Servolution Sunday - Sharpen Conference 2010

Teams from Emmanuel Baptist Church in Barrie invaded their community with planned service projects this past Sunday.
One team visited a seniors home and ministered to them with a hymn sing.
Another team visited some patients in the hospital, and did some singing as well.
A team of fifty people cleaned-up a local park.
And a couple of dozen people went door-to-door in the local community, and in just one hour, collected over 600 pounds of donations for the Barrie Food Bank.

Haiti | Sacrificial Love

This is Josh.

Josh saw the destruction and the suffering caused by the earthquake in Haiti, and decided that he had to respond.

Josh is dropping everything to go to Haiti in order to help establish an emergency orphanage with Emmanuel's Wish Foundation (EWF). He will be leaving February 19th to spend three months in the village of Deskoyte, an impoverished community of about 100 residents approximately four hours drive outside of Port au Prince. The EWF missionaries that are already on the ground have had to change gears quickly as they committed to the care of up to 150 earhquake orphans.

While in Haiti, Josh will:

• help to take care of the children;


• do odd jobs around the property as required;


• visit the injured children in the hospital until they are well enough to be released to the orphanage;


• deliver clothing and emergency supplies while waiting for the container of supplies to arrive;


• anything else that needs to be done to meet the tangible physical, social, and spiritual needs of these children.

Josh has caught the meaning behind the words of James, the brother of Jesus, who said that,

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress" (James 1:27).

Josh's financial needs for the trip have already been met, but if you wish to donate toward EWF's work, you can contact them directly here.

Please be in prayer for Josh, for his travels, and for his work for the Kingdom.

Haiti Response Update

The need is great, but people have been responding as the hands and feet of Christ by donating much of the needed items for Emmanuel's Wish and the emergency orphanage in Haiti.

Much is still needed, however, in order to fill a container to ship to Haiti.

Money is also urgently needed, and can meet emergency needs much quicker than our donated items. Please consider giving to Haiti relief. Here are some options for giving:

- Emmanuel Baptist Church is accepting targeted donations for Haiti in the regular Sunday offering. These funds will be added to the response of the fellowship of churches;
- Emmanuel's Wish is accepting donations online as well as the items listed in a previous post. See our previous posts for contact information, links, and a needs list;
- A special fundraising concert will be held at Mapleview Community Church in Barrie, this Saturday evening at 7:00pm. Paul Turner and Jody Cross will lead worship, and there will be Haiti updates from Compassion Canada and Emmanuel's Wish.

One of our very own young adults is exploring the possibility of responding to the Haiti orphan crisis in a very tangible and personal way: by going there himself. This mission trip will be arranged hastily as God opens the doors and makes the arrangements possible. Please be in prayer for this young man and for the necessary arrangements and funding as he pursues this partnership in service with Emmanuel's Wish.

This crisis in Haiti, along with other critical physical, social, and spiritual needs around the world and in our very own communities, is an opportunity for Christ-followers to "act justly and love mercy" (Micah 6:8), as we shine our light for the world to see (Matthew 5:16).

Perspective

Emmanuel's Wish Foundation is accepting donations for their Haiti container directly at:
The Teamworks Building
164 Innisfil Street
Barrie

Drop-off Saturdays 9:00am - 12:00pm

Donated items can also be dropped off at Emmanuel during normal business hours, or on Sunday mornings.
Emmanuel Baptist Church
4120 Salem Road
at Essa Road
Barrie

The Haiti earthquake is tragic, and the people affected need both immediate and long-term aid. We are very privileged and blessed to be able to respond, especially for the orphans that we have comitted to help.

The Bible says that God "comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God" (2 Corinthians 1:4 NIV).

Meanwhile, let's not forget this: "As we have opportunity, let us do good to all people" (Galatians 6:10 NIV).

The spirit of Servolution is to be aware of the social, physical, and spiritual needs around us... to reach out and to intentionally help others in their need, because we want to share the love of Christ with everyone. Don't stop offering a helping hand, a word of encouragement, or a visit or donation to the people and organizations right here in our own communities. Point people to the servolution website, where they can choose to explore the love of Christ further, or even decide to join this revolution of love and get involved! Read the About Us page to find out why we do what we do, and tell us your stories of how God gave you the opportunity to serve someone, or how God used someone to serve you in your time of need.

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

(1 John 3:16-18 NIV)

Brown-bagging it

A friend of Servolution recently saw someone at a busy Barrie intersection with a sign asking for help. You might see this in the big city alot, but not so much in Barrie.

Our friend's 11 year-old daughter in the back seat of the minivan asked if there was something that they could do to help the person, but the stoplight turned green and she was forced to move with the traffic and drive away.

At home, this family decided to pack a brown-bag lunch for the person in need, and intentionally returned to the intersection to drop it off.

Mercy. Compassion. Intention.... Servolution.

Love the City

On Saturday, a couple of dozen Christ-followers from three local churches descended on the Barrie Kozlov Mall with a very simple goal in mind: Love the City.

People who came to the mall had the doors opened for them, were given free candy canes, and were wished a Merry Christmas.
2,500 Candy Canes were handed out! Each candy cane had a card attached that pointed people to the Love the City website where they can find out more about area churches.

The event organizer, Tim Maassarany, had this to say about people's reactions:

"It's funny how no one expects anything to be free anymore... It was amazing how many people asked if we were collecting donations, or why we were handing out free candy canes. It was hard for some people to accept that they were free, and that was really cool."

