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From the beginning, E4 Project has adhered to the doctrines and practices of the Lausanne Covenant. There is a key sentence in it that says, "World evangelization requires the whole Church to take the whole Gospel to the whole world." I think it is worth thinking through what that statement is really saying. Because, if it is true, it is something that we all need to be about as it applies to all followers of Jesus.
"World evangelization requires the whole Church to take the whole Gospel to the whole world."
The Whole Church
We need the whole church, rich and poor, north and south, east and west, black and white and everyone else, each doing their part, so that the body of Christ can be built up.
This isn't just a job for pastors or missionaries or megachurches. It's for all of us. But, currently we don't see the whole church involved.
"American Christians give 2% of their income to their church and of which just 2% is given to world missions."
Richard Sterns, The Hole in Our Gospel
Richard Stearns in "The Hole in Our Gospel" summarizes the situation by saying that as a general rule, American Christians give 2% of their income to their church and of which just 2% is given to world missions. "In simpler terms, that amounts to about six pennies per person per day that we give through our churches to the rest of the world -- six cents!"
And it certainly isn't just about money, but that's a start and it's an indicator of where our heart truly lies. We can do better! We must do better!
The Whole Gospel
When sin entered the world, it affected much more than just our relationship with God. It affected our relationship with one another, with creation, and even with ourselves. (these concepts come from "When Helping Hurts" by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert) Sin affects all parts of our lives, but that is why God's response is so amazing. The Gospel of Christ is not only good news for our relationship with God, but it also has implications for how we treat one another and even creation.
When we see a village struggling with poverty, we know there is more going on spiritually and physically than a mere lack of resources. That is why we work through the local church or Christian organizations like Nebobongo hospital to bring wholistic health to people that are living with broken relationships with God, one another, and creation.
Our malnutrition project treats critically malnourished children. But it also takes the time to educate the parents about nutrition and teach them about plants to cultivate so that they can feed their family well. We also look after their spiritual hunger as well by beginning the teaching time with devotions and prayer and placing all that is done in the context of God and his creation.
Widows have been marginalized in multiple cultures over multiple millenia. It's why God is so clear in the Bible to express his love for the widows, orphans and resident aliens; people on the margins. In Gabon we are working to help widows and other needy women to make a living for themselves, but again it isn't just about the physical needs. The women need emotional, social and spiritual support as well and that's what Hands of Grace is really about.
Hope House does the same for the orphans and abandoned children. True, the children get their basic needs met such as food and shelter, but they also get so much more. At Hope House they find a community, they find love and joy, and they worship and grow together in every way under the care of Pastor Israel and Mama Nathalie.
Our clean water project in the Democratic Republic of Congo isn't just about sealing springs. It's about education and empowerment as we help the villages help themselves. And it's about the opportunity to point them to the source of true living water - Jesus. We partner with each village's church throughout the whole process and that gives the church a platform to demonstrate God's love in a concrete way and provide further opportunities to share the Gospel.
Whole World
When Jesus commissioned the disciples, he told them to go into all the world. It's easy to focus on the parts of the world closest to home. Or even the parts of the world that are the most similar to home. But God calls us to go everywhere...comfortable or not.
That's one of the reasons why E4 Project specializes in going where few to none are going. We work in French-speaking Africa, a place that is drastically underserved compared with English-speaking Africa.
We do that so that we can be a part of letting the whole world know the incredible good news found only in Jesus Christ.
Wouldn't you like to be a part of that?
We are looking for individuals and churches to partner with us...together we can do incredible things.
E4 Project has partnered with people around the world to:
Please consider partnering with us, for more information go to www.e4project.org
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