My First Mission

Last week I went on vacation. While I was gone, I got a look at other parts of the country - parts that were not as affluent as Bloomington, Illinois. What I saw was a lot of organizations helping people that live on the streets, people that do not have all the things that we have, and people treating other people just the same as we are. In other words, people treating people like people!

So it got me thinking about what I could be doing back home to help people. I am reading a case study about the dream center in Los Angeles. The pastor of the dream center said these profound words: "If the church can be involved with serving their community and loving and being contagious with good works, we can redefine what the church is all about. I believe that God has called the church to set the tone for what the world should be like." WOW! Read that again and let it soak in. It is telling me that we as a church should show the world how to help people and then the world will help others. How fantastic is that!

With that in mind, my head has been spinning. I have been thinking of a million things I can be doing. Of course, I know that you have to start small. One way to fail is to try and do it all and do it all at once. So the first thing I want to do is something that is successful in Peoria and in Los Angeles. It is called Adopt-a-Block.

With Adopt-a-Block, you don't need any facilities. You don't need money. All you need is faith and volunteers. I have faith! Now all I need is volunteers. What the program entails is to pick a block in the city and get your volunteers. Then go to the block and knock on the doors. Ask the people at the house how you can serve them. Rake the yards, trim bushes, paint the house, help pull weeds, or do whatever they ask. If they say "no thank you", then ask if you can pray for them. Then go to the next house. Next week, go back to the same house. Continue to do this week after week. Build a relationship with these families. Invite them to church. Love them. Show them that they are people loved by Christ just like you!

This is going to be the first thing that I am going to tackle. Pray for me as I am going to seek out volunteers and try to get this started within the next month. I don't know how it will go, but with God's help, I know we can be a success.

Love to all.