Our Lord Warned Us that the last days would be perilous. The experience of almost every brother and sister confirms that our times are difficult and getting worse. There is hardly a family in the truth untouched by the pressures, cares and temptations of life.
Within a biblical framework, its objectives included:
- helping brethren to live more closely to the example of our Lord.
- supporting and encouraging “caring” in our ecclesias.
- helping those who need to talk to someone but who do not wish to talk to anyone in their own ecclesia.
- providing the brotherhood with resources on “caring” subjects.
Our policies are to:
- assist the work of ecclesias, not replace it.
- keep confidential what people tell us, within legal limits.
- help people, young and old, to work through their problems, rather than giving them advice.
About four years ago the committee was broadened to become a joint Amended/ Unamended committee, and literature was sent to all Ontario ecclesias. This was a reasonable move as we were already dealing with many requests for help from Amended brothers and sisters.
Work of the network
What do we do?
- Currently there are over a dozen brothers and sisters, trained in various helping skills, who take turns responding to phone calls from those in trouble. They counsel callers on the phone, without judging them. They talk, not just for an initial call, but as often as the caller feels a need. There is no problem too great to be shared. We have an 800-phone line to make calling us easier. It is 1-866-823-1039.
- We publish a “Caring Bulletin” three times a year to help Arranging Brethren and members deal with problems.
- We run periodic seminars on caring subjects. They have included subjects such as “Raising Children in the Lord,” “Effective Listening,” and “Marriage”.
Is there a need? Clearly, yes! Typically, we receive about six new calls a month from those in need, as well as many “hits” per month to our resource-based web site. The calls come from all over the U.S. and Canada.
Are we really helping? Our telephone volunteers tell us, “YES”! There are success stories. We cannot tell you about them, as calls are entirely confidential – the only person knowing about the call is the one who answers the phone. In addition, we believe that, over time, we have helped ecclesias to raise the importance of “caring”.
Is this detracting from ecclesial autonomy? No! We recommend that callers seek ecclesial help if they feel it is available. We seek to supplement existing ecclesial resources, not replace them. Our literature supports this position. The Caring Network is a second line of defence.
Website and current committee
Look at our web site: www.caringnetwork.ca. It contains a wealth of resources for ecclesias and members on caring issues – sex problems, parenting, depression, substance abuse and grief, to name a few. There are links to other sources of help. There is a comprehensive calendar of ecclesial events for North America. We receive about 700 site visits a month from those seriously investigating its resources.
The Caring Network is financed by the donations of brothers and sisters. There is an on-going need for funds as our expenses are about $7,000 per year. Much of this results from our telephone and counsellor training costs.
The present committee consists of: Brother/Sister: Bob Chisholm, Sandra Chisholm, Jennifer Daniel, Ken Darley, Don Elliott (chairman), Joy Jennings (secretary), Bill Lawrence; Rob Webb.
We thank our Heavenly Father for the help He has given us in making this work helpful.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One