Outreach

We do a lot of different outreaches every year...one of our best (and one of my favorites!) is Soccer Camp...we put on a free camp for kids in our community...kids have a BLAST playing soccer...and we get to share Jesus and his love with them. Some of the children that come only hear about Jesus 1x a year and it is at this camp! IT IS AWESOME!

I ran the camp the first 3 years and this year I have turned that over to others. They are doing an AMAZING job getting everything together and making it happen!! It is great to see leaders stepping up to make it happen.

Soccer Camp is what I call a "Level 5" outreach...we do different things all year...here is what I mean:

Level 1 Outreach: Sharing Christ's love in a practical way, but no blatant sharing of the gospel. Examples would be: passing out free water, our Valentine's Hershey Bar give-away, passing out free wrapping paper to people at Christmas, making breakfast at our local pee-wee football game. (Sharing Jesus through action...may or may not share the gospel)

Level 3 Outreach: Still practical, but more of a chance to pray or talk with people. A GREAT example of this is the grocery outreach we did last year. We called families in the community (we received their names from Boys and Girls Club) and asked what 5-10 grocery items they needed most. Then we bought them and delivered them to their homes. When we delivered them we were able to pray with the family and many groups had good spiritual conversations as well. Practical, BUT we get to share more of Jesus by AT LEAST praying with people.

Level 5 Outreach: The goal with this type of outreach is to love on people, share the gospel with them and give them an opportunity to respond. We are providing opportunities to love on people AND we are encouraging them to come to Jesus. THIS is soccer camp. We provide an FUN and EXCITING camp for children...AND we share about the Savior of the world and give kids the opportunity to respond. IT IS AWESOME to see God work on children's hearts!

The gospel can be shared at all levels...the biggest difference is on the Level 5...that is GOING to happen! We need a good mix of all of these with our churches...people sometimes just need us to love of them and practically care for them...THEN they will be ready later to hear the gospel, because they see that they matter to you...and honestly...ALL of these outreaches are FUN and renew my passion for Jesus and people!

Alright...some of you are concerned now...you are wondering about Level 2 & 4...WHERE ARE THEY! Hey...I've asked myself the same question! I have just always said Level 1, 3 &5...so I stick with it...I have NO IDEA what level 2 & 4 are!!!! Feel free to fill that in yourself!