Under the motto “Come with Jesus into the streets,” delegates to the Women’s Pre-Council of the Uniting General Council 2010 in Grand Rapids, Mich., were invited to get to know the city from the “other side.”

Beyond the boundaries of Calvin College campus and the large upper-class homes of East Grand Rapids, they listened to and experienced people who are challenged to cope day-to-day.

In so-called “Jesus buses” they were driven Tuesday to a struggling section of the city called “Heartside” and confronted with the economic problems of a deteriorating auto industry and its impact on the population.

Meeting at Westminster Presbyterian Church, the women learned about local problems and a Christian agency that long has worked to alleviate them.

Heartside Ministry began more than 25 years ago as a place of hope for people who live at the margins of society. They include mentally ill people who were released from institutions and left largely on their own, women victimized by domestic and sexual violence, and the unemployed and homeless casualties of economic decline and shuttered industries.

The Rev. Charlotte Ellison, pastor of Heartside Ministry, said she fears that in the future the widespread transition from industrial production to service jobs such as the food and health industries will create more social problems.

Her ministry is not restricted to its daily offerings to those in need but also has developed housing programs.

The ministry’s work, in partnership with the YWCA and the Salvation Army, evoked questions from women who compared local conditions with their own situations in the global south.

The charitable thrust of the ministry might create dependency rather than guide people toward independence, a Rwandan

woman said.

A woman from Nigeria commented that giving alone might be one-sided if the receiver did not give back a contribution out of his or her own gifts.

Several said the question of injustice was not being raised.

A core concern emerged from small-group discussions: How is it possible to respond to the question of justice without giving up charitable involvement in the process?

The women weighed such

questions, held Bible study and sang songs of praise before returning to Calvin College.

This article was written by Esther R. Suter and provided by Worldwide Faith News.