This sponsored post is provided by Caring for Life—a ministry that takes the Gospel to those who live on the margins of society and who struggle to cope in a cruel and unloving world. They seek to rescue damaged and vulnerable men and women, many who have been homeless or suffered abuse. They seek to rebuild these broken lives through love and practical care and most importantly, seek to see people in relationship with a God who loves them through faith in Jesus Christ.
To see how the lives of so many are being transformed by Jesus’ love, to see their ministry in person, and to maybe partner with them, click here!
“Whatever you did for one of the least of these you did for me” (Matthew 25:41)
The ministry of Caring For Life was founded in the mid-1980s in Leeds, England, by Reformed Baptist Pastor, Peter Parkinson, because the seats of his church were being filled with a growing number of young people, some who had left the childcare system and others who were homeless and vulnerable, but all were struggling to cope in a society that cared little about their practical or emotional needs.
Many of those souls had suffered sexual or physical abuse, and the traumas they faced were debilitating and often led to chaotic lifestyles leading to crime, addictions, homelessness, neglect, and poor mental health.
To tell these people “Jesus loves you” would be true, but it would not have meant half as much if it hadn’t been accompanied with a compassion that was inspired by Jesus. They needed the Gospel both in word and deed.
Caring For Life grew out of that need and to this day, continues to share the love and gospel of Jesus with the least of these brothers and sisters of ours, and still seeks to meet the spiritual, as well as the practical and emotional needs of the vulnerable and the hurting.
The love and help offered extends across the City of Leeds and is broad-reaching. We offer housing support, budgeting, and benefits advice, provide food parcels and healthy meals, and take people to medical appointments, to name a few.
We also offer daytime activities on our farm, working with Animals and nature through to things like, Art and Catering and we also host a range of Bible studies introducing people to the Lord.
Practical care
Practical care opens the way to build relationships and it’s a wonderful way to show people that you genuinely care. In the scriptures, the Lord commands us to care about the practical needs of people as found in Matthew 25 and Isaiah 58.
By caring for both body and soul, people begin to take us, and our faith more seriously and inevitably questions follow. They may be incredibly painful and hard to answer, but at least the practical care has given us a platform to introduce people to the kindest and the most loving person who has ever lived, the Lord Jesus.
Never underestimate the effect practical care has when sharing our lives and love with people. Time is also a crucial factor when ministering to the broken and the hurting, because it’s through time and commitment that real friendships are gained, and wonderfully, trust is won.
Personal Love
Meeting people where they are at and respecting them as a person made in the image of God no matter what issues they may be struggling with, or how those things may be affecting them, is so important.
Jesus masterfully interacted with people from every spectrum of society. Whether it was a haughty Pharisee or a trapped prostitute, the Saviour wisely, caringly and always appropriately, responded offering truth and hope.
When we meet the vulnerable or chaotic and are moved to do something, we pray for wisdom. We also pray to see them as Jesus did, to see the person and not the problem; these are important things for us at Caring For Life and central to the way we offer care and love.
Whilst the Gospel never changes or bends, we find ways to meet a broken world with the love of Christ. We adapt to the person’s needs so they find purpose and hope in a hopeless world, and so they would ultimately find Him.
One man said, “Caring For Life means the world to me because they gave me a home and also introduced me to Jesus”
Psalm 41 v 1 Blessed are those who consider the weak; Spurgeon, in his Cheque book of faith wrote on that Psalm, “The poor you shall always have with you, let them weigh heavy on your hearts, and devise plans to meet their needs”
Personal love devises plans to seek out and care for the whole person.
Power in the Gospel
“You see, we have a world to win, and here is the bottom line. You and I who are Christians, have the answers to the problems and needs of the people of this world. We have something to give that nobody else has to give” Peter Parkinson. Sept 2000.
When you blend practical care with personal love, and when it’s done in the name of Jesus and for His glory with the hope souls are won, powerful things happen, lives are changed, hearts are softened, traumas are tempered and eyes lifted above the pain and the suffering.
We have seen many come to believe in a God of love, despite the abuses suffered, because in Christ they find one who can comfort and who can do something about those inner questions and problems being faced.
In Jesus they find a Saviour whose powerful light overcomes the darkness and whose grace deals with the Sin and the shame that engulfs the needy sinner. In Him they find a friend and a forgiving Saviour whose name is Love.
We praise the Lord we have seen so many come to accept Jesus as Lord, but there are so many more who live outside of the love of God or the sound of the Gospel, and we need to reach them.
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