Overlooking Obvious Needs in Our Shallow "Christian" Worldview

Imagine this. You know of a poor family that lives down the road and they are hungry. The father of this family lost his job recently and has no more money to buy food. You know they need food and you have the capacity to meet this need. But you thought that as a ‘good Christian’, you ought to pray first and ‘confirm’ God’s call for you to provide for them. So you went down on your knees and pray this prayer, “Dear Lord, do you want me to buy Kentucky Fried Chicken for them or will fried rice do? I will wait and not buy anything for them until you showed me which to buy. Please confirm it. Amen”

Does this sound ridiculous to you? But it is exactly what many churches(and christians) are facing today! They do not seem to WANT to look at the real situation and real needs and asked themselves HARD questions like, “Okay. The need is obvious. So what should we do about it as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ?”

Do you need a calling to buy food for the hungry? Or a so-called confirmation to give them food? Or even to look spiritual by praying what to buy? No, you don’t. You just need to meet their needs like how the Lord met the needs of His days some two thousand years ago by healing the sick, touching the lepers and walking with the misfits and outcasts of society.
One of the most obvious needs that most churches in Singapore overlooked is the fact that there are about 15% M brothers & sisters waiting for us to tell them the good news. This amounts to about 750,000 based on 2009’s population estimate. I would say that mission work among them is negligible or perhaps even non-existent.

I thank God for churches and organizations engaging the Chinese, the Indians, other races and the many migrant blue-collar workers in Singapore. But we have neglected the 15% long enough. It is just not acceptable to neglect this work when the need is so obvious. It is inconceivable that no one is courageous enough to engage them; when all the talk about mission and missions conferences are held year after year and tons of resources are at the disposal of mega-churches and others alike.

I used to think I should not start a work among them because I might not be around in Singapore to see it through. I was wrong. God can and I believe, will get His people to carry on and take on His work when I’m gone. It is not me. It is all Him; His heart, His passion and His desire for all to know Him and worship Him. I do not need a calling to befriend them. I do not need to form a ministry for them. I just need to be willing and following my Master.

Are you still praying for this group of people(in other parts of the world) and planning to reach them? They are living right next to you. Time for the church to bring them the full, good news.