![]() ![]() Later, several churches wanted to involve men and started the idea of a co-ed Good Samaritan Society (General Conference Sabbath School, 2008). The Dorcas Society consisted of groups of women who met frequently to provide clothes, food, and/or money for families in the church or the immediate community who had temporary needs. Her story is found in Acts 9:32, 36, 39 in the New Testament. It was named after Dorcas, a believer with a passion to serve others. In 1879, the Seventh-day Adventist Church officially named the “Dorcas Society” as its community outreach program. Jesus expanded the Kingdom of God to places, people, and cultures that the Jews had never considered God to be interested in and has thus set these examples for many (Matt 9:10, 21:31, Rom 14:14). These included the poor, the sick, the unclean, the prostitutes, and tax collectors-all outcasts as sinful people. Throughout Jesus’ ministry there is evidence of a genuine holistic approach toward humanity especially people who were marginalized, disadvantaged, and disenfranchised from society. Therefore, the purpose of holistic ministry is not only to proclaim the Good News, the word of salvation, but also to demonstrate the love of God to people who are in need. In fact, it is the most important covenant that God made with His children-keeping the covenant relationship is our duty and responsibility as Christians, not only to God, but to others (Wallis, 2008). ![]() It also takes into account the root word shalom (peace, well-being, welfare, salute, prosperity, safe, health, perfect, whole, full, just), indicating that God wants us to have a complete, safe, peaceful, perfect, whole, full life. Instead, the system as a whole determines in an important way how the parts behave. The word holistic comes from the Greek word holos, which implies that all the properties of a given system (biological, chemical, social, economic, mental, spiritual, etc.) cannot be determined or explained by the sum of its component parts alone (Liddell & Scott, 1968). ![]() This means serving the whole person, a concept known as holistic ministry. The mission of ACS is to serve the community in Christ’s name (General Conference Sabbath School, 2008). ![]()
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