Introduction to Wholistic Ministry Model
In our discussion of contextualization, we tend to focus on ministering across cultural barriers. However, at the core of the concept of contextualization is the idea of relating the good news of the gospel to needs or life situation of the hearer. So even within our own cultural framework their may be barriers that keep people from understanding why the Gospel is indeed good news. The barriers of poverty and all the related pain and suffering that it brings with it may create a barrier for the gospel.
In Campus Crusade for Christ, Here's Life Inner City is a ministry that came into being with the desire to reach the cities of our country. Such a vision includes reaching out to the urban poor. As this ministry began to strategize as to how they could help inner-city churches share Christ with their neighborhoods, it became clear that the Gospel could not be shared without also ministering to the social needs of the people.
As a result Here's Life Inner City has begun to resource churches to be able to feed the poor, do after-school programs for children, job training for people coming off of welfare, etc. As they were doing this, the question naturally arose, "how does this ministry to the social needs of people relate to the traditional aspects of a spiritual multiplication ministry as we have practiced them in Campus Crusade?"
The following Wholistic Ministry Model was developed by Dan Pryor while a student at the International School of Theology. As we set out to contextualize our evangelistic outreach, it may include meeting the social needs of people so they can hear and receive our message.
