InnerCHANGE – a Christian order that journeys with the poor

Humility

A life of humility will mean for me:

First, seeking to imitate Christ who emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant.
Second, gratefully recognizing my great privilege to minister among the needy as both a minister to Christ and with Christ as a co-laborer.
Third, guarding against the inclination to patronize the poor, remembering that my humility encourages their essential human dignity.

Simplicity

A life of simplicity will mean for me:

Recognizing that “the earth is the Lord’s and all it contains” and that I own nothing.
Voluntarily accepting a level of income and lifestyle which allows me (and my family) to live incarnationally with the poor to whom Christ has called me to minister. Through this lifestyle, I will seek to better discover the presence of Christ and what it means to be rich in faith and relationship with Him without relying on material possessions.
Modesty and temperance in all things so that there may never be an offense to the gospel because of my covetousness.
Giving joyfully and generously of the life and resources God has given me in order to see the urban poor experience the love of Jesus and to model freedom from the tyranny of self.

Purity

A life of purity will mean for me:

Freedom to love. Purity means going beyond chastity and asceticism to discovering liberating ways to pledge undivided love to Jesus Christ, to the community, or to my marriage partner.
To view my singleness or marriage as a gift which God wants to use to His glory; a resource for which He will ultimately ask me to give account.
Honesty, transparency and fidelity in my relationships with all whom I co-labor and with all to whom I minister.

Service

A life of service will mean for me:

Compassion for the poor demonstrated by words and action.
According to my gifts and working in concert with my team members, to share the good news of eternal salvation with the poor and to renew existing churches or to establish new, relevant expressions of Christ’s kingdom, the church, among them.
With prayer, fasting and the leading of the Holy Spirit, I will wage peaceful war against all that is contrary to God and the establishment of His kingdom.

Community

A life of community will mean for me:

Support of my fellow team members in prayer, love and reconciliation.
Expression of my gifts as a complement to my team members. Love and encouragement as they work to develop and use theirs.
The willingness to share my belongings within the guidelines prescribed by each team.
Faithfulness in serving on the team and under the authority of the team director.

Prayer

A life of prayer will mean for me:

A life of discipline — stillness before God, listening before speaking, and meditation upon His word.
A life of intercession — of being, as Paul described, “in labor” for others, recognizing that prayer is ministry.
A mystical sharing — letting God, who could take, borrow my voice to express His thoughts on behalf of the poor; and God, who has no need, letting me participate in the speaking of His redemptive word.
A surrender of my will — letting God set me aside to pray for an hour, a day, or a season, despite the world’s notions of “effective activity.”
A kindling of faith — remembering that prayer to God, who is unseen, opens the gate to faith, the conviction of things unseen.
A transcendent ministry — remembering that God’s Spirit unfettered, passes beyond my physical boundaries.

Celebration

A life of celebration will mean for me:

Rejoicing as a child made in God’s image, and passed from death to life by the saving work of Jesus my Lord. Remembering with joy that my name in God’s eternal record eclipses any record of my meager accomplishments.
Delighting in the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus. In turn, I will stake my worth on his delight in me, and grounded in that love, I will rejoice in the company of InnerCHANGE as a foretaste of the heavenly community that awaits me.
Partying with Jesus when he sets a banquet table for the needy. I will exult in the privilege of being seated beside those the world makes last, but God makes first, as a sign of his upside down Kingdom. I will listen for the echo of rejoicing in heaven when those I minister among step into the light or even take a small step forward, and will remind myself that persistent celebration rolls back the power of the enemy.
Counting all things to be loss, I discover I have nothing to regret, and in gaining Christ, I find I have everything to celebrate. I will gratefully receive the mystery of Jesus’ body and blood in the table spread before me.

I will celebrate the light of Christ
in a world of darkness
the life of Christ
in a culture of death
the liberty of Christ
in a kingdom of captivity
and the hope of Christ
in an age of despair
I will rejoice always and in everything give thanks.

InnerCHANGE is a Christian missionary organization that is cultivating followers of Jesus at the margins.

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