Meeting physical needs opens doors to sharing gospel

In Sub-Saharan Africa, making disciples can look different from day to day. But for Chris and Amy, it usually involves meeting both physical and spiritual needs.

In 2004, Chris and Amy became International Mission Board missionaries to Sub-Saharan Africa, the 43-country portion of the African continent that lies south of the Sahara Desert. Their sending church was First Southern Baptist Church of Phoenix.

Today, Chris and Amy still serve as IMB missionaries, and they are the Send Relief area directors for Sub-Saharan Africa.

Send Relief is a global Southern Baptist ministry that does humanitarian work like disaster relief and community development. Chris and Amy coach and equip local pastors and missionaries to share the gospel while they respond to crises and help vulnerable communities.

For Chris and Amy and their colleagues, discipleship begins with meeting people’s basic needs, and that leads to opportunities for spiritual conversations.

Chris and Amy recognize that many people believe meeting community needs and having spiritual conversations are two separate things. However, Chris and Amy have learned that when they work to meet the needs of a community, they receive more opportunities to share spiritual truth.

Through Chris and Amy and Send Relief, local pastors and church workers supply water filters to families and have a chance to share the gospel.

“Meeting physical needs alongside ministering to spiritual needs is at the heart of everything we do,” Amy said.

Chris agreed, saying, “People ask why we’re there [to help], and that opens the door for good conversations and allows us to work alongside national churches … to give them tools to enter new communities.”

For example, pastors in one community started a clean water project and ended up ministering to multiple families.

They partnered with a local school to identify families whose children often missed school due to illnesses from contaminated water. Teachers distributed clay water filters and taught families how to use them.

Four months later, they realized none of the children from the families with filters had missed school, and word about the usefulness of the filters spread. Now, each time a new family receives a water filter and learns how to use it, local pastors and church workers have a chance to share the gospel.

In a different location, a local pastor named Patrick wanted to share the gospel with more people in his city, but he also saw that the people were struggling to make a steady income. Patrick wanted to help his people both economically and spiritually.

Funds provided by Send Relief through Chris and Amy allowed a local pastor to start a pig industry, which has weekly business meetings that include a Bible study.

After consulting with Chris and Amy, Patrick proposed an idea to raise pigs. Using funds provided by Send Relief through Chris and Amy, Patrick gave pigs to 10 families. The families understood that once their pigs reproduced, they would give a pig back to Patrick’s church to help another family.

The effort multiplied, and currently more than 100 families in that community are raising pigs or participating in related industries. Every family who joins the pig industry understands they are expected to attend a weekly business meeting that includes a Bible study. Many of the community members have heard the gospel, and some have come to faith and joined the church.

After spending more than 20 years in the mission field in Africa, Chris and Amy love to see how the Lord continues to work.

“My greatest joy,” Chris said, “is being able to see the lights go off in people’s heads when they think about how human needs and sharing Christ go hand in hand. They see it not as a burden, but something that expands their reach or way of doing discipleship.”

Making disciples may look different in various contexts, but for Chris and Amy in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Lord continues to provide opportunities to help local pastors and churches share the gospel as they meet the needs in their community.

IMB missionaries Chris and Amy coach and equip local pastors and missionaries to meet basic needs in a community and to respond to disasters, such as flooding.

Next Steps

• Look for a need in your own community. How might you meet that need and use that opportunity to have a spiritual conversation with someone?
• Pray for Chris and Amy and their work in Sub-Saharan Africa. Pray for workers to go to help meet needs and share the truth of the gospel.
• Go on a mission trip that allows you to work alongside missionaries who meet physical and spiritual needs simultaneously to see how discipleship and missions go together.
• The Arizona Mission Network has a partnership with the IMB in Sub-Saharan Africa. Learn how you can participate at azmn.org/africa/.

Chelsea Bush, a freelance writer living in Phoenix, is a member of Foothills Baptist Church, Phoenix.