BOAS

„BOAS” is a Branch of Abraham Ministries.

The name is taken from the biblical character Boas, as described in the Book of Ruth in the Old Testament.

Each letter of the word BOAS stands for one of the main aims of this ministry but it only makes sense in the German language.

B stands for Bekleidung = clothing and in a much broader sense can mean protection and dignity.
O stands for Obdach = homeless, also a home or homeland.
A stands for Annahme = acceptance, also sympathy, love and (a feeling of) security.
S stands for Speise = food, satiation of body, soul and spirit, solidarity.

Purpose

To alleviate suffering and to offer practical assistance in emergency situations by means of small but concrete steps.

One of the main tasks of BOAS Ministries is to promote thriving fellowships and to support them and provide back up on an on-going basis. Therefore, for us it is of utmost importance to work together with prospective partners in the long term.

Our target is to promote innovative ideas and projects which supplement a peaceful and fruitful co-operation and co-existence between genders, generations and nations. With this in mind, we would like to include, and take advantage of, the knowledge and experience of the ever-increasing number of older people. In this way we would maintain existing perspectives, broker hope and demonstrate a new zest for life.

BOAS Ministry plans to reach these goals through the following ways:

Boas Ministry initiates, promotes, operates and / or supports projects – e.g. children’s homes, schools, old people’s homes and recreational and leisure opportunities for both young and old.

BOAS Ministry intends to turn those in need who receive help, into people who will later be the ones that help others.

BOAS Ministry wants to provide information and enlighten (where misconceptions exist) motivate and challenge people to practical acts of charity.

boas_IMG_4628 boas_IMG_4576

Why the concepts of BOAS Ministry will have an ever increasing importance for Christians?

1 The end of the Welfare State
Our society is in a continual process of transformation and one of the current trends is away from the Welfare State and towards more individual responsibility. Every single one of us will be significantly challenged in this area. Whoever wants to be secure and safeguard his future will have to invest considerably more time in his vocational training and profession. That the Welfare State is proving to be brittle and flawed is a breeding ground for a new questioning as to what we believe in.

2 The search for warm-heartedness
The greater the harshness in the economy and society, the greater the desire for protection in supposedly old values such as human companionship, readiness to help others, and the feeling of security that can be found within the confines of the family, which can cushion us from disagreeable and unpleasant circumstances and situations. The greatest testimony for the church will be its “family anointing”, which can be identified through heartfelt relationships and a feeling of security. Jesus’ words that his disciples can be recognised by the love that they have for one another, will take on a new dimension.

3 The trend to a more polarised society
There will be an ever increasing number of poor and socially deprived people, and at the same time there will be more wealthy people. A number of areas under the auspices of the Welfare State will be transferred to the church. Christians will be challenged to take the initiative, as in the founding stages of the church, in assuming responsibility for schooling, hospitals, old people’s homes and also in the area of addiction.

4 The trend to the 60 plus generation
A longer-living society is searching for a new purpose to life. We should begin now to see this age group as one of the great chances and challenges for the church today. The 60 plus generation will be one of the biggest mission fields in our society. They have at their disposal, a treasure which no other age group possesses. TIME! If we can teach them to grow in their faith, to preach the Gospel and to serve the poor.

5 Back to the rootsThe present generation are not interested in great theses, theories or dogma; they want to see Christians who live what they believe and see that it works. Doubting Christians full of head knowledge, who try to preach a watered-down mixture of social-political gospel as a substitute for real spiritual life have no chance to reach today’s humanistic society. This form of gospel preaching has caused the people to become spiritually starved and has emptied the church over the recent decades. We have been contaminated to a high-degree by the “spirit of the sons of Greece”. It can be overcome to the extent that we return to the roots of our faith based on our Hebrew inheritance and learn to understand anew the “spirit of the sons of Zion”. The more we geographically detach the gospel from its Hebrew origin, the more it will be superimposed by a Hellenistic culture with the end result that it will be eliminated and replaced by anti-Semitism.

Can we rediscover the power and authority that the early church experienced through their faith in Jesus? Can we start to identify this Grecian spirit in our society, but above all in our own lives? Will we return to the roots of the Gospel, to the spirit of Jesus, to celebrate the true worship of God in spirit and truth in the church?

Summary of a text from Jobst Bittner, TOS Tübingen