Jesus’ Person-to-Person Ministry
From my lived experience in Sindh, Pakistan, I can say Amen to this fundamental approach to sharing our faith , hope & love in Jesus.
It re-emphasises the greatest gift we can give our tribal people & those we are called & sent to serve is spending time with them… patiently sitting with them…. Visiting , visiting , visiting …
The Tribal Apostolate is crying out for more people to be with, among & for the most forgotten & marginalised & these people will come to know & follow Jesus…
(Mill Hill missionary in tribal apostolate, Pakistan)
Understandably, many of us have come to rely on an impersonal medium like the printed word. But the only way words can have any effect on our lives is if a person is coming across through this medium. When I am preaching, teaching, or writing, I have to try to give myself away; I have to let others encounter me in some real way. That’s the only experience that will make any of my words halfway believable. Jesus gave us words, but more significantly, he gave his “flesh” for the life of the world—in the way he lived and the way he died.
In Luke’s Gospel, all of Jesus’ rules of ministry—his “tips for the road”—are very interpersonal. They are based on putting people in touch with people. Person-to-person is the way the gospel was originally communicated. Person-in-love-with-person, person-respecting-person, person-forgiving-person, person-touching-person, person-crying-with-person, person-hugging-person: that’s where the Spirit is so beautifully present.
Source: Richard Rohr CAC
