned for their efforts to meet immediate needs of those suffering. That capability, though, flows from decades of cooperative partnership that has established the network necessary for such compassion ministry.
On this Send Relief Sunday, August 2, Southern Baptist churches are encouraged to lean into that network to incorporate compassion into their evangelistic efforts. The North American Mission Board (NAMB) and the International Mission Board (IMB) linked arms six years ago to make Send Relief the global humanitarian and community ministry for Southern Baptists.
Whether it’s earthquakes in Venezuela or hurricanes slamming the U.S. Gulf Coast, the ability to respond to crisis is the result of relationships built over time.
“The IMB helped start the Venezuelan Baptist Convention,” IMB president Paul Chitwood said as a part of his visit in the aftermath of the June 24 earthquakes that have claimed the lives of more than 5,000 people. “Now there’s over 700 of those churches here. Working alongside them, we’re bringing a very practical response to the needs that are here: clean water, meals, emergency shelters and, most importantly, the hope of the Gospel.”
Those church partnerships meant that when the destruction destroyed buildings, killed thousands, and took everything from survivors, there were people ready to step into the gap and meet both the immediate physical need and the deeper spiritual need felt by survivors.
Such was the case for one man who lost his wife, children, and his home to the quakes. He gave his life to Christ after visiting the church of those who came alongside him to offer help. Now, he’s serving other survivors just as he was served.
Natural disasters and other crises generate a host of immediate needs, but every community faces challenges that leave people in desperate material lack, which often creates barriers that keep them from hearing the Gospel.
“So many people will struggle to hear the Gospel while they’re struggling to find where their next meal is coming from,” said Josh Benton, Send Relief vice president for national ministry. “That’s why we aim to equip churches to create sustainable, Gospel-centered compassion ministries through our resources and through trips to Send Relief Ministry Centers that provide hands-on experience from practitioners.”
One regular initiative Send Relief implements is Backpack Day as hundreds of churches distribute tens of thousands of backpacks filled with resources for those in need. Those resources catalyze ministry, whether to children preparing to start school, those stuck in poverty or victimized through human trafficking.
While compassion generates opportunities locally, it also fuels ministry around the world.
“There are parts of the world where the primary, if not the only, entrance to being able to share the Gospel is through showing compassion to the poor and the vulnerable,” said Jason Cox, Send Relief’s vice president for international ministry. “Bringing tangible aid opens doors for Gospel ministry.”
Visit SendRelief.org learn more about the work of Send Relief and how individuals and churches can engage in compassion ministry.
