What Do God's Hands Look Like?

Too often we feel that effective outreach work is a difficult process requiring extensive brainstorming and creative thinking. There we go again serving God in an advisory capacity. The truth is, we need only wait expectantly and God will show us where he wants us to work with him. The First Moravian Church in Dover, Ohio, has experienced this invitation for ministry first hand.

One of the first outreach programs involving youth was shown to us one year during our annual Christmas caroling. One of our groups entered a nursing home to serenade them with Christmas carols. There were quite a few other groups there already. One elderly resident took one look at our group and muttered, “Oh no! They’re going to sing again!” This made us realize that we inundate these poor folks with carols during Christmas. What about the other 11 months out of the year?

This led our junior high youth group into their Christian Caroling ministry. The kids love to sing the songs they learn each year at camp. So their leaders take them and a guitar to a nursing home a couple times each year and they sing these songs to the residents. During these visits they receive a much warmer reception! The residents who are able, will follow the singers down the halls. Instead of begging them to leave, they are begging the kids for one more song. Occasionally one of the tunes is familiar to some of the residents and they’ll be seen singing along! The Junior High students are usually apprehensive before their first caroling experience. However, most of them will come away with a much different feeling realizing they have just experienced the thrill of giving!

Many times as leaders in the church we don’t always recognize opportunities to serve. We’ve been blessed to have on our staff a custodian with a heart for God. While doing yard work around the church, he noticed the number of Dover High School students venturing through our parking lot each day in search of their lunch. Their lunch period is very short and there are only a few places to which they can walk. Consequently, many of the students dine regularly on potato chips, doughnuts, and pop. Long lines and very few places to sit while they eat also leaves them dining on this less than nutritious fare as they walk back to school. Our custodian presented the idea, “Wouldn’t it be a great outreach to feed these kids?” Voila! The birth of Dover High Outreach.

During the first year a barbeque was set up in our parking lot on three consecutive Fridays in May. The students were offered a complete lunch, free of charge. Tables were set up for them to relax while they dined, and a stereo playing Christian rock music was set up to make the area more inviting and to expose them to a positive message through various Christian artists.

In 2003 we offered lunches to the students one Friday a month from January through May. The barbeque in the parking lot gently introduced them to our church. We now hoped they would be more comfortable actually entering the building because they knew we expected nothing more from them than to enjoy their lunch.

During the last lunch in May the efforts of the outreach extended to evangelism as each student was given a sampler CD of various Christian groups as a gift (made possible by donations from our membership). Many kids will tell you they don’t listen to the words of a song, only the music. However, these same kids will also correct you if you sing one world out of place! The CD’s we offered would provide an opportunity for them to absorb the witnessing of the talented young Christian artists and hopefully stimulate an interest in one or more of these groups. Some of these artists, such as Mercy Me, Jump5, and POD are already breaking through into secular radio. There was also an invitation to join us for worship attached to the CD’s. We had our highest attendance during this last luncheon, with 105 students being fed and receiving the gift CD.

Outreach lunch workers ranged in age from eight years old to senior members of our congregation. These individuals had all volunteered to work the lunches, responding to God’s call to serve. Consequently they were all excited by the project. The adults were delighted at how polite and thankful the students were to be invited to the lunches. Other members felt called to help but could not be present, so they participated by donating baked goods.

Another outreach opportunity was revealed to us when one of our young members didn’t feel like “doing the whole restaurant thing” before her prom. Ta-da! Prom dinner outreach! The Dover prom-goers were offered steak or chicken dinners, complete with beverage and dessert, for prices between $8-$10. The students filled out menu selections and paid for their meals in advance. This allowed us to purchase only what was needed, and to have the meals prepared as each group arrived.

A smaller part of the social hall was curtained off to create a more intimate room, and was decorated simply but invitingly. Before the prom dinner we saw parents and grandparents stopping in to peek at our “restaurant.”

As the couples pulled up to the front door, our valets opened their doors and parked their cars. Our waiters escorted them to their tables in our romantic, candle-lit dining room filled with soft music. As a surprise, the waiters offered them sparkling white or red grape juice with their meals. Great care was taken to make this as elegant a dinner as possible. Our waiters did such a fantastic job that the kids thought they were professionals! Many of the youth later stated that their private restaurant was the best part of the prom!

Both of these student outreaches had inward and outward results. Outwardly we were effective in presenting the church as a welcoming, accepting, and loving place to the students. The youth leaders have had more communication with the students who now recognize them. We also gained a positive image among the adults in the community. We’ve heard appreciative comments from parents regarding the prom dinner and the Dover High lunches. It is possible we’ll see growth in the church stemming from these outreaches. Inwardly, these projects provided an opportunity for many members to take part in outreach work. Service in the furtherance of the Kingdom can be an intimidating task and finding a place to share our time, talents, and treasures can be quite a challenge. Hold you hands up in front of you. Be it eight or eighty we behold His hands — hands to reach out, hands to help out, hands to work spreading the gospel of our Savior Jesus Christ.