Our church strongly encourages members to minister to those outside the congregation. Specifically, minister to groups that made us uncomfortable. We saw the rationale. So I gritted my teeth and signed up to be a pen pal to men in prison coming out into the community, and then befriend them once they were out. Also, I signed up to come alongside men in the Rescue Mission for homeless men. Although I expected to be taken prisoner with a switchblade at my throat the first time I attended Monday Night Chapel, I was not. It's been years now for both ministries and I have friends from both. One of the ex-felons became my friend and he now lives in Baltimore, one of the homeless men "made it" on his own and met with me every other Saturday at Five Guys, and another now is about to be on his own as well. Bright men who love Christ whom I now count as personal friends. Funny how Christ can turn fears into friends.
