Perspective - Summer 2006
Salt Shakers for a Hurting World
by Jim Murray - CMI Executive Director
They are so young. That thought ran
through my mind again and again as I visited the
street children’s ministry of the El Batán Church in
Quito, Ecuador. Of the many children at the center,
the majority ranged from 5-10 years of age. Some
were even younger.
My youngest grandchildren are the
same age as many of these kids and it is disturbing
to think that children so young might be living
alone on the streets of a major city.
The shock of this experience was
another in a long list that I have encountered in my
many years of travel and ministry in Latin America.
We have poverty in our country, but it cannot
compare to the social and humanitarian epidemics
that plague the major cities of Latin America.
Sociologists and humanitarian
workers can identify a litany of causes that lead to
poverty and injustice, but the core issues that
impact life and human dignity are spiritual ones.
For this reason, addressing the soul-sickness of a
nation is an essential part of healing its physical
wounds. The presence of strong, dynamic churches is
vital to giving Christian truth and Christian care a
credible voice in society.
As such, we at CMI rejoice that God
has called us to help raise up churches in Latin
America like El Batán. These are not ordinary
churches. They are churches penetrating all social
classes with the gospel. They are churches equipped
with leaders and resources to tackle the serious
social and spiritual epidemics that plague their
nations. They are churches that have the credibility
to not only prick the moral conscience of their
nations, but practically demonstrate the love of
Christ to all people – from those in power to the
“least of these.”
This is what the Church of Jesus
Christ has always done wherever it advances.
Christ called for his people to be
salt in the world. Dynamic, Spirit empowered
churches are the salt shakers.
As I think again of those little
children in Batán’s outreach, I am filled with
concern for them. But I am also hopeful that our
efforts are not misplaced. Our labors to grow and
multiply churches throughout Latin America equip the
most powerful force of social and spiritual change
the world has ever known.
EQ Summer 2006
Issue Main Page
|
