VISION CIRCLE
As outlined in the flow chart explanation the vision of Project Genesis is :-
- 1. To see God glorified as creator, provider and redeemer of all mankind.
- 2. To promote godly self-sufficiency within the church in food production and to see the church play a leading role in feeding the multitudes of hungry people throughout the world.
- 3. For the church to take a leading role in seed conservation and see the seed resource safeguarded as God designed in Genesis 1:11 (self-replicating seed). .
This can take place on an individual basis or collectively. From a biblical perspective Christians should be on the cutting edge of social justice issues such as hunger, oppression, poverty etc. Jesus was filled with compassion for the under privileged people in this time and he made it clear to his followers that they should have the same concern. One of the clearest examples of this was when Jesus actually told his disciples to feed the hungry multitudes. The disciples seeing these hungry people took the easy option and asked Jesus to send them away so that they could buy food. Of course many people there in the crowd would not have had the money to buy food and that's one of the reasons why they were with Jesus looking for a way out of the poverty cycle they found themselves in. Jesus being filled with compassion fed the people in a miraculous way but not before actually instructing his disciples that this was their responsibility. (Matthew 14:13-21)
There are many such examples found both under the old and new covenants of God commanding his people to be of practical assistance to others. It is through this area of compassion and practical help for others that God's true character and nature are revealed through his people to an unbelieving world. Unfortunately the role of practical help to others such as feeding the masses of hungry people has fallen on governments and various agencies. The biblical role of government is to provide a stable political and social situation where people are free to live in safety and peace, thus allowing the church to proclaim the gospel with freedom. Jesus places areas of social justice such as alleviating hunger and poverty clearly in the domain of his church.
It could be argued that the role of the church is to preach the gospel, that salvation of the soul is God's main concern. There can be a perception among Christians that if the church spends too much time in social justice issues it will be diverted from its main calling in seeing souls saved for God. It is this type of thinking that has led to a wide spread belief among non-believers that the church is not the least bit interested in peoples everyday practical concerns such as provision of food. A balanced biblical view shows us that the salvation of the soul and the physical well being of the body go together. If we neglect the practical side of the gospel then we will be ineffective in our preaching because its the practical gospel that reveals God's love to people first, thus opening the door for people to accept spiritual truth. There is nothing wrong with non-Christian groups and government organisations, helping the poor and the hungry; in fact they should be encouraged. What is wrong is the fact that the church is missing so many opportunities to bless others with God's love in more practical ways. As long as we neglect the social or practical gospel then the church will not be anywhere near as effective as it could or should be. There are many wonderful practical Christian organisations that are taking the practical gospel to a hurting world and they should be supported and encouraged. However there is always going to be a need for a greater Christian involvement in social issues such as feeding the hungry because the needs of the world are so great.
The vision of Project Genesis is therefore aimed directly at the church to encourage Christian involvement on a personal and church level with godly self-sufficiency. For the church to then take the next step and play a leading role in feeding the masses of hungry people throughout the world starting with immediate family, neighbours, friends and hungry people within our local communities. Instead of the church looking to governments and aid agencies to feed the hungry we need to take responsibility for this ourselves and become actively involved at the front line. As Christians we need to acknowledge that God has blessed us with all that we need to be fed, and to feed others through God's design in creation such as self-replicating seed, soil, sun, rain, animals and mankind himself. Combined with biblical principles of good stewardship, hard work, dominion, prayer and faith. The church then has all that it needs to be self-sufficient in food production.
We can then take God's love in a practical way to the multitudes of hungry people throughout the world and fulfil the call of our Lord Jesus Christ to feed these people. By targeting the church as the main provider to feed the hungry through godly self-sufficiency we will be providing people with a hand-up instead of a handout. The vision of Project Genesis takes the view that it is better to teach Christians and non-Christians how to plant a garden and become self sufficient so as to have food permanently, rather than to give them a food handout that is eaten today and gone tomorrow.
A Christian Karen farmer proudly showing of a crop of self-replicating corn that is growing in the Asian Tribal Ministry base in Thailand. This base is run by Ps. Timothy Laklem who is ministering to the mountain tribes in Northern Thailand. Project Genesis is currently setting up a self-sufficient scheme on this site.
