Chapter 19—Outreach
Christ ministered to people’s needs before inviting them to fol-
low Him—Christ’s method alone will give true success in reaching
the people. The Saviour mingled with men as one who desired their
good. He showed His sympathy for them, ministered to their needs,
and won their confidence. Then He bade them, “Follow Me.”—
The
Ministry of Healing, 143
.
Devise methods to reach the people where they are—Let every
worker in the Master’s vineyard, study, plan, devise methods, to reach
the people where they are. We must do something out of the common
course of things. We must arrest the attention. We must be deadly in
earnest. We are on the very verge of times of trouble and perplexities
that are scarcely dreamed of.—
Evangelism, 122, 123
.
A “beehive” church will have a multi-faceted program for
reaching the community—During the past few years the “beehive”
in San Francisco has been indeed a busy one. Many lines of Christian
effort have been carried forward by our brethren and sisters there.
These included visiting the sick and destitute, finding homes for or-
phans and work for the unemployed, nursing the sick, and teaching
the truth from house to house, distributing literature, and conducting
classes on healthful living and the care of the sick. A school for the
children has been conducted in the basement of the Laguna Street
meetinghouse. For a time a workingmen’s home and medical mission
was maintained. On Market Street, near the city hall, there were treat-
ment rooms, operated as a branch of the St. Helena Sanitarium. In the
same locality was a health-food store. Nearer the center of the city, not
far from the Call building, was conducted a vegetarian cafe, which was
open six days in the week and entirely closed on the Sabbath. Along
the water front, ship mission work was carried on. At various times
our ministers conducted meetings in large halls in the city. Thus the
warning message was given by many.—
The Review and Herald, July
5, 1906
.
121