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“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’”.
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“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’”
“In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Luke 15:8-10
Group Questions • Share about a time, as a child, you lost a friendship. What happened? • Did you move away (or friend moved away)? • Was it lost because of conflict? • How did you feel? • Did you ever regain this lost friendship? How? • What emotion did you experience when you found it (or didn’t find it)?
Group Exercise Listen carefully to the other stories and make note of the similarities and differences you heard. Develop a list of what your group believes are the “key points” in rebuilding lost friendships.
Some possible answers • Staying in touch • Listening • Apologizing for wrongs • Showing empathy • Doing fun things together • Being there in difficult times • Believing the best • Being open about things that trouble you • Praying for each other
Individual Exercise • A time to be creative. • A quiet time for personal reflection now that you have heard from others about rebuilding lost relationships.
Write a short story placing yourself in this scenario. You are going to visit someone (either a person you know or one you make up based on a composite of the stories you have just heard).
Write out as much of the dialogue between you as you can so that is comes alive. • If your feeling artistic, maybe you’d rather draw a picture of this meeting. Or maybe you’d rather write a poem… You choose.
Heart Callis a ministry by women for women who have left the Adventist church. Let’s take a look at why most women leave our church and how we can connect with them.
Most women who leave the church do so because of relational pain or crisis, not theology. • Most women who are missing members need time to heal, time to know the church cares, time to grow in their relationship with God and other members.
Most women respond best to caring friendships that have no hooks or secret agendas. • Women are best qualified to minister to women. • A clear ministry plan prayerfully carried out by a team provides our best chance to reach these women – Heart Call provides that plan.
Heart Callis about forming friendships with inactive women in the church and loving them back to church. It is a type of evangelism that women can do well, since we are by nature relationship oriented.
Heart Call needs a structure We are called to be a part of the body of Christ. Just as each part of our own physical bodies work together for the good of the whole, so we need to work together as a team, a unit, an interdependent and caring body of women.
Heart CallMinistry Team Ministry Leader – A woman with a vision for the ministry and spiritual leadership gifts to pull the team together. Bible Study Leader– A woman with teaching gifts who can effectively lead a small group through the Bible study materials.
Mentors– Women with a heart for missing members who will begin to systematically reach out and build friendships with women who have left the church. These are loving and nonjudgmental women who can see past the lifestyle choices missing members may make.
Other positions (if group is large enough) Assistant Ministry Leader – A person with administrative gifts who directly assists the director, covering meetings in the director’s absence, helping manage the details of the ministry plan to keep it on track.
Event Coordinator – A person with hospitality gifts and/or organizational skills to coordinate social gatherings, teas, seminars, or prayer groups. Besides social and spiritual events, conduct training events in areas such as rape prevention, menopause, low-fat or vegetarian cooking classes.
Data Coordinator– A person gifted in details to enter names into a database (on a computer or in a card file) and keep track of updating information for reports. All interested women can be involved somewhere.
The greatest need is for Mentors The role of the mentor is not to “fix” the problems, but to become a friend by being genuinely interested and expressing warmth and acceptance. Simply saying “I’ve missed you” goes a long way.
Let’s Review True or False Heart Call is a minstry for women reaching women who have been to church.
False It is a ministry to reach women who have left church, women who used to attend but no longer do.
Individual Activity For the next three or four minutes, quietly reflect on the names of any women you know who have quit attending church. Perhaps it is someone who lives in town or away from our church. It might be a relative, a daughter, a mother, or an old school friend.
One of the important parts of the Heart Call ministry is to begin to put real faces on “missing members.” These women are not just statistics. They are not just numbers on a clerk’s page. They are precious daughters of God. As you identify each women by name, we can more clearly pray for each one as an individual.
We have names, what is next? In groups of three or four, take a moment to complete your handout entitled “Three Concerns, Three Solutions.”
Work for one minute on your own, then go through the questions and share your responses with each other. • While you are working, make sure one person is taking notes that can be shared with the rest of the group.
Fear of being rejected It is certainly possible that someone will respond to our effort in a negative way. We need to remember that someone else’s angry response toward you does not mean you are rejected. Many people “take out” their frustrations on the person trying to reach out. We need to not take it personally and must realize that venting frustrations can be a part of the healing process.
Not enough time Our group will need to decide how often we will meet. Perhaps we can work together to find a solution for those needing childcare. It may be best for our group to meet immediately after church, before church or during Sabbath school class. For some who want to serve in this ministry, it may mean limiting yourself in another ministry.
Don’t know how to minister to missing members Part of the goal of our team meetings will be to provide ongoing learning opportunities and support to help us develop better skills in reaching out to women who are missing.
Feeling hurt by someone who left It is possible that someone who quit church did so over a conflict with some of us. It is important to recognize your pain and take it before God. It may lead to some specific steps of reconciliation between yourself and another person. You will need to acknowledge your role in the conflict.
In Jesus’ parable, what emotional response did the woman have when she found her lost coin?
JOY, She rejoiced! Ellen White writes: “[B]y the illustration of the woman who searched for the lost piece of silver until she found it, and called together her neighbors to rejoice with her that the lost was found. The connection of heavenly angels with the Christian’s work is here brought clearly to light.”
“There is more joy in the presence of the angels in heaven over one sinner that repents than over ninety and nine just persons who need no repentance. There is joy with the Father and with Christ. All heaven is interested in the salvation of man.”
