In my role as a Director of Missions, I work to engage the churches of my local association in an intentional Acts 1:8 missions strategy. Recently, we conducted a local missions event called “LoveLoud Pike”, which included 3 days of missional service by members of our local churches serving our local communities. Our projects consisted of 3 types:
- Evangelism & Outreach
- Community Service
- Construction
Our biblical motivation came from 1 John 3:18, which states “Little children, let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth.” In other words, we did not just want to say that we love our local communities, but we wanted to prove it by our deeds. I have listed below some of the projects that our teams participated in. All of these can be easily reproduced in your church or local association:
- Light bulb giveaway – It’s probably a safe guess that you have at least one blown light bulb in your house. The same is probably true for your neighbors as well. Purchase some light bulbs and pass them out to folks, free of charge. It may just open up an opportunity for you to tell them about the light of the world as well!
- Water bottle giveaway – This is especially effective on hot, summer days. Go to a local park or any place where people are gathered outdoors and pass out free bottles of water. And look for an opportunity to tell them about the One who can give them Living Water!
- Free car wash – Grab a bucket, some sponges, a water hose, and some signage, and get to work. This project takes very little prep work, but can be very effective, especially when people find out that it’s free! People will ask you what the catch is, and they will all but throw money at you, but do not accept money under any circumstances. Simply explain that God’s grace is free, and so is the car wash!
- Community service projects – Contact your local school board or government officials and ask if there are any projects that you can do around their schools, businesses, or parks. Our teams painted, cut weeds, filled potholes, and did lots of landscaping, simply because we asked how we could serve our neighbors.
- Neighborhood landscaping – Grab some weed killer and start walking through neighborhoods. Once you see a home that could use a little help, simply knock on the door to ask the homeowner if you can spray or pull up their weeds. Again, do not accept payment! (Note: we ran out of weed killer on other projects before actually engaging in this project, but we look forward to doing it next time.)
The possibilities are endless, but these are just 5 examples to get you thinking about ways that your church can engage in local missions. It’s not rocket science; it just takes a little gospel intentionality!
What are some ways that you or your church engages in local missions? I’d love to hear from you!
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