A few weeks ago, I was flicking through the TV stations early one morning, trying to catch a weather report, a traffic update or just the flash of news along the bottom (I know this makes me “old” as those younger than me do all that on their phones first thing in the morning). Anyway, I chanced across a conversation that made me prick up my sleep deprived early morning, pre-coffee ears. There was a woman on the TV announcing that Christian faith had nothing to offer her, a twice married woman with children.
Now I know that opening one’s ears is entirely God. But the first thing I thought of was the story of the woman at the well. Had the woman on the tv not heard this Christian story? Surely it would speak into her situation. How many other stories can I think of without thinking too hard of families in disarray, complicated family structures, David and Bethesda, Esau and Jacob, Abraham, Sarah and Hagar, Lot, Hosea, Ruth, Tamar, some scholars believe that Paul left his family to mission. There is something for everyone here. The stories in the Bible are as complex as the real life situations faced by the population today. Child and Family Ministry belongs in this messy world and offers hope in the same way as Jesus with the woman at the well. If our stories aren’t being heard then hopefully our actions will speak and ears will listen.
The Cross in My Backyard 