When I think of reaching our community, I don’t focus on how we can draw a big crowd, but on how we can make an impact for the glory of God. How can we coordinate a community-wide event, win souls for Christ, and see the tangible results of people becoming disciples?
Drawing a crowd, for most of us, is not difficult. In fact, the saying “If you have food, you will get a crowd” rings true. That, to me, sounds like an opportunity for the church to take those opportunities to serve the city and to begin to speak into the lives of those who might not otherwise darken the door of the church. All God needs is a chance to show up in a real and significant way.
So we, Glad Tidings Church in Casa Grande, AZ, began to strategize, “Ok, God, what can we do in our city to make a difference, draw a crowd, and have You show up? How can we make an impact in Casa Grande and see change happen in the lives of these people we want to reach?” Then it happened; it was simple.
For years we have done an event for our church children and youth. We supplied backpacks filled with school supplies. In 2011 we gave out 32 backpacks and it was a great time. We decided what we would do in 2012 is open it up to the city and give out 200 backpacks and school supplies, and feed the recipients, as well. We knew we needed to make an opportunity for God to show up big! We planned and strategized; we handed out 2,000 flyers, put it on Facebook, placed it on Twitter, ran ads in the newspapers, and shared the vision with our church.
The day the event took place, it was to start at 10 a.m. I drove to the church both nervous and excited, and I prayed, “God, here is an opportunity for You to show up!” I didn’t know if we would have 10 or 500 people show up; I just didn’t know. I got to the church at 7 a.m. to pray and get final preparations
complete; and there was already a line at the front doors! Families had been camped out since 4:30 a.m. that morning. The lines grew and grew. We lost count at 800 people. We were shocked . . . and we only had 200 backpacks. This was God’s opportunity to show up!
My team looked at the crowd, and we didn’t want them to go away empty-handed. So I did what any pastor would do. I requested an offering from the church members, and ran to Wal-Mart and bought all the backpacks I could. Meanwhile, the games and fun continued for all. After the program, I spoke a simple gospel message of hope and love. At the end of the day, we had blessed city residents with 386 backpacks, 500 Bibles, and 152 men, women, and children gave their lives to Jesus! You see, my friend, we just had to create an opportunity to allow Jesus to show up, and He always does! We just need to make an opportunity for Jesus to connect to the unbeliever.
I’ll be honest, that event was easy to do, and we were giving away something free. But the work was just getting ready to begin. We followed up with letters, email, and phone calls with those who had accepted Jesus. We invited them to service the next week, and we volunteered to pick them up in our newly acquired buses. That next week we had over 30 new folks to pick up that had been to our back to school bash! Since then, our children’s ministry has exploded and outgrown the children’s facilities. Many families have come since then and have given their lives to Jesus.
As a result of this event, we birthed a feeding program to the poor and homeless in our city. We have also distributed shoes to the needy children in the area. We have expanded our bus routes and reach into our city. We have also begun a feeding program to the needy children in the city and we serve just fewer than 500 meals a month out of our church, as a direct result of that one back-to-school event. Local businesses have heard what has happened in our church and some now support us financially and also donate thousands of loaves of bread for us to distribute weekly. Understand, what we did was simple. We saw a need in our city and filled it. We spoke a simple message that Jesus loved them and had a great plan for their lives, and God showed up!
We look at outreach differently now. We simply want to serve, and for God to come and minister to our neighbors’ spiritual needs as we supply their physical needs. As we plan our future outreaches for this spring, summer, and fall, our prayer is simple: “God we want to reach our city. That’s Your heart. Help us prepare, plan, and strategize. But we will do it all in vain, unless You show up. Help us to make an impact, fill a need, and provide an opportunity for You to show up, for You are the hope they so desperately need.”
When we look to reach out in our city, we also look at what other houses of faith are doing. We don’t want to duplicate a ministry. If at all possible, we want to partner with them, come alongside of them, and be a blessing to serve with them. Our heart is to do something new, or something not being done, and do that with excellence.
I encourage you to look around in your city and find a need. Maybe in your town you have folks who need food, clothes, or shoes. Maybe God is asking you to find a creative way to reach them by meeting them at their point of need. Maybe your city, like ours, has a homeless problem. Go to them and make a hot lunch and serve them, if possible. Give them an opportunity to accept Jesus as their Savior, and then offer to bring them to church on Sunday.
Reaching your community doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. Feeding 800 people and giving backpacks and school supplies to our community cost the church about $2,000. Feeding the homeless costs about $50 each time we serve them. Sometimes we offer barbecue for city-wide events. All that costs is the gas and the barbecue, and it’s a great way to serve the city, and a great way to meet new people and allow God to minister to them through us. It is all about getting to be where the people are, meeting their needs, and allowing God to touch them right where they are. Most of the people at our back-to-school bash would never come to church on their own on a Sunday, but once they experienced our heart to serve them, the walls were broken down. All of a sudden, church wasn’t so bad after all! Find a need in your city, take it to the Lord, give Him an opportunity to show up, and then serve.
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