Here's Life - A Look At The Inner City Ministry
An urban resource ministry of one of the world's largest Christian organizations is releasing a book about the different lives that have been changed by God.
Working with inner-city poor, Here's Life Inner City has helped thousands of Americans. The ministry is part of the Campus Crusade for Christ.
A recently-released Gallup Poll indicates that two-thirds of all Americans are concerned about hunger and homelessness in our country, said Here's Life in a released-statement.
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Volunteers in inner cities, some of whom are college and high school students on Spring Break or on summer vacation, have worked together to transform America’s inner cities.
"When I was homeless, I had a growing feeling of despair and depression. I didn't think my life could ever amount to anything," said 36-year-old Patrick McNair, one of more than 35 people profiled in the new book, "Here's Life: True Stories from the Inner City."
Though he once lived on the streets of New York and hustled drugs for a living, McNair is now active in the ministry.
"Here's Life Inner City is an instrumental organization," said McNair. "They showed me a whole different insight on Christianity."
According to Ted Gandy, author and national director of Here's Life Inner City, “When you have nothing, hope is a precious commodity."
"Here’s Life Inner City is not just about meeting physical needs, but also sharing hope and encouragement," Gandy said in the Here's Life statement.
Gandy revealed to the Christian Post that programs in the secular world are often very "targeted," only focusing on one aspect of a person's life, such as parenting or job-training. However, the needs of those in poverty are not just one, but many. Thus, ministering to the whole person is important in order to be effective and successful.
Here's Life Inner City, a Christian program, is much more "holistic."
"We think about ministering to the person and to the family," Gandy says. "It isn't just the child; it's the child and the parent. The church thinks about the whole family and the needs of the whole person, and that makes all the difference in the world."
The book is a series of 35 stories of people in different settings whose lives have been transformed by God's discipling.
"That's why I wrote the book," says Gandy. "It's a tribute to the miraculous life-changing power of God among the poor. It just shows what can happen when you involve both the spiritual dimension and a compassionate person caring for that individual."
The majority of social welfare programs is coming from the Christian world, says Gandy. Just within community development organizations, 80 percent are faith-based.
The reason?
"We don't segregate out the spiritual dimension. That's what God made."
Churches have also changed their programs in the last ten years and have gone on to disciple the homeless, rather than just providing for their physical needs, according to Gandy.
When asked about the success rate of transforming the homeless so that they do not return to the same life, Gandy replied that "there's been an incredible turnover, especially among evangelical churches."
Since 1983, Here’s Life Inner City has served and mobilized the church to live out God's life for the poor and fulfill the Great Commission, and more than a thousand churches and organizations have partnered with HLIC.
Visit www.HLIC.org to partner with Here’s Life Inner City. Also, Gandy's first book is available May 16, Here's Life: True Stories from the Inner City through New Life resources at www.CampusCrusade.com or 1-800-827-2788.
