Apostles Benevolence Ministry
A Testimony | Robin Vincent | Benevolence Team Member
Last month, the Benevolence Team received a request from a family that their children had been involved in the after school tutoring program through the Y. The family had lost their apartment and all the contents to the fire on Navaho Drive. I was assigned to the family, and honestly, was concerned with how much we could support since they had lost EVERYTHING and I knew they had no transportation.
I made the initial phone call only to find out that neither the mother nor father could speak English. I knew I was not the person for the job since my Spanish skills were lacking. Within minutes, the Lord brought to my mind an interpreter that I knew. I called and she was happy to help. When the interpreter and I spoke with the mother, she was gracious and stated that they needed shoes and air mattresses to sleep on.
Once again, the Lord provided the people. With a few phone calls people donated new shoes, house goods, and even Rex hospital donated air mattresses. The blessings kept coming. The next week a realtor in our church called and said she had a client leaving furniture in their home and heard that we had a family in need. We gathered a family in our church that agreed to pick up and transport the furniture. Over and over, God proved to me that if we are willing He is able. I alone could not get what the family needed, but God kept showing me people that could. Through every aspect of this story, God provided and used the body of the church to work to accomplish His goal of community.
How It Works | Dave Ritchie | Benevolence Team Member
Robin’s great testimony is one of the many ways The Lord is using Benevolence to impact our Community. So here is how the process works…
If you know of someone in need of assistance, please contact a church staff member, and they in turn will complete a form that gets distributed to the Benevolence Team. This way, full attention and prayer can be given to the person in need, while the clergy and staff continue with other ministry responsibilities.
The Benevolence Team Member on duty will take the case and follow up with the candidate. The Team Member will hear the case, first person, from the candidate, and will prayerfully consider the amount of assistance available. The process typically takes about a week, from inquiry to issuance of assistance.
We do have parameters that guide us in the types of cases we can care for, as well as the amounts we are able to support. Some examples of support include:
- Rent/Mortgage Assistance, Utilities, Groceries and Household Needs.
- Special attention is also given when children are involved.
- It is our goal to assist whenever possible for those who are clearly making good choices and trying to be responsible through employment or in doing as much as they possibly can.
- Prayerful wisdom and discernment is exercised in assessing specific needs. We recognize that individuals are unable to make lifestyle changes on their own without the reliance on the strength of Christ. We will observe the spiritual maturity of the individual, and with their permission, may pray alongside anyone seeking assistance.
- In general, we emphasize support for church members first, as well as friends and family of the church.
- We also assist those in the community from outside of the church. In fact, the majority of our inbound requests do come from outside the church.
