MBCH is committed to serving God by responding to the needs of children, youth and families to make a lasting difference in their lives. The mission of MBCH is an honorable mission and one that our entire ministry strives to fulfill as we carry out our work each day. If you re-read our mission statement in the first sentence, you will notice that it does not say that we seek to fulfill our mission all by ourselves or apart from the local church.
In fact, we believe that we are to engage with the local church and serve together, so much so, that we have a department known as church engagement. I serve as the lead for MBCH’s Church Engagement ministry as the church engagement strategist. In this role, I get to meet with key leaders in churches across the state and seek to help churches keep children and youth safe from abuse, and look for ways that local churches can connect with at-risk children and families in their communities and serve them in partnership with MBCH.
In Matthew 25 where Jesus is sharing about the final judgment, he makes it clear that when we serve the least of these, we are serving Him (Matt. 25:31-40). While many churches desire to serve the least of these in their communities, oftentimes two things are missing. One is the answer to the question of how we can help, and the second is the actual connections to people that make it possible for the church to get engaged. The good news is that when it comes to serving children and families in crisis MBCH can offer the church ways to help along with the connections needed to serve. We work with churches and schools to offer training on how to keep children safe from abuse, and we work with churches to design ways they can serve. We have helped churches design wrap-around foster care ministries, child and family supervised visitation ministries, various types of mentoring ministries, and serving ministries using technology to make connections. All of these ministries are designed to allow the church to meet with and love the least of these right in their community and have the opportunity for relational connections.
Think for a moment. We know that God saw the broken, sinful condition of people in our world, and He moved towards us – not away from us – by sending His son. As believers we should be moving towards hurting people in our world. One of the newer and most exciting opportunities we have begun to offer churches is the option to join a network of serving churches in their region who see and respond to physical needs of children and their families. In order to do this, we utilize a technology platform known as CarePortal. The folks at CarePortal don’t do ministry directly, instead they have designed and operate a technology platform. CarePortal defines itself as technology that drives action for children and families in crisis. MBCH is an implementing partner with CarePortal.
By utilizing this technology, MBCH can help your church find opportunities for connections to children and families in crisis right in your community. When you sign up to participate in our CarePortal network, you get notified every time a professional in your community puts a vetted need into the CarePortal system. You then have opportunity to not only meet the need, but have a relational connection. When the people of your church begin to go out from the church to engage with children and families they may be meeting a physical need, but it creates a relational opportunity. Relationships are powerful, Dr. Karyn Purvis states: Relationships heal what relationships hurt.
Think about that statement. If someone in your neighborhood has experienced horrible things or trauma in their upbringing or in their relationships, God can use healthy relationships to bring healing. There is no organization better suited to bring hope and healing to children and families in crisis than the church.
I encourage you to consider how your church might serve alongside MBCH and gain opportunities for growth and discipleship as together we serve the least of these. We are always looking for churches to partner with us as we continue to increase the number of children and families we are serving in communities all across the state by engaging with churches just like yours. Contact me at david.burch@mbch.org.