Our Ministry
Managing in Times of Scarcity
by Executive Director, Rev. Dr. Don Johnson
There were times in Jesus ministry when there did not seem to be enough for everyone. No room in the inn; no safe place in His hometown; not enough wine at the wedding party. He had lived much of His life with precious little since His birth in Bethlehem. He had known how to live simply. Then of course, during His ministry He was dependent upon others to provide a place to stay. “Foxes have holes, birds of the air have nests but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” (Matthew 8:20) But He was also God and knew how to take little and make it into something special.
This is particularly demonstrated for us in the story of the Feeding of the Five Thousand as related in Mark Chapter 6. According to the story, Jesus and His disciples had completed a long and arduous day of ministry; the disciples were tired and hungry and Jesus encouraged them to go off by themselves to rest. But as often happened in Jesus’ ministry, the crowd of people longing for something from Jesus sought Him out. Thousands of them in this instance. They hadn’t come prepared and were themselves tired and hungry. So Jesus said to His disciples, “You give them something to eat.”
(v 37) The disciples did some inventory of available cash and food and quickly calculated they didn’t have enough to feed such a large crowd. Jesus then made them take what they had, five loaves and two fishes and distribute these to the huge crowd. Everyone was satisfied “and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish.” (v 43) It was of course a miracle intended to remind us that God can provide when resources seem to be at their end.
I got to thinking about this in the context of the daily reports coming in of lost jobs, a broken economy and the prospect of even worse if we and the rest of the world do not act soon to meet the crisis with responsible action. The more I thought of it, the more I could see that two important lessons are taught during scarcity. One is to face up to the problem and do all that you can to become more responsible with resources you do have. The second is to trust in God to take what we have and bless it to meet whatever the need of the moment.
Along with many other non-profit Christian ministries around the country we are of course affected by the current state of our nation’s economy. We have taken appropriate action to carefully assess our resources and do what is necessary to reduce spending while preserving the core mission and vision of our ministry. It is sometimes a painful process of decision making but we are made to be more responsible and accountable during such times. In fact I am learning that God speaks to us very clearly in times when we have less. The other action we have taken is to place our trust in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. He is able to do much with little; and through it all manifest Himself in our lives in ways we may never have imagined possible. The story of the Feeding of the Five Thousand is such a valuable story because it demonstrates the graciousness of God, something about our own little faith and ways that we can learn how He takes our little and makes it much.
No doubt you too are experiencing difficult times during this current crisis in our economy. We pray that you will be blessed through the challenges you face and will experience the grace of God to take you through to a better time.
For specific information on how the economy has impacted our ministry, please click the links below: