Spiritual Data: How to Serve

Some people simply aren’t experienced or creative enough to see where people are hurting.

For that reason, here’s a concise list to get the thoughts rolling.

  • Statistically, your gifts and personality make you best-suited for some sort of ministry on this list.

Most healthy churches have plenty of volunteers, and they’ll usually pick people who have served before.

  • Many people within a church can be motivated towards self-interested purposes, so it can get complicated.
  • Look beyond official church meetings for the greatest needs, such as community services and parachurch organizations.

Types of People

Family members

Poverty-stricken and involuntarily homeless

Inexperienced people

  • New parents
  • Foreigners
  • Teenagers and children
  • New people in a group you’re in

Disabled people

  • Blind
  • Deaf
  • Mentally disabled
  • Elderly
  • Chronically sick and infirm

Abandoned people

  • Antisocial people
  • Widows
  • Shut-ins/home bound
  • Stay-at-home mothers
  • Nursing home tenants

Organizations that serve suffering people

  • Church ministries that specifically serve people
  • Non-church charitable organizations

The volunteers themselves

Things to Try

Pray steadily

  • For the needs of the people themselves
  • For individuals’ souls and spirits
  • That the workers have what they need
  • For blessings to the workers

Create systems and events

  • After-school programs (e.g., sports)
  • Volunteer/need referral service
  • Hotline/website for meeting needs
  • Public service events
  • Holiday events

Request money/resources

  • Charity events (e.g., races)
  • Car wash
  • Food drive
  • Supplies/clothes

Visit people

  • Become a friend/mentor to someone
  • Send cards (e.g., birthdays)
  • Babysitting/childcare

Busywork

  • Do chores and clean things up
  • Admin and office work
  • Run errands

Creating

Teaching

Across the World

Advertise the persecution rampant across the world, or get involved with a group that does already (e.g., Voice of the Martyrs).

Cambodia has been a hellscape of a country for decades.

Large cities in the USA (e.g., Portland, Seattle, San Francisco) have a deluge of lifestyle transients that have destroyed its society.