How to More Effectively Minister to People’s Needs

Many Christians are overwhelmed by the enormous number of needs in the world, and consequently, can get paralyzed into inaction because of not knowing where to even start in identifying and ministering to the needs of people.

One of the keys to finding and ministering to needs is to look at what our strengths, talents or interests are and target people that are similar to us. That helps to narrow down not only the number of people in the pool that need help, but also focuses on people with very specific needs outside of food, clothing and shelter.

To that end, when the tornados devastated lives in Kentucky, one singer-songwriter targeted people that have lost their instruments and has been working on gathering instruments to replace those that were broken or lost.

Michale Johnathon, who has been using his influence to get people to donate instruments or money to buy instruments, said this:

I’ve received checks and instruments from Indiana, Idaho, Washington state, Tennessee. They’re not your basic needs, but they’re right up there for your emotional needs.

Not only is he collecting instruments but is also having them tuned so they’re ready to be used when passed out to victims of the tornados.

I see this as an excellent way to locate and meet needs that go beyond the necessities of life. People need more than to just survive, but also have a reason for living.

For those that play music, it is vital for them to have access to instruments in order to engage in their gifts to the benefit of themselves, family and friends.

This can be applied to many other areas of life as well, such as art, pets, toys, kitchen items, and numerous other things that are lost in weather-related tragedies or accidents.