Things are going well at Church. God is SO good.
Our Church is just across the street from our local Junior High School. Last year, that school had an Open House on Wednesday Night, while we normally have Church, and many of their people were trying to park in our parking lot. That's all well and good, but our people coming to Wednesday Night Service wouldn't have any place to park. So, we stood in the street and kindly explained we needed to save some parking spots for our people.
SINCE then, our Independent School District has been FANTASTIC in supporting us in faith based initiatives IN SCHOOL, including our JAM program (Jesus And Me) which is, essentially, Summer School for 6 weeks with a very powerful "Vacation Bible School on STEROIDS" component.
SO, this year, we decided that we would NOT have a Wednesday Night Service on the day they were doing their open house, and we would INVITE their people to park in our lots. We got about a dozen cases of water, chilled them, and stood on the streets inviting people to come park in our lots to attend the Open House across the street.
As it turned out, I had to be out of town with one of our people having surgery that same evening, so I wasn't able to participate. But that's the GOOD thing --- our people took up the slack, made their own signs and banners, and did all the preparation, setup and work.
This is a milestone!!!! It's the very first time (in a long time) that our Church did something "outreach-ish" without me or my Ministry Coordinator having to drive it, or be part of it, or plan or initiate it.
THEN, imagine their surprise when the Superintendent of Schools showed up as things were winding down, and asked to personally thank everybody who contributed, and personally thanked ME for being an influence to this group.
This happened last Wednesday, and I can't even go to Walmart or the grocery store without somebody saying "Hey, we say people from your Church handing out bottles of water and inviting people to park in your lot...."
It's AMAZING what an impact such a simple act can have on our community, and our people are REALLY stoked about doing similar things in the future.
"And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded." Matt 10:42
Our Church is just across the street from our local Junior High School. Last year, that school had an Open House on Wednesday Night, while we normally have Church, and many of their people were trying to park in our parking lot. That's all well and good, but our people coming to Wednesday Night Service wouldn't have any place to park. So, we stood in the street and kindly explained we needed to save some parking spots for our people.
SINCE then, our Independent School District has been FANTASTIC in supporting us in faith based initiatives IN SCHOOL, including our JAM program (Jesus And Me) which is, essentially, Summer School for 6 weeks with a very powerful "Vacation Bible School on STEROIDS" component.
SO, this year, we decided that we would NOT have a Wednesday Night Service on the day they were doing their open house, and we would INVITE their people to park in our lots. We got about a dozen cases of water, chilled them, and stood on the streets inviting people to come park in our lots to attend the Open House across the street.
As it turned out, I had to be out of town with one of our people having surgery that same evening, so I wasn't able to participate. But that's the GOOD thing --- our people took up the slack, made their own signs and banners, and did all the preparation, setup and work.
This is a milestone!!!! It's the very first time (in a long time) that our Church did something "outreach-ish" without me or my Ministry Coordinator having to drive it, or be part of it, or plan or initiate it.
THEN, imagine their surprise when the Superintendent of Schools showed up as things were winding down, and asked to personally thank everybody who contributed, and personally thanked ME for being an influence to this group.
This happened last Wednesday, and I can't even go to Walmart or the grocery store without somebody saying "Hey, we say people from your Church handing out bottles of water and inviting people to park in your lot...."
It's AMAZING what an impact such a simple act can have on our community, and our people are REALLY stoked about doing similar things in the future.
"And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded." Matt 10:42
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