Throughout the last two millennia Christians have been seeking to show the love and compassion of Jesus through acts of mercy to those who are Poor and disadvantaged, and have been seeking to help people fulfil the potential God has invested in them.
Newfrontiers is a family of churches, led by Terry Virgo, who have sought to take seriously Jesus’ mandate to take good news to the Poor and to set them free from the bondage of their circumstances and economic poverty. As a family of churches we launched a Task Team a few years ago to study the Bible for a greater understanding of God’s heart and to develop Good Practice in how we seek to reach out to people who are disadvantaged in the most effective and acceptable ways. The ultimate purpose is to help churches embrace the poor and their circumstances more effectively and see them participate fully in God’s mission in our generation.
Recently this Team met in the UK to review 3 years’ work and to develop a strategy for the way forward. From time to time I will be sharing some of our understanding and also point you to literature and other materials to help you.
The Team included people from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, India and the UK. The Leader is Steve Oliver who is based in Clarens, on the South Africa/Lesotho border. His church, Dihlabeng Christian Church, is exemplary in their active ministry with the poor. They have ministries among those with HIV, with the elderly, they run a school and also have a ministry to the rural poor to teach them to farm using the Foundations for Farming programme developed in Zimbabwe.
Steve kindly agreed to give me an interview. Watch it and catch his heart!
Interview with Steve Oliver 090703 from Newfrontiers on Vimeo.