By Staff
This Saturday, area churches will participate in Operation Inasmuch, a ministry that empowers congregations to create a culture of compassion ministry.
Project Inasmuch is a testimony to those words of Jesus.
One of the projects will take place at the home of Jeremy Goodman, an Army soldier who was severely wounded by a roadside bomb in Iraq on Sept. 15, 2005. After numerous surgeries, he remains in a wheelchair. Members of Washington’s First Baptist Church are scheduled to do some work around Goodman’s home.
Similar projects will take place throughout the area Saturday.
Operation Inasmuch traces its roots to Snyder Memorial Baptist Church in Fayetteville in 1995. Since then, it’s grown to be an interdenominational event held twice a year in that community. The ministry has been adopted as a significant community emphasis by about 500 churches in several states. At least one church in England and churches in Canada have taken up the ministry, according to Operation Inasmuch’s Web site.
The appeal of Operation Inasmuch is simple — helping hands helping people. Its values are simple ones. It serves as an example of God’s people showing God’s love for all people. It views the local church as the hope of the world and the means by which compassion ministry is best conducted. The ministry is motivated by the heart of God for the poor and disadvantaged, and it strives to demonstrate God’s love in practical ways. The ministry helps to aid people who are, for the most part, outside the church family.
People who participate in Operation Inasmuch projects are being good neighbors who follow the Golden Rule. The world could use more such projects and more such people.
The Baptist State Convention of North Carolina is promoting its participation in Saturday’s Operation Inasmuch projects as a “mission blitz” in communities across North Carolina. The convention’s goal is to have at least one Operation Inasmuch project in each of the state’s 100 counties.
That’s a definite commitment to helping others.
On Saturday, more than 700 churches of various denominations in North Carolina are scheduled to take part in Operation Inasmuch.
Not only does the secular community benefit from Operation Inasmuch, so do churches. An Operation Inasmuch project will help energize a congregation. It facilitates brotherhood, inside and outside the church family. It builds a congregation’s understanding of missions and enhances participation in many mission causes.
Some people say Operation Inasmuch works because it’s a focused, one-day local event. That’s true. But there’s more to it than that.
Operation Inasmuch works because it’s God’s people helping God’s people. Project Inasmuch puts the words of Jesus into action, which speaks louder than words.