Quenching the physical thirst FIRST and the spiritual thirst AFTER.

THE IDEA:

Commit an array of kind, premeditated acts for complete strangers in public places.

WHAT YOU NEED:

Water bottles/balloons/a squeegee/something to give or use to do something kind for someone else.

A public place full of people.

Friendly volunteers.

THE STORY:

Acts of Kindness

You are out for a jog in your favorite park. It’s a Sunday afternoon—the only time slot in your entire week available for you to do some outdoor cardio and get your blood pumping. There isn’t a cloud in the sky.

However, there isn’t a refreshing breeze blowing either. Today happens to be a scorcher and the July sun is showing no mercy. As you wipe the sweat out of your eyes you spot a park bench. You stagger towards it and sprawl your limp body across it. Your chest heaves parched, painful breaths. One hand tightly grips the armrest and your other hand fumbles haphazardly through your backpack for your water bottle.

Oh no. You forgot your water bottle. You could kick yourself. Teeth clenched, you try to pace your panting to savor the last drops of moisture left in your mouth and throat.
Just then, you hear a friendly voice.

“Hi there. Would you like some water?”

An angel!

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Ok, maybe that was an extreme scenario, but for Verlinda Seberance and her Acts of Kindness team, playing the casual “angel” role happens on a biweekly basis.

“We want to, in simple ways, show that Christians actually care about people and they actually do things other than ask for something in return,” says Sebrance, Acts of Kindness ministry coordinator.

The Acts of Kindness teams minister to complete strangers in their local park by handing out water bottles. To invite children and tell parents about their Vacation Bible School program, the ministry also attached invitations to balloons and gave them away. Sebrance’s favorite part about the ministry is seeing people’s surprise at receiving the gifts.

Although Sebrance has only lead the Acts of Kindness ministry since the start of summer 2010, the ministry has been in effect at the Spokane Valley Seventh-day Adventist Church for about two years.

“I think that, as church members, we tend to focus on large evangelistic meetings and things like that and we’re always asking something of the people. We’re not giving,” says Sebrance. “Yes, we’re putting on the meeting, but they have to come and they have to listen to what we tell them. This is a very practical way of simply going to them and offering something that makes their day.”

They may have handed out balloons to invite children to Vacation Bible School, but the Acts of Kindness ministry prefers a “no-strings-attached” manner when it comes to approaching adults over the intimidating, and often controversial idea of religion. They do not use the water bottles to promote church services or religious gatherings. The cards secured to the bottles only list the church and their website so recipients can contact them if they have any questions or have prayer requests.

“They know that we’re there and that we’re willing to do more, but it’s not pushing anything is their face,” says Sebrance.

The main intent of the ministry is to give, but Sebrance recommended that church members use this opportunity to also get to know each other. She brought her Bible study group to the park for a picnic, to socialize and to study. When they were finished, Sebrance and her group ministered to the people in the park by handing out water bottles. Sebrance is also working on ideas for future A.O.K ministry projects such as washing strangers’ windshields.

To organize something like this at your church, nominate a few leaders to be in charge of a team of six to 12 people suggested Sebrance. Coordinate a weekly schedule and assign teams to their corresponding assignments and locations. Buy water bottles, or any other appropriate token, and label them so the recipient knows where the gift came from. Then, go to the park, or any other appropriate public place, hand the gifts out and spread the love.

“It’s as easy as passing out a balloon and saying, ‘God loves you’”, said Sebrance.

Deer Park Church’s two Bible workers, Nicole and Joel, are hosting their fundamental beliefs class–the one mentioned in the Ping-Pong Ministry story.

Read how a ping-pong fanatic began a weekly church social that brought them together and attracted fresh new membere, and find out how you can start a ministry like this at your own church! Click here.

Deer Park Church's Bible workers, Nicole and Joel Haywood.

THE IDEA:

Host a weekly church social on Saturday nights that involves ping-pong tournaments, table games and food.

WHAT YOU NEED:

Ping-pong table, paddles and balls.

Table games and/or any other interactive activities that bring people together.

Food.

Fun-loving people.

THE STORY:

The Ping-Pong Ministry

We visited Deer Park Seventh-day Adventist Church in Deer Park, Washington, and met with the church’s Bible workers, Joel and Nicole Haywood. After sunset the church hosts a casual weekly Saturday night social that brings in a steadily growing group of members as well as new visitors. The Haywoods explained how the ministry came into existence and how they help make it happen.

It started with a lonely ping-pong guru looking for a challenger.

”Bill liked ping-pong and he had a table in his house, but didn’t have a place to use it or people to play with, so he decided to bring it here,” said Nicole Haywood.

“He’s kind of the one that started this whole thing,” added Joel Haywood.

Bill, a recently baptized member of the church, had been attending the fundamental beliefs class that the Joel and Nicole hosted each Sabbath afternoon. Seeing the potential for a few ping-pong games with his study group members, Bill started storing his table at the church and set it up out after sunset each Saturday night.

“And then it turned into three ping-pong tables,” said Nicole. “And then people started bringing food.”

And soon, what began as Bill’s mini post-Bible-study tournaments turned into full-fledged Saturday night get-togethers.

Not everyone who came was into ping-pong so some brought table games to play. A group of ladies played exercise videos and worked out in one of the Sabbath school classrooms. Still others came simply to socialize and cheer on their friends. Snacks like popcorn, bread and fruit were shared. Members began to stay longer on Saturday nights, until even 11:30 at night.

Often, friendship comes first and teaching comes later so that people feel comfortable listening to what you have to say, said Nicole. Nicole and Joel felt that the relaxed environment was essential to building a real relationship with members and non-Adventist guests.

“It started as a social time and ended up being a ministry where we were able to invite Bible study contacts and non-Adventists to come socialize with Adventists and see we’re not some weird cult,” said Nicole. “People were actually able to be more comfortable around us because they were able to socialize in a nonthreatening atmosphere.”

One of the Bible workers’ favorite parts about the Ping-pong Ministry was seeing the fun, social atmosphere loosen up anti-social, reserved church members. Nicole and Joel watched members at the Ping-Pong Ministry approach visitors more warmly and on a more personal level than they often did on stiff, more formal Sabbath mornings.

“It was really constructive in relationship building and that’s the whole point,” said Joel.

“We’ve had people come to church afterward because they felt more comfortable coming because they’ve met a good portion of the members at ping pong night,” said Nicole. “Just helping people to get more comfortable was great.”

“We have some people at this church that are like… ping-pong monsters,” said Joel Haywood.

Starting a Ping-Pong Ministry at another church is as simple as a ping-pong table, two paddles and a ball, Joel told us when asked for advice on how to get a social night like this going at another church. Ping-pong seemed to fit right here, said Joel, but you could do any sort of activity with your church on a weekly basis. Start with a small group of people and see where it leads you. The idea is simple. Involve people in something recreationally fun and invite other people to it.

“It’s not something we originally planned,” said Nicole. “It was neat seeing God work through the resources that we already had.”

“It’s been a great blessing,” said Joel. “I would encourage anybody to come up with some sort of activity that they can do with church members to get church members in a situation where they can freely speak to somebody of a different faith.”

Enjoy!

I’ll have to admit – I’m not a pro, but I definitely find it fun, and I’m sure I’m not the only one!

Aimee & I found 2 bible workers in Washington State who used a donated ping pong table as a ministry to bring others to Christ.  We weren’t able to actually attend the event, but we got some great interviews and shots of the duo playing ping pong.

Here’s a short preview video – we’ll have a full story, pictures, & longer interviews posted soon!