On Wednesday, October 4th, the Church Ambassador Network team hosted Iowa Health and Human Services Director Kelly Garcia on the Breaking Bondage Tour to look at poverty and other bondage issues facing our state from a biblical perspective, as well as find ways for the church and state to partner in finding solutions.
The tour was hosted at Coram Deo Bible Church in Davenport and Marion Methodist Church in Marion. Director Garcia shared her heart with nearly 100 pastors and faith leaders at both locations and highlighted, with the Church Ambassador Network team, ways the church can partner today, with the goal of laying out many more in the years to come.
There are two ways you can partner today, even if you are not in Linn or Scott County.
1. HHS Social Worker appreciation: Churches have long supported first responders, including firefighters, teachers, paramedics, and police. However, we often forget social workers. The Department of Health and Human Services has social workers stationed across our state working on the front lines at the same disaster scenes. They are among the first in and are often the last to leave, as they seek to restore what was lost in the disaster.
It is our desire to connect social workers to local churches across our state and we invite you to join us in this endeavor. We will gradually roll this program out beginning in counties of highest need and moving onto counties that have shown the highest interest. Join us in appreciating DHHS and social workers.
2. Pray: If we are going to see bondage broken in Iowa, we need to pray. Kathy Van Soelen on our team put together a prayer guide for churches to pray for their church and community. Please join us in praying by downloading the prayer guide. "Road to Biblical Shalom" prayer guide.
It is our desire to work with Iowa HHS to remove as many obstacles as possible to position churches to be referral partners in a wide variety of needs without losing any distinction between the two institutions and their unique roles.
We look forward to keeping you posted as this work continues to grow across Iowa. Our next stop will be in Sioux City with a date about to be set.