Ministries to the needy question goodwill event
MONTREAL, QC—Some key groups that work with the homeless and needy in Montreal were conspicuous by their absence at an evangelistic event giving away free food and toys on June 11.
"As Christians, we are called to help people in need. So we do it—with no strings attached, says David Lucien, director of communications for Welcome Hall Mission (WCM). "If our actions touch them and make them curious about our motives, we are certainly ready to explain our actions as reflections of God's love, but we do not link charity to pushing our message.
"Helping people is an altruistic thing; it's not a means of evangelism."
However, Ron Mainse of Crossroads Family of Ministries, who with his wife Ann is spearheading Free-4-All, a large-scale evangelism and outreach event, says it is not meant to trick anyone into hearing the gospel.
"We see [Free-4-All] as a next generation type of crusade event," he says. "It is an effort to bless the community and say that God loves them. The attraction is receiving free stuff and there is the opportunity to hear the good news."
Free-4-All combines free food and toys with a short gospel presentation linking the giveaways to God's free gift of salvation. The first Free-4-All was held in Hamilton in December 2004, drawing about 10,000 people. Future events are planned for Vancouver, Halifax and Calgary.
More than 400 volunteers from 23 participating churches and other groups, including The Salvation Army and the Gideons, gave away 3,000 bags of groceries as well as toys and New Testaments to families from needy districts of Montreal who responded to a mailed invitation. Organizers say up to 400 response cards filled out at the end of the presentation indicate some spiritual response to the outreach.
The cost to hold each event—funded by the Burlington-based Crossroads Family of Ministries and local churches and Christian groups in each city—can run upwards of $70,000. The Goodness Project provides logistics help in sourcing and purchasing the needed items.
Concerns raised
"When we looked at the proposed budget for a one shot big event like this, it was hard not to think about the long term good those funds could have over the course of a year for many ministries that are already working much more strategically with people in need," says Ron Melanson, a street worker with Youth for Christ in Montreal.
Melanson attended a Free-4-All informational meeting, but opted not to participate because, he says, the strong concerns of many ministries to Montreal's needy were not addressed.
WCM has been active in Montreal for 113 years, helping more than 1,000 families each week. "We have learned some things working in Montreal during that time, and we are anxious to collaborate to help people," says Lucien.
Word of caution
However, he says, he also has reservations about participating in an event like Free-4-All.
"One of the things we have learned is that luring people with freebies in exchange for a short gospel presentation is actually counterproductive—or worse. It's not particularly helpful in the long term for the people in question, and it's the kind of thing for which the secular media jumps all over us.
"When [the media] sees anything that looks like evangelism disguised as charity, they are merciless in their attack," he says "We abandoned this approach years ago, and when an outside group comes into Montreal with that strategy, our own credibility takes a hit and we pay the price for some time after they have left town."
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