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Mercy Is Servant Evangelism
We have been asked if we believe medical and mercy mission work is truly evangelism or if it is simply a way to make us feel good about ourselves. We believe that mercy is servant evangelism. The word “mercy” appears 157 times in the bible. Mercy is an essential quality of God (Exodus 34:6, 7, Deuteronomy 4:31 and Psalm 62:12) and is His delight (Micah 7:18, 20 and Psalm 52:8). Mercy is associated with God’s covenant (1 Kings 8:23 and Nehemiah 1:5), His justice (Psalm 101:1), His faithfulness (Psalm 89:24) and His truth (Psalm 108:4).
The medical clinic we hosted in Armenia Bonito on Thursday was a typical weekly event for us. Nearly 40 poor people were treated and here is how the gospel of Jesus Christ was shared with those 
who visited:
As our team was setting up our clinic Erin went to the patients that were waiting to be seen. She read to them Exodus 15:1-2 and gave a devotional on how our God is “A God Of Impossibilities”.
When each patient 
entered the clinic their vitals were taken and their symptoms were documented. Bethany and Maddy then gave them an evangelism tract and prayed personally with each person.
While the patients were waiting to be treated by 
Erin they sat in the “waiting room”. In this particular case the girl on the left read the entire evangelism tract aloud. The girl on the right, who doesn’t read so well, was very interested.
Finally the patients were treated personally by Erin and 
Leo. As in Matthew 25:33-40 each of “the least of these” was provided the mercy, love and respect that God desires for His children. Many people think they are coming to be treated by "doctora Teresa" (Erin). In reality they have come to receive the love and mercy of Jesus Christ.
In his book Ministries Of Mercy, Tim Keller says, “The proper model is not (1) to see mercy as the means to evangelism, or (2) to see mercy and evangelism as independent ends, but (3) to see both word and deed, evangelism and mercy, as means to the single end of the spread of the kingdom of God. To say that social concern could be done independently of evangelism is to cut mercy loose from kingdom endeavor. It must then wither. To say that evangelism can be done without also doing social concern is to forget that our goal is not individual "decisions," but the bringing of all life and creation under the lordship of Christ, the kingdom of God.”
