Ministries Making an Impact Recognized at Wisconsin Prayer Breakfast

Even though it’s called a prayer breakfast it’s also a sacred assembly to recognize how people are serving God and serving others in the Madison community, said Fred Grossenbach, President of The Jericho Project, as he opened the Wisconsin Prayer Breakfast at the Marriott Madison West this morning. He recognized by name over a dozen ministries* that are impacting the quality of life in Madison.

"Madison has a reputation as a graveyard of evangelists," he said. "I believe that day is over. This city has been bathed in prayer for decades. We’re living in a time where God is answering the prayers of the saints. There is a new spiritual life going on here in Madison and it’s very exciting to be a part of it."

Prayer Breakfast speakers in years past have talked about mobilizing the church to meet the needs of communities, as they represented a variety of national ministries. This year the breakfast speaker was a local pastor who’s developing a national reputation for urban ministry. Rev. Alex Gee is the senior pastor of Fountain of Life Community Church and the founder and president of the Nehemiah Community Development Corporation.

Gee talked about the training he had many years ago when he worked as a bank teller, before becoming a pastor. If confronted by a gunman asking for money, tellers are told to talk with the gunman because it could save their life.

"If a bank robber can objectify you and take away your humanity and think of you just as an ATM machine, they can put a bullet in your head," he was told. "Talk with them and remind them you are a human being."

Gee said that’s been good advice for his ministry as well.

"It’s easy to talk about people, to objectify people and to minimize people when we don’t talk with them and engage them," he said. "It’s hard to shoot people down when you hear their stories, you know the names of the children, their favorite foods, and where they worship."

The church has a long history of meeting people’s needs, he said, noting the schools, hospitals, orphanages, relief agencies and other institutions that have been established over the years. "This is not new for the church. But at some point we became comfortable and we focused on growth upward and we forgot about reaching out to our community."

A growing number of Madison churches are focusing on meeting the growing needs of Madison‘s increasingly urbanized community. The Fountain of Life church community through the Nehemiah Community Development Corporation has become one of the leaders.

Pastor Gee presented examples of how Jesus Christ was transforming the lives of Madison area residents, so that they could leave their troubled past behind and become productive members of society. He suggested that more Christians needed to get more involved in helping that transformation happen.

"It’s time to stop pretending that Madison has no issues," he said. The church is God’s solution to a troubled community. But I’m not talking about saving the quality of life in Madison. I’m talking about saving the people that Jesus died for."

About 300 men and women representing a wide variety of Madison area churches attended the 2007 Wisconsin Prayer Breakfast. Following the prayer breakfast, a 2-hour community planning session was held for those who could stay, to help them become involved in serving the Madison community.

* The ministries that were publicly recognized at the Wisconsin Prayer Breakfast included:

CareNet and the Elizabeth House

Madison Urban Ministry

Habitat for Humanity

Arise Family Services

madisonchristians.com

WNWC radio

CreationCare

Touched Twice Clinics

Winners for Christ

Capital Chaplains

Middleton Outreach Ministry

Hope International Prayer Ministry

"We need to recognize the work these people do, support them, and hold them up [in prayer]," Fred Grossenbach said. "They cannot exist without our prayers, our resources, our time and our energy. They are making a difference."

Listen to Alex Gee’s remarks on mp3 audio, 47 minutes.