Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body”(Heb. 13:3)

Huddle and Hurting Project

This program works because the congregation members simply drop whatever they can afford to give on a weekly basis into a Huddled and Hurting collection device.  Someone may give up a designer cup of coffee during the week and drop that into the box.  Someone else might brown bag lunch, or even fast for their lunch one day, so they can place that money into the box the next Sunday.  It is really that simple.  This giving is a personal obligation by the individual and not the responsibility of the church.

Each week you collect the giving and after a month (unless your church is big enough to collect a large sum each week) you send it to a missionary or group you currently work with that specializes in the persecuted, or to one of the organizations we have listed on this website.

In the Ministry Tools section below, we share designs for a visual aid to help remind members of the church about our responsibility to those who are literally dying for their faith.

You can read on the How Scripture Opened Our Eyes page how God shared with us through Scripture why we have this responsibility in the first place.  Use these pages to help start your own research into God's Word about the persecuted and poor.

Ministry Tools

What you see below are prototypes, or visual aids, that you can use in a church, Bible club, or anywhere that Christians gather on a regular basis.  Since we named the project for this ministry, Huddled and Hurting, you will see why we think these models bring home that image in the minds of the viewers.

Answer the Need would love to share other worthy ideas on how to make giving to this cause easy and convenient for Christians in churches around the world.  If you come up with a creative way to receive offerings from your folks once you have started this ministry in your church or Christian organization, please feel free to send that information to us at info@answertheneed.com.

We will post as many as we can to this website for others to view and decide what they would like to use.

The Huddled and Hurting House provides three elements to help your ministry remind your church or Christian organization members of the great need around the world:

• The house is a picture of people meeting in secret; away from the prying eyes of their government, or the eyes of a militant religion.

• The collection box below the house makes it convenient for people to deposit their giving, as God has blessed them, on a regular basis.

• Not shown in the pictures is a table where you can place a photo book. You can fill it with photos of Christian persecution downloaded from the websites located in the section called News & Missionaries/Christian Organizations.

The following pictures show the house and the collection box.

The display can be any size you desire. The same is true for the collection box.  The dimensions for the house used in the pictures above are 15" w  X 14" h  X 6" deep.

The figurines are the Willowtree figurines from the Family Bookstore and they are spray painted black. The house structure is made of cedar and the lining inside is felt. There is a small bar light inside for effects and a piece of glass that slides in from the side for protection.  This particular display is being recessed 4"into the wall and protrudes about 2" out past the wall. You can use your imagination to come up with all sorts of ideas.

Under the display is a collection box that Christians will use weekly as God has prospered them. As we mentioned in the bullet points earlier, you should have a photo album nearby entitled "Pictures of Persecution." It should contain actual pictures and current reports of persecution that you can find on the websites we have listed in the News & Missionaries/Christian Organizations section.  We will also have some pictures and reports listed in case you do not have time to, or are not sure how to, download them.

As churches send us their ideas on how they have set-up their ministries, we will add them to the Ministry Tools section.  There are so many creative Christians in churches all over the country and the world.  We wouldn't be surprised to find some excellent tools come into this website. 

This next display is also a custom built design provided by Batavia Baptist Temple in Batavia, OH.  Because they have a large sanctuary, they opted to place their Huddled and Hurting display on a pedestal.  The following pictures provide another glimpse on how to reach your congregation about our persecuted brethren.

You can watch the slide show by simply using the controls in the panel below the large image.

The question mark in a circle on the left will help you navigate further.