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We believe we have a phenomenal story to share. That God is real, he’s here and he longs to have a relationship with each one of us. For many, God has been touching our hearts with his love and opening our eyes to his presence. We think this is amazing and want to share this reality with as many people as possible in every conceivable way.
With God’s help, we want to feed the hungry, clothe the needy, show the lost his inexhaustible grace and mercy. We want to let our lives reveal God’s kingdom in the day to day, seeking to join in with what God is doing in those around us. With God’s help, we long to build bridges with our neighbours, family, friends and communities near and far. This is what we call Reach Out. |
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As a community and as individuals, we are already loving and serving many people in a variety of ways. We’re excited that we might see even more of this in the year ahead. We see all this happening in 3 main areas:
Reach Out Local
For some this means going On the Streets to show God’s love to the Big Issue sellers, filling a foodbank bag or donating items to the store. For others it may involve encouraging our housegroups to help with decorating and gardening projects, giving out doughnuts on Bonfire night or collecting used Christmas trees in our neighbourhood. For others still we may feel drawn to reaching out to parents of toddlers through Belly Buttons or to young people through the Friday Night Project.
Reach Out Global
We encourage people to take the opportunity to take what they do here (Reach Out Local) and do similar things in a different place – Reach Out Global. We have links with churches and projects in South Africa, Zambia and Bangladesh. We also encourage people to go on trips with Mission Direct – an organisation specialising in running two week trips to do exactly these sorts of things.
You can be involved even if you can’t or don’t want to travel. We have monthly prayer meetings, praying for those going and for our partners in the various countries. We also aim to raise money and awareness of what is happening through a series of parties – raising money for global partners, trips and local projects too.
Reach Out Personal
For many of us, Reach Out has meant building bridges in our neighbourhoods and with family and friends. This has taken the form of cooking meals for parents with newborn babies, getting to know our neighbours, praying for unwell family or friends, sharing encouraging words or pictures God has given us to new found acquaintances, looking out for work colleagues, inviting friends to Alpha or joining a local sports team or book club – the list goes on. We share stories to encourage each other with what God has been doing and to share ideas of how we can demonstrate God’s love to those around us and tell them about Jesus.
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Matt and Anne Button, 25/08/2010 |
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