Volunteers help construct a house for Habitat for Humanity of Johnson County in 2021. Habitat for Humanity of Johnson County is one of 14 ministries finding resources and help for its mission through Kingdom Missions Collective.
(Franklin) Daily Journal file photo
NEW WHITELAND — Throughout Johnson County, mission groups are reaching out to the needy, the struggling and the lost.
They feed the hungry, assist people trapped in substance use disorder and provide housing for those with nowhere else to go. Leaders know they could impact more people if they could connect to area churches and organizations.
One New Whiteland-area organization wants to be that bridge.
Kingdom Missions Collective is an organization created to be a tool for local churches and ministries to find one another. The group helps those ministries raise awareness of their work, while helping churches and their members pinpoint volunteer and funding opportunities.
“We want to help these ministries survive and grow and to be able to have what they need,” said Tarah Tucker, secretary on the Kingdom Missions Collective board.
Working with existing organizations such as the Interchurch Food Pantry, Resources of Hope and 148 Ministries, Kingdom Missions Collective hopes to increase the impact made in the community.
“KMC serves as a platform, resource, tool to help Christians on the southside do their jobs easier — the job of showing the love of God through meeting of physical needs, spiritual needs and mental-emotional needs,” said Joe McDaniel, an elder at Grace Bible Church in New Whiteland, where the group is housed, and founder of the collective.
Kingdom Missions Collective was born when a fellow pastor and friend posed McDaniel a question. He was looking for a ministry to support financially, and was hoping for recommendations of a group doing important work in the community.
McDaniel thought about it, and spoke with other pastors throughout the southside of Indianapolis and Johnson County. They brainstormed a way to help people and churches contribute their resources to worthwhile causes locally.
“How can we encourage these ministries, not only with dollars, but with hands and feet through volunteers,” he said.
This fellowship of churches coalesced around a formal organization — Kingdom Missions Collective. With a board made up of multiple area churches, the collective handles the legwork of administration, organization and community between churches and para-church ministries — that is, ministries working across denominations and churches.
The group meets with ministries to gain a sense of what their mission is and how they impact the community, then the Kingdom Missions Collective board decides whether to include them in the collective.
Collective members also meet with churches to inform them about their goals, allowing them to carry that message to their congregations. The participating ministries are already vetted, so people can be confident they’re supporting a beneficial cause, Tucker said.
“They can encourage them to do some kind of outreach, and then they can send them to Kingdom Missions Collective,” Tucker said.
For individuals in the community, the collective is also a place where they can make donations, either to specific ministries in the community or to Kingdom Missions Collective to distribute to their partner ministries and support their work.
All of the work is done without a fee or cost that comes back to the collective, McDaniel said.
“We’re serving them with nothing in return. That’s what is different,” he said. “Any para-church ministry that wants to partner with KMC, we raise awareness for them, which gives them volunteers and dollars. And they give us nothing.”
At this point, Kingdom Missions Collective is working with 14 ministries, ranging from Habitat for Humanity of Johnson County to Wheeler Mission to Resources of Hope, a nonprofit providing support for foster families.
Getting involved with the collective seemed like an ideal way to reach other churches and people, said David Storvick, founder of 148 Ministries. The organization brings together physical, behavioral and spiritual health in its approach to addiction, abuse and other mental health issues.
Through its fitness program, 148 Wellness, open to the public, the group funds its addiction counseling work and community outreach.
When Kingdom Missions Collective reached out to the organization last year, it felt like a good fit, Storvick said.
“After meeting with them, it was clear that their Christian mission aligned with what 148 Ministries is doing by sharing the hope of Christ in central and southern Indiana,” he said.
Collective organizers are also looking for greater ways to reach the community. A year from now, they hope to have a “ministry fair,” an event that gathers ministries working with the group together in one location where they can meet with members of local churches.
“That way, they have a connection in person in addition to through a website,” Tucker said.
Through its work, the team at Kingdom Mission Collective has been encouraged by the response they’ve received from area missions as well as church communities.
But so much more potential exists to do good in the county, Tucker said.
“I think people in churches want to do this, they want to help, but they don’t know where to start. This is a tool to use for them to do that,” Tucker said.
Kingdom Missions Collective at a glance
What: A New Whiteland-based organization created to be a tool for churches and ministries in Johnson County and the south side of Indianapolis to find one another. The group helps those ministries raise awareness of their work, while helping churches and their members pinpoint volunteer and funding opportunities.
How to help: Churches, missions and individuals can find resources and information at kmcollective.org.
