Those who have been part of the Newfrontiers Family for many years will be familiar with Project Gateway. From a recent email I have received I have learned that they are still very active in South Africa, and in this crisis they are regularly providing food to needy families including Child Headed Households, typically where parents and grandparents have died from HIV/Aids, as shown on their website.
The wider scene
But Project Gateway and their response to the crisis is just one of countless initiatives to meet a need at this time. It is clear that the next few weeks will be very challenging for millions of people in the majority (developing) world. Personally I have on-going contact with Burundi, Guinea, Kenya and India to name a few; in all of these there are huge challenges. While we in more developed nations think about ‘exit strategies’ those in other nations have only just begun to feel the effects of Covid-19, and it is clear that they are going to be far less able to cope than we are.
But Project Gateway and their response to the crisis is just one of countless initiatives to meet a need at this time. It is clear that the next few weeks will be very challenging for millions of people in the majority (developing) world. Personally I have on-going contact with Burundi, Guinea, Kenya and India to name a few; in all of these there are huge challenges. While we in more developed nations think about ‘exit strategies’ those in other nations have only just begun to feel the effects of Covid-19, and it is clear that they are going to be far less able to cope than we are.
It is likely that there will be a widespread shortage of food and that there will be extreme health challenges for which these nations are not equipped. Normally in such crises there is a generous outpouring of giving towards alleviating the problem and many of the Newfrontiers churches on the ground are magnificent in distributing practical and emotional/spiritual help. I fear this time it may be different. In the west we are now so caught up in the challenges none of us have had to cope with previously that we feel we have little capacity to reach out to others in much greater need. And yet this is exactly the time when it is good to look outside our own situations.
A request and a challenge
Could I ask you to consider whether and in what way you could help? All of the Newfrontiers apostolic spheres have close relationships with churches in these nations. How about asking your church leader if there is just one such nation you could identify with and become a donor? But how can you afford to? In these times of lockdown many people are travelling less so maybe you have saved on travel costs. Or perhaps you were planning to attend one of the Bible Weekends so now will you save on fees and expenses.
I am aware that for many of these apostolic spheres there is a loss of offerings from such events which will have a deep impact on their plans for the coming year. I am certainly not advocating any redirection of giving if there is opportunity for you to give to one of these spheres or your local church. But I just want to nudge you if you are not already involved in such an offering. Do you feel you can give to one of the many situations that churches/people in the Newfrontiers family are facing?
I often return to the famous passage in 2 Cor 8 where Paul exhorts the churches in Achaia (southern Greece) to give and quotes the testimony of the churches in Macedonia (in the north):
“And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people.”
Recently Phil Moore (Everyday Church, Wimbledon) spoke on this subject from Acts 4 in his ‘thought for the day’. Well worth listening to. Click on the photo
