Reaching Out...
When asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus said, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."
(NRSV Matthew 22:37-40)
And Christ also commanded, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you."
(NRSV Matthew 28:19-20a)
And we believe that "love" means "love" and "go" means "go"! And we also believe that Christ's love stretches from our next door neighbor to around the world! So we actively reach out at the local, state, national, and international level to live out these two commandments:
Here are a few examples of how we get out of the Church and engage the World in the name of Christ:
* Local: We regularly support our local food bank in La Porte City and send out teams to help people in our community that are in need. We also hold regular Christian concerts and invite the whole community to attend. We have our annual summer Vacation Bible School.
* State: We regularly support the food bank in Waterloo and other Christian-based activities for the poor and outcast in Iowa, such as Bidwell-Riverside in Des Moines, The Matthew 25 Project in Cedar Rapids, and House of Hope in Waterloo. We also send teams to worship with the United Methodist Church in the Mitchellville Women's Correctional Facility called "Woman at the Well."
* National: We send teams to help out at locations such as The Spirit Lake Ministry Center in North Dakota and the Midwest Distribution Center in Chatham, Illinois.
* International: We send mission teams and provide ongoing support for our sister Church, Nkhwidzi United Methodist Church, in Malawi in Africa and we provide support for the Women's Tailoring School in Mzuzu, Malawi. We also support an orphanage in Thailand called Bethany Homes. And every year we cut, sow, stuff, and send over 100 school bags that are used by children in places like Haiti and Nigeria. We also send approximately 100 shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child through Samaritan's Purse.
We believe we must live out our faith and get involved as the Holy Spirit leads!
(NRSV Matthew 22:37-40)
And Christ also commanded, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you."
(NRSV Matthew 28:19-20a)
And we believe that "love" means "love" and "go" means "go"! And we also believe that Christ's love stretches from our next door neighbor to around the world! So we actively reach out at the local, state, national, and international level to live out these two commandments:
Here are a few examples of how we get out of the Church and engage the World in the name of Christ:
* Local: We regularly support our local food bank in La Porte City and send out teams to help people in our community that are in need. We also hold regular Christian concerts and invite the whole community to attend. We have our annual summer Vacation Bible School.
* State: We regularly support the food bank in Waterloo and other Christian-based activities for the poor and outcast in Iowa, such as Bidwell-Riverside in Des Moines, The Matthew 25 Project in Cedar Rapids, and House of Hope in Waterloo. We also send teams to worship with the United Methodist Church in the Mitchellville Women's Correctional Facility called "Woman at the Well."
* National: We send teams to help out at locations such as The Spirit Lake Ministry Center in North Dakota and the Midwest Distribution Center in Chatham, Illinois.
* International: We send mission teams and provide ongoing support for our sister Church, Nkhwidzi United Methodist Church, in Malawi in Africa and we provide support for the Women's Tailoring School in Mzuzu, Malawi. We also support an orphanage in Thailand called Bethany Homes. And every year we cut, sow, stuff, and send over 100 school bags that are used by children in places like Haiti and Nigeria. We also send approximately 100 shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child through Samaritan's Purse.
We believe we must live out our faith and get involved as the Holy Spirit leads!