About 17 years ago (wow it seems like only yesterday), before I was saved, I stopped at a horrendous traffic accident. The truck was in danger of catching on fire so I pulled this guy out of his truck and he was bleeding from everywhere. He died as I held him in my arms and I kept crying, “I don’t know how to stop all the bleeding”. That event was a defining moment in my life.

I often feel the same way as I work in urban areas and watch youth make horrible decisions. I see them choose drugs, gangs, crime and sex as their way out but those just really lead them in deeper. Just this week I have seen one die, one tell me she is pregnant, and one join a gang. All three had shut me out of their lives prior to these events. I can tell how well a youth, either from Mission Raleigh or Mt. Vernon, is doing in their walk with the Lord by their proximity to me. The youth who I really help are not all about getting “stuff” from me but are allowing me to help them. They listen when I tell them hard stuff as well as when I tell them positive stuff.

The cross we often bare is one of perceived loneliness. As a Christian all loneliness is only perceived since Jesus told us in Matthew 28:20, “…And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” but as my friend Kevin Moore will tell you, “Perception is stronger than reality.” So when you hit that season of perceived loneliness, as I have right now, remind yourself that Jesus is in this with you for the long haul.

Over the years I have learned that meeting needs is a way to share the Gospel. It is a very biblical strategy used by Jesus, the Apostles and the 1st century Church. Meeting needs in a loving, compassionate and Christ centered way is one thing that makes us different from the world. It should be one thing that makes the Lost want to know more about what we have. Unfortunately many church benevolence ministries operate the same way that the world’s does. Tons of paperwork, rules and hoops to jump through are presented to you by people who seem more interested in “fixing” you or catching you in a lie than loving you and helping you. Too many churches have benevolence for members only and lose the one great connection they have to a hurting and dying world.

Mission Raleigh is all about meeting needs. We love to meet needs; it is our way to “earn” the right to tell people about Jesus. You want to know how to meet the need of an urban child. Show up in their community with a tire pump and few inner tubes. WOW you have met a felt need and you will be very busy. But during that time while you working on that tire there will be a child who will hang on every word you tell them as you meet their need. What about urban youth you say, well I am glad you asked. A few $10.00 cards will add minutes on to cell phones and you will have met a real need. How about just opening the computer lab and let them check their MySpace and Facebook. This will give you great chances to point them toward Jesus. Adults can be groceries, bill or rent assistance. But if you deliver that with a lecture or judgment then just keep it because it has lost any effectiveness. Don’t underestimate the need of listening when working with urban adults. The disenfranchised are disenfranchised because no one listens to them. Jesus taught us how listening meets a felt need in John 4 as he listened to the Samaritan women at the well. Listening leads to ministering. There can be no effective ministering without first effective listening.

Meeting needs will allow us to earn the right to share the Gospel with all cultures and all ages. Meeting needs has been clearly modeled to us by Christ and the Apostles. Let’s find ways to meet the needs of this needy world.