WHEN I WAS a little kid, I got a pretty nasty burn on my leg…

The doctor applied a bandage designed to adhere to the burned skin.  The bandage was made of a material that had a healing ointment in it, and as the burn healed and the skin began to grow, the bandage and the skin fused.  It worked almost like a skin graft, and it was very effective in the process of healing.

This is a picture of what the local church should be.  We are not to be a band-aid that provides a small amount of healing and protection for the hurting people around us, only to be taken off and once again made separate.  The church should be fused with those who have been “burned,” working as a unit to bring about healing.  Part of our strategy is to become a vital part of life in our region, not just to be a place for people to visit on the weekends but truly to be a healing place for a hurting world.  We want to be involved, to be part of the cure, and to be a resource for rehabilitation and spiritual restoration.  (Dino Rizzo)

“And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.”  Matthew 14:14

–Mike Benson