Let your light so shine before men... What light? Why did Jesus come?

Let your light so shine before men... Preach good news to the poor Bind up the broken hearted Proclaim freedom for captives Release the ones in darkness And proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour I have come so they shall have life, and have it to the full! So when do you want to start? And can we help? 26,000 Children die each day due to poverty Source: UNICEF

Preach good news to the poor Bind up the broken hearted Proclaim freedom for captives Release the ones in darkness And proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour Question 2: What do they need? Question 2: What do they need? Let your light so shine before men... Question 1: Where do we find them? Question 1: Where do we find them?

In the time you have been looking at this... the same number of children have died... of poverty (starvation; illness; drought...) watched by distraught &helpless parents... throughout the world... as the number of pictures... which have disappeared... from your screen!!! What do they need? How does that make you feel? Do you want to do something about it? Because relying on someone else to do it on your behalf is not working!!!

Charities are overloaded and under-resourced Governments are unwilling to raise taxes Simply ‘giving’ the poor money makes them dependent and does not fix the problem So the media looks the other way (on our behalf) The poor around the World are in the same or worse circumstances than they were 20 years ago And, as a population, we would rather watch ‘reality’ (???) Television! Relying on someone else is not working!

They need a hand-up not a hand out They need our skills to help them stand on their own two feet They need simple basic businesses to earn a crust for themselves The greatest gift we can offer them is our time and understanding We need to help them help themselves Transformation = Empowerment+ Dignity

Small businesses are the only sustainable way: to use what skills/labour they do have to ensure independence from the need for charity to build dignity and self-determination to create future employment for their community They have the energy, the ambition, and the drive. Our challenge is to help them to correct their ‘misunderstandings’ – it really is that simple! They want to set up their own business

It is okay to spend more than you get back in The customer will wait for me if I’m late Everything my customers pay me is profit I can always borrow more money if I need to I can take as long as I want over the work They do not have the ‘benefit’ of being brought up in our culture, to have learnt our ‘common sense’ What are their ‘misunderstandings’...

Helping them learn the basics... Exercise 7: What do I buy? ………………………………………… Who do I buy it from? ………………………………………… Why do I buy it from them? ………………………………………… What would cause me to buy it elsewhere? ………………………………………… What do I mean by ‘better’ in this case? ………………………………………… A simple self-help guide With straightforward exercises & examples Which they discuss in groups According to a clearly laid out plan Which ensures results

What does that actually mean? 400 people trained (by them) in one year 220 newly successful businesses The equivalent of at least £2M in Aid Statistically, one Child saved!!! (each year) Which ensures results...

We want to inspire 500 such projects The World needs about 4,000,000 of them...but each & every one of them matters to someone What can we do to move this forward? Proclaim Spreading the message and inspiring people to make a start Pray Seeking God’s will and supporting projects and people in prayer Fund Raising financial support Prepare Organising Teams Connect Understanding the real needs Equip Delivering the training Guidance on all these roles Reconxile.org

Step 1: Read Workbook 0 (its free to download!) Step 2: Pray about which role to undertake Step 3: Do it to the very best of your ability Step 4: Share with others on the ‘forum’ Step 5: Feel like this... How can we help you?

Start Here Free resources from reconxile.org How can we help you? Discussion forum Comprehensive workbooks & guides: For you For them For them a bit later on Training plans & visual aids Trainer Training resources Publicity posters, leaflets & presentations

Or perhaps none of them... ???. After all, isn’t that the same choice that we made yesterday?. And the day before,... and perhaps the day before that,... and.... Isn’t it the same choice that at least 26,000 others will make today?. 26,000 Children will die of poverty today!!! If you could save just one of them, which would it be? Maybe one of these? What about this one? Her? Him? Something has got to change!!! Change your life to change theirs!

Our directness has created any offence in you (and we hope you understand our motives are honourable) You have problems with the way we expressed things (and we hope that our words have not detracted from the spirit of what we intended) You feel that we do not need to change – that this is an acceptable way to continue... or... You feel that the solution lies with somebody else BUT... We are truly sorry if...

He did not just mean them, he meant us too! To what extent does your life have a real sense of: The thrill of making a difference? The intense feeling of being on His path and on His mission, and being smiled upon? Being pushed back onto His strength by the weight of opposition and resistance? To what extent do you want it to? To what extent does He want it to? I have come so that they shall have life and have it to the full

Let your light so shine before men... I have come so they shall have life, and have it to the full! Preach good news to the poor; Bind up the broken hearted Proclaim freedom for captives; Release the ones in darkness And proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour As the Father sent me, so I am sending you John 20:21 Let reconxile.org help you to fulfil you commission!

Reconxile is a Christian community who take 2 Corinthians 5:18 as their inspiration and seek to work out their ministry in practical ways through building reconciliation between: people and their dreams; the dispossessed and the economy; organisations and their potential; in the earnest hope of enabling individuals to reclaim their identity and build steps to their reconciliation with the creator who gave it to them. Reconxile.org