It’s Time To Go Organic

When Snyder Memorial Baptist Church conducted the first Inasmuch Day in 1995, no one had any idea what was about to happen. They had no idea that dozens of churches right there in Fayetteville, NC would join them to serve more and more people. They had no idea that churches in surrounding counties would want to be taught how to do Inasmuch and would join in this movement. And then there were other states and other countries. It continued to grow and grow. The people at Snyder had no clue that they were about to start a revolution of compassion ministry. 

But how did that happen? The simple and foundational answer…. the children’s church answer… is GOD. God had way more in mind and all it took was a faithful church and a faithful community to step out in obedience. But practically, how did this simple concept become so far-reaching and impactful to thousands of churches? It all happened organically. 

When Inasmuch began, one pastor would tell another pastor about seeing their congregation out serving. Then, that pastor would implement Inasmuch and they would share with their pastor friends in different areas and even in different states. Without huge marketing budgets or massive advertisements, Operation Inasmuch began spreading from state to state and church to church. Sometimes, God would call a pastor from one church to lead another and they would take Inasmuch with them, like a tool in their ministry tool bag. In their mind, they decided that they had to share the Inasmuch ministry with their new church and get those believers mobilized as well. 

This same organic approach is being used today. In the last couple of weeks, I have spoken to several pastors from VA, NC, KY, and IN that have all been part of an Inasmuch Day in a different state or a different church and have now decided to implement Inasmuch where they are currently serving. 

Kyle Page, pastor with Hawesville Baptist in Hawesville, KY, has pastored 3 churches in Kentucky over the last 14 years and has used Inasmuch at each destination God has led him. Kyle stated, “We used Operation Inasmuch at both of my prior churches and plan on doing our first Inasmuch Day this fall with my present church. Inasmuch unifies the body in a unique way to serve the local community. It provides the congregation an opportunity to literally be the hands and feet of Christ and to look beyond the four walls of the church building by becoming involved in compassion ministry. It immediately infuses a congregation with a dose of mission in view of creating a new culture.” 

Even the founding pastor, David Crocker, brought Inasmuch with him from Fayetteville, NC to Knoxville, TN in 2005. In a Knoxville church with roughly 600 members, nearly 300 of those members signed up to serve on the first Sunday of signup period. Since then, dozens of churches in the Knoxville area have unified under the umbrella of Operation Inasmuch. 

If something is exciting, we generally talk about it and share it with our friends. If something is proven effective, generally, we want to try it out and see if we can have the same results. That’s Operation Inasmuch. This ministry that serves churches and tries to invigorate the body of Christ has organically grown to serve churches in 26 States and 5 countries around the world. Well over 2,100 churches and millions of people have been blessed by this movement of compassion. 

Now that we can almost get a glimpse of Covid-19 in our rearview mirror, maybe it’s time to go back to our roots. It’s time to remember how effective a simple project by God’s people can be in winning souls for Christ. It’s time to unite with other believers and get outside the church walls to serve those in need. It’s time to think ORGANICALLY about compassion ministry again and let’s grow the Church one project at a time!

For more information about how Operation Inasmuch can help your church, please contact us.