Advocacy

An advocate is one who pleads another's case or a person in support of something. We are all called to be of a royal priesthood and an advocate for the body and the members and all those that are in the world. The priests in the OT had an anointing of God to serve in the Tabernacle and in the Holy of Holies dwelled the Holy Spirit, the most powerful source in the all the universe. Today the Tabernacle or the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit is the body of Christ if we move in love and unity, which means we need to walk together and be in agreement, (Amos 3:3). We are all to come boldly before the throne of Grace and plead our case or be an advocate for others. It is the foundation of prayer. In addition, whatever we ask, believe and agree upon touching any thing, it will be done. It is an important role in establishing the kingdom of God here on earth for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Each one of us has called to be in missions and whether we go to foreign lands or across the street or even work in the church.

Prayer is a huge part of missions being and advocate for the lost, but also those sent to represent God and His ways. Those sent are usually called ministers or missionaries, but it all starts with prayer. It is how God is moved. The other way God is moved is in praise after the prayer, praising Him for the outcome even if we have not seen the outcome. It is a part of walking in faith not just believing that God will move, but knowing He will move because we have petitioned Him. What can be done or accomplished? We can by our covenant promise do all things through Christ. We have been given the power to end suffering and all the problems that we see happening all around us, if only we believe. We have the power of God to end starvation, earthquakes, tsunamis, crime, drug abuse and a host of other problems if we put Him first in our lives and work together as one body, II Chronicles 7:14.

Prayer and then praise is the key to all things, binding the enemy and loosing the power of God especially when we work as one body in love and unity. Prayer and praise opens doors, ministries, creates finances and pulls down the strong holds or obstacles in the way. Each advocate and each advocate group, church, counseling center or school, helps bridge the gap between God and those in need, because we have been given the keys to the kingdom of God. In working together as one body all can be reached in His name. All can know Him and His love and the bodies love. Advocates focus on a variety of needs or a certain people who have not heard the good news. If you choose to focus on a certain people or country you should learn about them, their environment, culture, demographics, status, etc. Pray for His will to be done and for the body to be established in a given area. Pray for those that do believe already so they can be empowered to reach out to others and then network and partner with others to encourage their involvement.

It all starts with the sacrifice of prayer and praise. Can you give 10 minutes a day to save lives and to turn things around? We at the end will all be accountable for what we do or do not do, but we have been given the very power of God to end the work of the enemy as long as we are not divided, for a house divided against itself, cannot stand. It all starts with your commitment to God to be an advocate. As you read this God is probably calling you. Will you answer the call?

Through the power of God in working together as one body and advocacy, everything can and will change if we are all committed to walk in faith and work together to accomplish His will, pray together and praise together.

Advocates People and Their Needs Into Focus
All people, including believers, all have needs and as an advocate in prayer those needs can begin to be resolved by prayer and being open to His will. The first is to build the body and pray for those in the body so they may be empowered to work together to accomplish His will and reach out to each other, walk with each other in love and unity, so they can grow in Him and the body so they can bear good fruit. This is a vital step. Obviously, if the body and the members of the body are not loved, then why should they tell others or pray for others to become a part of the body? Many have been hurt in the body and need to be healed from that hurt.

Many are hurt because of people in the body, not understanding that what we do to even the very least of these we do to Him. It is about loving our neighbor as much as ourselves. In this case it is about loving those in the body. It is about walking in forgiveness and not judging others, because we have come to an understanding that there is nothing good in us except for Him. When we understand this we will love others because we will understand that we have been forgiven much. Those that have been forgiven much will love much and we all have been forgiven more than we understand.

The reason all of this is important is that the body is only as strong as the weakest member. In understanding that we can serve the weakest members so they can become strong enough to join others in the body that have the heart for God and His will to reach all on earth. If we deny each other we also deny Him and His will. It is by His design that the greatest among us is least and a servant to all. It is also obvious as to who is a servant and who is not, but if we are of Him, we will have the heart of a servant.

Then once the body starts to be healed it is important to reach out to others that are in need with a focus on service, because we are either there to serve ourselves, or others. What we focus on will increase. If we have the heart of God the focus will be service to others. Having the heart of God is the root and foundation of salvation. It is about learning to give up our ways and our hearts for His ways and His heart.

