Charity

Generosity and charity

In our community we stand up for each other as brothers and sisters. Hereby we let the Bible give our lives an effective direction. We let our lives be guided through the Word of God that we fully trust. Based on God, we develop our faith that is active in prayer and good works. At the same time, however, we recognize that salvation is by grace.

With God’s help, we try to please and obey Him daily, to imitate Christ, who faithfully obeyed His Father. Therefore, we try to be enthusiastic about work, loyal to marriage, generous in giving, committed in preaching and positive in our approach to living in the modern world under God’s guidance.

We regularly attend a service that calls the “Memorial Meeting” or “Breaking of Bread” or « Fraction du pain ». This is similar to the “communion ” of some churches. All members take bread and wine as a symbol for acknowledging Jesus’ sacrifice and ransom at the stake. Presence in this service is the focus of our religious life.

We are aware that the operation of an ecclesia is accompanied by worldly obligations, such as paying rent, and energy costs, but also costs for articles (such as Bibles and Bible study material) as well as costs for the internet and maintaining a website.

However, we do not explicitly ask anyone to contribute anything, although we do appreciate it when people somehow contribute to our ecclesia. This can be done in kind, or by contributing money in an ‘offer block’ or transcribing money on the bank number of the ecclesia (which is preferred). For example, members may, at their discretion, donate to the activities of the Church as they can afford it, without fixed requirements such as tithes.

In our community, no members are paid for their church work, as they are all lay preachers and volunteers. Even the main person in charge of the Belgian Christadelphians (Marcus Ampe) received no monetary compensation for his efforts and a lot of work for managing the various ecclesiae of the Free Christadelphians in Belgium.

As a close-knit community that works in God’s service in every possible way, until Jesus Christ returns to establish his Father’s kingdom, we are aware of the many needs in this world. That is why we are prepared to provide help where we can.

In general, our global society provides two major aid funds, in addition to several smaller organisations.

We therefore participate in aid to Third World countries managed through the following two charities:

Maaltijd-per-dag = « Meal-a-Day »

Whose mission, as a practical witness to our faith, is to share the blessings we receive from God, to help those who really need it in the less developed parts of the world.
To this end, we support sustainable ‘down to earth’ projects aimed at supporting vulnerable children, providing clean water, agricultural skills, basic health care and education and a meal per day.

Our hope is that by taking care of the lives of our ‘neighbours’ in need, we could help through our actions to teach them about the love of Jesus so that they will also be able to find the hope of eternal life through faith in him.

This charity is run from the Christadelphian community, and each of its administrators and officers gives Meal-a-Day their time and expertise for free.

Agape In Action

Agape in Action is a charity run by volunteers, with offices in Canada, the United States and Australia.

Agape in Action aims to change one child at a time, one family at a time. The name reflects their and our intention to put love (‘agape’) into practice by compassionate response to those who need it.

The slogan of that emergency service is ‘Life, opportunities and hope’ and emphasises their dedication to both the physical, cherish emotional and spiritual needs of children and families living with the consequences of poverty.

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Help us help others and keep our ecclesia going:

You can support us by making a deposit into the Belgian bank account: BE37 9730 6618 2528 with the message: Ecclesia Anderlecht

Or arrange it via a payment with your bank card