Showing people the love of Christ through simple acts of kindness and service will help our light to shine for Him! Stay tuned for more Love the City events that you can get involved with!

Miracle at Walmart

A mom and her nine-year-old boy were living in their van... and then the van was towed away, and they were left homeless, with nothing but the clothes on their backs.

A pastor and some Christ-followers responded to the need. Watch the video:



Here are a couple of quotes from the video that speak for themselves:

You know, the "Call of God" is man's need. It's not waiting for some voice on a mountain top. If you've responded to a need, then you've responded to God's call. And that's it.

(Pastor Matthew Barnett, Dream Center)

I hope you do this in your neighbourhood, because this has been amazing, and you need to experience what we're experiencing.

(Mark Horvath, invisible people)

This is a tangible demonstration of the Kingdom by followers of Christ stepping up in a simple way. What an opportunity to show love to this young mother, and to use this opportunity to introduce her to the Gospel message!

Love the City Event

It's a city-wide movement! Christ-followers from churches across the City of Barrie are stepping up to serve Christ by serving others.

This new campaign is called Love the City.

This Saturday, December 19th, Servolution is joining with Christians from churches such as Emmanuel, Willow Creek, and Barrie Free Methodist to hand out Candy Canes to unsuspecting shoppers at the Kozlov Mall in Barrie.

We need volunteers! Why not come down and join us, and demonstrate the tangible presence of Christ to the city of Barrie in this simple way!

Where: Kozlov Mall, Zeller's Entrance map
When: Saturday, December 19th, 10:45 am

Love the City servolution

Easy Service Ideas to Meet Immediate Needs

Please consider stepping up and meeting these needs for Christmas:

• Bring a new toy or book to Emmanuel this Sunday or next Sunday. Servolution will make sure that your donation will reach a sick child at Royal Victoria Hospital in Barre.


• Make sure some basic needs are met for clients of the Barrie Women and Children's Shelter. Bring the following items to the Servolution desk at Emmanuel by December 20th (special bags are available at the table):
  
1. child's toothbrush and toothpaste;
2. dental floss or floss sticks;
3. kids shampoo and conditioner;
4. wrapped bar of soap;
5. pump hand soap;
6. washcloth.


• Do some extra Christmas baking, and donate it for gift baskets to "Candlelighters", to show some kindness to families touched by cancer.


• ...and don't forget: Friday, December 4th 6:30-10:30pm, Coffee-house style Mission Fundraiser at Emmanuel.

Servolution: radical grace lived out daily.

Servolution Success Stories!

Here's what some people have been telling servolution:

• someone helped a person move (last minute);
• someone fixed a person's car;
• a man is helping a lady with some maintenance and upgrades in her basement, while his family visits with her;
• a mechanic went and helped a single mom look at a used vehicle... for free!
• a family sponsored another woman's daughter to go to camp;
• a man bought something to eat, and brought it to a person he had just met in the hospital;
• people have emailed, and expressed their thanks for being served!
• a group that meets for coffee and a devotional time asked how to get involved;
• someone had been served, and asked for servolution cards to hand out when serving others!
• a person expressed how much joy they experienced by serving others!
• people from another church have stepped forward to ask how to spread servolution!
• an elderly lady used her talent to bring some joy to a retirement home through the gift of music;
• and more...

How are you serving? How are you sharing the love of Christ? How are you becoming a servant to many for the sake of the Gospel message (1 Corinthians 9:19)?

Community | Marketing the Royal Priesthood

It's all about community.
From the very beginning, God's plan was to set apart a people for Himself. We see this when God promises Moses that He will deliver the Hebrew people from Egypt:

I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God (Ex. 6:7).

This theme, this phrase, is repeated throughout the Old Testament and into the New... "You will be my people, and I will be your God". When John is shown the New Jerusalem in his vision, he hears a voice announce this:

Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God (Revelation 21:3).

God has a plan to create a community, God has a plan to preserve His community, and God has a purpose for His community. Consider Jesus' words in John 13:35:

By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

Our behaviour in community demonstrates our witness to the world.
The best illustration of God's purpose for His community was written by Peter. He wrote to encourage Christians, scattered in their little communities throughout the Roman empire, and in it he reminded them of God's plan:

You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God (1 Peter 2:9-10).

God chose His people, set them apart as a Holy Nation for His use, and gave them the role of intercession and minstry as a Royal Priesthood.
Why? So that they would declare His praises. Peter goes on to urge believers to

live such good lives... that they [non-Christians] will see your good deeds and glorify God (vs. 12).

Community declares praise for God. Community proclaims the goodness of God. Community does good for God, by doing good for others.

Shine:

Maybe you're a member of a small group, a small community. How can you, together, demonstrate God's goodness to others? Here's just a few ideas. You can probably come up with a few more...

• Visit an extended care facility, and share some love with the residents and staff;
• Serve for just a few hours once per month at the Out of the Cold program;
• Adopt a park or school playground, and spend a Saturday morning picking up litter;
• Join a Cause, like the walk for a cure;
• Serve breakfast or lunch at the downtown shelter one Saturday morning every five or six weeks;
• Purchase supplies and deliver them to that same shelter (demand is way up, and donations are down);
• Deliver some treats and coffee to your local fire department, police, or Hospital Emergency Room (like on the midnight shift!);
• Buy some nutritional items, and give them out randomly to students on the college campus.

In our city, servolution can even connect your group with some opportunities, and outfit you with t-shirts and cards that point people to the gospel at servolution.ca!

How are you expressing God's goodness with your community?