Once we begin to care for the hurting in the body we should begin to reach out to the unreached because we have a praise report to give. Jesus cares and so does the body! The more we reach out in faith, the more we grow, become strong, be healed as the Spirit of God dwells with His people and God dwells in His kingdom. He Tabernacle or dwells with His people when His people desire to dwell or Tabernacle with Him and each other in the body. When we honor each other, we honor Him, because of Him in each of His people. With this in mind we can then reach out to the unreached peoples of the world with the Truth and His ways and love and non-believers will be compelled by His love in us to become a part of the body and the kingdom of God will increase on earth. This is how the first churches in Acts grew in number daily, because of their love, one for the other. The more we move in love and unity the more the Spirit of God is present as the Holy Spirit is sensitive.

In understanding this we can reach out in love and be an effective advocate to all people on earth, not with doctrine or sets of rules, but in love and unity in advocacy. Doing this will usher in people to the kingdom daily and you will see results. We do need Him and each other to fulfill the great commissions. In addition we also need to know who we are praying for and being an advocate for in understanding their needs, so we can call to the body for cooperation in love and a strategic Global Missions Initiative. Advocacy builds a better relationship with God and each in the body and builds relationships and mission’s partnerships that form the infrastructure for cooperation.

Learning, Linking and Loving in Unity of the Spirit
Advocates learn about three areas: (1) how the body functions in the kingdom of God in His ways in love and unity, and (2) about the people group, their culture, environment and current status, and (3) about the Kingdom resources: who is working with, or who could work with, the unreached people.

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teachings and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer… Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” Acts 2:42-47

Advocacy Means There is No Such Thing As a Closed Country
Through Christ all things are possible and by faith all things become possible. Advocates as we become involved and begin to seek God begin to learn what the current reality is in any given area and can help find access for long-term and short-term workers in many different capacities. Some missionaries are sent as what one would think of the typical missionary, but there are other avenues and opportunities that are open in different countries. For example, in some countries there is a need for engineers to help build or suppliers of different goods or services, doctors, nurses or health care professionals. In addition many countries have need for food and water, while other people in countries need shelter. These are but a few ways into other countries and all countries have needs, the question is and will be; will the world supply the need or God’s people. If God’s people supply the need, the glory goes to God and kingdom of God is increased. If the world supplies the need then the glory goes to Satan, as he is the god of this world. Advocates often do open the doors for opportunity to reach out to other countries and people in need and may work entirely outside of restricted areas, they can often operate publicly as an effective support to field operations.

The Two Most Common Types of Advocates:

Resource-Focused Advocates - Resource-focused advocates are the backbone of faith outreaches in missions either at home or in other countries. This includes prayer partners and prayer advocates that petition God in an organized way for the needs of others and for the need of those advocates in the field. In addition these advocates tell other believers of the work they are involved with and encourage other believers and church to become involved. In doing so they are blessed by God as we all work to accomplish His will. They are blessed as they partake in the reward that the missionaries receive from God as they are as much a part of the working mission as the missionary, although less visible, except to God. They pray and promote the work of the body. Some do research and some gather resources for ministry, to support the work in the field, such as food and medicines for those in need, etc. Some work to produce newsletters to keep believers informed of the progress that is being made, prayer updates, cultural information, needs and opportunities, or field reports. Some advocates can contact churches, for their prayer chains to be involved while some even do fund raising or institute fund raising drives. It all depends on what you are led to do and what is needed.

Field-Focused Advocates - The focus revolves around, at home and overseas initiatives, helping established ministries cooperate strategically, developing entry strategies, peacemaking, cultural research, and filling gaps in the existing ministry. This may include residential missionaries working in long-term missions and non-residential missionaries working in short term missions in and with evangelistic partners. The next step in long term missions is to build and edify the body and to equip the body for the work of the ministry as an advocate in church planting to build the kingdom of God in the area they serve.

We are responsible…..

When anyone, anywhere, reaches out for help, We want our hand always to be there. For that we are responsible.

We are responsible both to God and each other.

"Together we can make a change, we can make a difference!"

"God gave us His Son, Spirit, Love, Direction, Purpose, Gifts, and free will. He gave us all the basic tools to either care for Him and others or care just for ourselves.

It is a choice either way, to either learn to work together to solve problems, but at the end, when it is all said and done, our true hearts will be exposed. We are given two things to do, love God and love our neighbor as ourselves.

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