Family Ministry

 

Preparing families for the Kingdom of God by helping to hasten the coming of Jesus Christ

Ministry for the Family

“Ministry” comes from the Greek word diakoneo, which means “to serve”, or douleuo, which means “to serve as a slave”. In the New Testament, ministry is seen as service to God and to others in his name. Jesus provided the model for Christian ministry: He came, not to be served, but to serve (see Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45; John 13:1-17). The Christian is to minister to the needs of people with love and humility in the name of Christ (see Matthew 20:26; Mark 10:43; John 2:5,9; Acts 6:3; Romans 1:1; Galatians 1:10; Colossians 4:12). Christians are to minister to others out of devotion to Christ and love for others, whether believers or unbelievers. Ministry to others should be impartial and unconditional, always seeking to help others as Jesus would.

The content of ministry seems to give priority to ministering in spiritual areas, not just in practical areas. Ministry should emphasize sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others so that they can know and receive him as their personal Saviour, continue to experience him as Lord of their lives, and go further to know Christ as the essence of their lives (see John 1:12; Colossians 2:6-7; Galatians 2:20; Philippians 3:8-10). Ministry can, and should, include meeting the physical, emotional, mental, vocational and financial needs of others. Jesus did it, and so should we! Looking at our world today, particularly at the state of the family, we at Agape Evangelical Christian Mission see a compelling need for a dedicated Family Ministry. The Family Ministry, led by a Coordinator, is a branch of the ‘Evangelism & Mission Department’.

Mission Statement

The purpose of the Family Ministry is to strengthen and inspire homes, to bring healing to married couples, families and individuals through the abundant love and saving grace of Jesus Christ.

Vision Statement

To prepare families for the Kingdom of God by helping to hasten the coming of Jesus Christ.

Objectives

Recognizing the mutual strength and support that should be the church for the home, and the home for the church, and that the mission of the church must become a reality, the Family Ministry has adopted the following objectives:

  1. To promote the comforting and regenerating message of the everlasting gospel in the context of family life. Christ is, and should be, recognized as the Saviour and Head of every home. In Him, family members can have peace with God and with each other. When we draw near to Him, we draw near to one another with love, with a spirit of forgiveness, with reconciliation, restoration and renewal.
  2. To reaffirm and consolidate each Christian family as the primary unit within the body of disciples. The aim of Family Ministry is to achieve a deeper understanding of the correlation between being disciples and making disciples, to strengthen family members so that they can make disciples within the family. The married couple is seen as the primary unit of the family. The Ministry wishes to give these couples access to opportunities for education, enhancement and guidance in order to be able to increase and develop their skills in terms of the harmonious bonding necessary for the effective work of making disciples of each other and for the optimal growth of the Christian marriage, and of the relationships between brothers and sisters and their extended family.
  3. To train parents and their families in ways that increase the likelihood of successful transfer of Christian values to the next generation. The Family Ministry produces materials and offers learning opportunities within the church and family designed to train parents to present biblical values to their children and teenagers in an attractive way. The department fosters an atmosphere within the home and church that encourages questions and constant discussion between parents, children, teenagers, adults and church leaders about Christian values and doctrines in order to promote the development of a mature faith.
  4. To create a ‘family of God’ experience in every Christian church. Family Ministry fosters an atmosphere in which we respect and celebrate diversity within the context of the Agape Evangelical Christian Church congregation, recognizing that such unity is not found in uniformity, but in Christ, the Head of the body. Through submission to a common message and a common mission, and through open, honest and vulnerable reciprocity in our relationship to one another, the unity we have found in Christ can be transformed into a living reality.
  5. Enable the family to give an attractive witness. Although the home is considered the most important mission field, the Family Ministry helps families to discover and use their spiritual gifts in the community around them. The ministry encourages and trains families to relate in winning ways to unbelieving family members, to make friends of their neighbors, to share the good news of life in Christ and to support the missionary efforts of the church with their prayers, offerings and acts of service.

Our Commission

Agape Evangelical Christian Mission is commissioned by the Lord to bring a solution to our sick world, in its desire to be reconciled with itself. In this context, our ambition is to create a marriage training school, Furu Académie, where we will help to ensure the success of engagements and happy unions, where families will be healed, couples strengthened and marriages restored. To achieve this, we will use a number of strategies:

  • monthly animation on Zoom;
  • hosting television programs;
  • quarterly conferences;
  • talk-debates in churches or within interested associations;
  • providing an office for listening, prayer and counseling.

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