California Pastor Wendell Vinson, co-founder of CityServe International, says the entire church needs to begin to exercise its “superpower” of compassion to help lower barriers to the gospel and reach the lost.
“As a church, we need to understand the power of the local church, engaging in community and reaching into the brokenness of society with the love and compassion of Jesus Christ,” Vinson told Dr. Steve Greene on a recent episode of “Greenelines” on the Charisma Podcast Network. “When we are compassionate, when we operate in kindness, we can exponentially reach more people.
“Romans 2:4 says the kindness of the Lord leads us to repentance. Many times, people have barriers that they’ve put up. But as we reach them with kindness, they lower those barriers and they become more open to the gospel.”
Dave Donaldson, who co-founded CityServe with Vinson, knows all about reaching millions for the gospel with compassion. Donaldson is also the co-founder of Convoy of Hope, which has helped over 100 million people with its worldwide outreach ministry since 1994.
“So many pastors of churches in America and around the world are discouraged and, as Wendell says, they feel outgunned,” Donaldson says. “What we want to do through CityServe is to challenge and equip leaders to embrace the role that God prophesied in Isaiah 58, to rebuild ancient ruins and to raise up the age-old foundation. People who operate in the compassion of Jesus Christ build relationships with broken and lost people, hurting people. And this should be done through the local churches.”
For more about CityServe International, listen to the podcast below.
