Sidewalk Sunday School

Feeling called to be a Missionary?

Imagine this... A group of children on a Saturday afternoon under a large tree singing about Jesus, listening to stories, laughing as they play fun games, and requesting prayer from their leaders. About an hour later the children are skipping home with treats in their hands and smiles and their faces. A few days later, group leaders appear at each of the children's doors reminding them to return for more fun this coming Saturday. Over time, a deep relationship is built not just with each child but with each child's family. Soon parents are requesting prayer and doors are opened for a relationship with Jesus...

There is no need to imagine a scenario such as this. You can be a part of a dynamic new outreach that will begin this fall based on the principles taught by Bill Wilson who developed Sidewalk Sunday School in Brooklyn. Each week such ministries reach 1000's of children in the Brooklyn area. Mary Ingle, our new Director of Children's Outreach, spent a week in Brooklyn participating and learning first hand about the effectiveness of Sidewalk Sunday School.

Our vision is to see Sidewalk Sunday School all over town in apartment complexes, mobile home parks, subdivisions and the inner parts of town. This fall we will start this new outreach in two neighborhoods. Because of the relationships we have all ready established, we will be targeting Garden Square and Pine Valley Apartment Communities. The Garden Square outreach will be similar to the already established outreach on Sunday Nights from 5:00-6:15. The only thing that will change is the format. Pine Valley, who has no outreach program currently in place, will be meeting on Saturday afternoons from 2:00-3:00. Our focus at this time is on the Pine Valley Outreach. We anticipate 30-50 children from about 20 families to attend weekly. We need 4-5 people that can commit to be involved on most Saturdays and spend some time during the week calling on families. A home visit usually lasts about 3-5 minutes, especially at the beginning. This means volunteers to this community would call on 5 families a week.

We also need people to serve on a rotating basis to come on Saturday afternoons. You could choose one Saturday a month to serve. We need the following:

• Storytellers that relate well to children
• Song Leaders
• Game Leader
• Set up and take down people

If you want to be a part of new exciting outreach ministry and sense God calling you to move out of your comfort zone, then we would encourage you to attend an informational meeting on August 20 from 3-4PM with a follow up training meeting on the August 27 from 3-4 PM. Please call 461.9618 to reserve a spot. If you want to help but can not attend the August 20th meeting, please call and we will make other arrangements.

Please pray for us as we move into new neighborhoods with the Good News of the Kingdom of God.

Jeff

PS: Our number one question: What happens if the weather is bad? Answer: We move into the community room at the complex.