Summer is for Sowing and Harvesting

The summer months provide great opportunities for churches, young and old, to step up community outreach. With warmer weather, many residents are in public places and more accessible to caring Christians.

Our two newest Project Jerusalem planting teams have recently used “community acts of kindness” to cultivate the soil for gospel seed-sowing. We hope other churches, desiring to be more outreach-minded, can glean ideas from their stories to better reach their own towns.

Steamtown Church attracted lots of attention in Scranton through two recent efforts. On June 27, church volunteers, joined by youth from a supporting church, gave away over $1,000 in gas to city residents. Roughly 100 drivers each received $10 worth of fuel at a downtown Valero station located just a block from the Red Carpet Inn, where the three-month-old church meets on Sundays.

The gas give-away was covered by local media and drew a line of cars that snaked around the block. Teen volunteers also washed the windshields of most vehicles. Every motorist served was also given a “connect card.”

“This was a great idea and, personally, it couldn’t have come at a better time for me,” said Kevin Holland, a downtown resident. “I plan to check out the church now.”

Steamtown’s second outreach was a huge July 4 Family Picnic. Held in a city park, the well-advertised event attracted over 350 residents. Dozens of Steamtown attendees served guests, joined by a large youth team from Maranatha Bible Church, a partner church from Akron, Ohio. Volunteers staffed over a dozen carnival games, most made by church people. They also served hamburgers and passed out lots of other free food, popcorn, and snow cones.

Community guests enjoyed a local band which alternated with Christian music sung by the Steamtown worship team. Numerous gift cards and prizes, some donated by local businesses, were also given away. Guests had to register at the park entrance to be eligible for the drawings. Once again, all who came received a card and church information. Two local TV newscasts broadcast positive stories on the church-sponsored holiday event. Two days later, several first-time guests showed up at Steamtown’s Sunday worship service and heard the gospel.

The Lower Poconos launch team also recently had two fruitful community outreach events.

The week of June 23-27 they held a VBS-like “Kids Club” at the Bushkill Fire Station community hall. The club featured exciting puppet shows, outdoor games, indoor crafts, upbeat kids music, a daily Bible story and refreshments. A youth mission team from Milford Bible Church, a nearby sponsor church, led the outreach. They were joined by the talented puppet team from Gospel Ministries to Children (www.gmtcpocono.org). The club averaged 20 kids daily, with a week’s total attendance of 38, many from unchurched families. Six kids professed to receive Christ, as well as one mother. This Kids Club provided lots of opportunities to meet and befriend parents of the young people.

The following week, the Lower Poconos team gave away about 250 sno-cones at the annual Juneteenth Festival in the township community park. Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. The festival drew hundreds of area African Americans and provided another opportunity to share Christ’s unconditional love with both kids and adults. Many asked for more information about Mountain Stream Baptist Church, scheduled to open on October 5. A full-color connect card telling about the grand opening was distributed to all.

Please pray for both our Steamtown and Mountain Stream teams as they seek to follow-up on the hundreds of new contacts from these outreaches.

Such simple acts of kindness can open an unbeliever up to the greatest act of kindness of all – the free grace of Christ and the Gospel. Small things done with great love can change hearts. This is the rationale and benefit of “servant evangelism.”

Servant evangelism is sharing the love and message of Jesus Christ through practical acts of service and kindness. The concept has been popularized by Steve Sjogren in his classic book, “Conspiracy of Kindness.” In a culture that increasingly views churches as irrelevant and only focused on themselves, such efforts can help your community be glad your church exists.

In what tangible ways will you demonstrate God’s unconditional love to your community?”

For more ideas on how to do servant evangelism in your community – along with samples of connect cards – go to Sjogren’s website: www.servantevangelism.com. Thousands of North American churches are now using these practical outreach strategies.

The benefits of community acts of kindness are many:

• They’re great for believers just learning to share their faith, as well as for seasoned Christians.
• Anyone can get involved; one doesn’t have to know lots of Bible verses to be effective.
• They can be done individually or in a small group.
• They help churches become more community focused and generous with God’s love. Thus they are an antidote to consumerism.
• They move believers closer to a biblical lifestyle marked by consistent witnessing.

Church planters recognize that seed planting is vital along with presentational evangelism. Both word and deed outreaches are needed. Servant evangelism is the simplest, most transferable, and yes, the most fun approach for many believers.