On Saturday our church conducted its semi-annual "work day", a designated time to bring a large group of our people together for a mass effort to take care of important building and maintenance issues that tend to get neglected in the normal routines of things. This time it was different, and part of a growing new orientation for our congregation.
This summer when we began seriously wrestling with our mission, one of the many ideas that was floated concerned our work day. It should not just be for ourselves, but hopefully an opportunity to take our labors into our community.
Saturday was the first such occasion. While we completed a wide range of needed projects around our church facility, a team of workers made their trek off-site to make contact with some of our neighbors. They offered to do some yard work, of course without cost, but because we want to share God's love.
As one woman shared in our service yesterday" "it was the highlight of the day". Prior to this, making contact with our immediate neighbors is not something we have been very good at. The joy of helping others and making a personal connection left a strong impression. By our next work day I can see us doing even more. And, more importantly, we are adopting a new attitude and perspective of what is involved in mission.
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