WHO ARE WE
Founded in 2011, Gracious Arms Community Project is a down-to-earth, practical ministry with one simple goal in mind: To share God's Grace, Love, and Truth with the world in the most simple and practical ways possible; namely, by sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ and meeting the immediate needs of others. Our aim is to live our everyday lives in such a way that each and every person we encounter will walk away knowing that they have experienced the Love and Grace of Jesus Christ in a very real and practical way. We’re a loose association of individuals from different walks of life, different churches, and different ministries across the city, who love Christ, and who are dedicated to sharing the Word of God, and living out the Golden Rule in everyday life, in a very practical way, with each and every person we encounter.
WHAT ARE OUR SPECIFIC MINISTRY GOALS:
Witness Teams: Our most important focus is to create, train, and equip Witness Teams who will go out into our community and share the pure gospel of Jesus Christ, as commanded by our Lord. There has never been a greater need to share the gospel than now. These teams will accomplish this by visiting local malls, shopping centers, events, shelters, nursing care facilities, etc. Understandably, many churches do not have the budget or other resources to sponsor a Witness Team of their own. Accordingly, our Witness Teams are made up of volunteers from different churches and ministries from across the city who share our passion for seeing the lost come to Christ, and who have a desire to participate in such an outreach effort.
Discipleship: Our second most important focus is to, in partnership with other local churches and ministries, develop and implement a training course to ensure that those individuals with whom we have shared, and who have made a decision to follow Christ, are properly discipled; and, ultimately, likewise trained and equipped to share the gospel.
Emergency Personal Crisis Management: One of the most effective strategies Jesus used when sharing the gospel was to identify and meet the immediate needs of the person that He was sharing with. Many of those our ministry encounters have been disproportionately impacted by homelessness, mental illness, drug addiction, human trafficking, domestic violence, incarceration; or they otherwise lack the necessary social and/or technical skills to participate in labor force, or the public discourse in general. Consequently, this means that many of the people we encounter lack the resources to meet basic needs for themselves and their families. For the most part, these immediate needs generally fall into the categories of food, clothing, or shelter. Experience has shown that it can be very difficult to effectively witness to someone whose attention is preoccupied with concerns such as where they are going to sleep that night or what they are going to eat. Our goal, in partnership with participating churches, ministries, food banks, and individuals, is to address some of these immediate needs with a goal of creating an environment where we can continue to share with such individuals; and hopefully, disciple them. life
