Fishers of Men

There is an account in the Bible that tells the story of some tired and discouraged fishermen. They had fished all night and came up with empty nets. The story is told in John 21. After Jesus rose from the dead, He was on the shore near the place where the disciples had gone to fish. He told the disciples to put down their nets on the right side of the boat. In spite of their discouraged objections, they did it. The harvest of fish was overwhelming. They then realized it was the risen Lord!

In spite of their expertise and effort, in their own strength they came up empty. Following Jesus' instructions produced a large harvest of fish. In America today we are see empty nets instead of a great harvest. Jesus told Peter he would make him a fisher of men. We too are fishers of men. Sometimes I think we are all fishing on the wrong side of the boat. The church puts so much effort into their Sunday services. The hope is to draw people to church and thus to Jesus. I say we must cast our nets on the right side of the boat.

In America we have some serious social issues. People struggle with homelessness, addiction, incarceration, poverty, loneliness, and isolation. Let us consider the homeless, addicted, incarcerated, paroled or on probation, widows, orphans, immigrants and the poor. These groups make up about 25% of the American population. That is nearly 80 million people. Welcome to the mission field, the right side of the boat.

Jesus told us to minister to all these groups of people. The truth in America is that the average Christian has a heart for these groups but has very little training and support to minister to them. Sun Ministries is dedicating our resources and experience to helping Christians be equipped and resourced to fish on this side of the boat. We are expanding our Narrow Gate Program, our Community Pastoral Care Network, and our training events, to help every Christian be equipped to minister to this mission field. The power of Jesus sets captives free. We want to do our part. Watch our events page for upcoming training and connecting events.