Body Ministry to our Neighbours
Then He said to them: ‘’The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into His harvest.
Go your way; behold, I send you as lambs among wolves.’’ (Luke 10: 2 & 3)
The basic command, to pray and reach out to the lost, is relevant today as it was when first given by the Lord Jesus Christ to His disciples. Prior to this utterance to the 70 disciples, the Lord Jesus had given His Core Team of 12 disciples power over demonic forces in their first evangelistic mission, to preach the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick. (Luke 9: 1 & 2)
But the job could not be done by the Core Team alone, hence the need to send the 70, representing the whole Body to accomplish the task. This is the pattern set for the Church today, and I believe the main task for Pray Haringey Elders to undertake.
We thank God for giving us breakthroughs in relational unity among the Elders of the Church in Haringey. But to impact the whole borough and beyond, we need the whole Church to be functional in reaching out in the neighbourhoods.
To effectively reach out to our neighbours, we need to revisit the strategic process the Lord has given us in Luke 10: 5-9 where we interact with our neighbours on a regular basis:
Bless the neighbours in your block / street by speaking peace to them every day;
Visit and share fellowship with them at the opportune time;
Pray for their felt needs, including healing of the sick;
Ultimately, introduce to them the Kingdom of God (which makes the whole process meaningful).
Personally, I have seen how the spiritual atmosphere in Haringey has changed over the years for effective evangelism. This definitely was not the case, in the mid eighties when I came to live in Tottenham, before the birth of Pray Haringey.
The combination of joint prayers, including prayer walks and watch-nights, and outreach to the civil authorities have contributed immensely in creating the positive spiritual climate. What needs doing now is to mobilise the whole Body of Christ to represent the Lord of the harvest in the neighbourhoods of Haringey.
May the Good Lord who initiated the process see us through to the end!
Pastor Robert is the Pastor of Temple Refuge in Haringey
