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Hope For Christmas Challenge

August 23, 2010 in Community Outreach, Partnership with 0 Comments

Over the last couple of years we have been given and incredible opportunity to reach out to families in Northwest Atlanta at Christmas time through an event we call, Hope For Christmas. Our key partner is a non-profit called, A Fresh Hope. It was started by an elementary child just a few years ago with a heart to reach out to less fortunate children in our area. Last year we threw this Christmas party and provided two toys to each child and a food box for each family.

This year, Hope for Christmas is scheduled for Saturday, 12/11/2010. This year we hope to provide Christmas to between 4,000-5,000 children and a box of food to each of their families. We also provide the opportunity for every child to ‘shop‘ (for free) for a member of their family, so that they can know the joy of giving on Christmas morning.

A Fresh Hope and West Ridge work to drum up community support to make this event happen, but our ability to reach out to as many families as possible is realized exponentially through the buy-in of the people at West Ridge. In the past we have looked to everyone in our church to bring in a toy and some canned goods, and we hope that you will.

This year we want to give you the opportunity to think ahead, and issue a challenge from the leadership at A Fresh Hope.

What is the Hope for Christmas Challenge? Well, we are asking for people to do 4 things each month from now until 12/11/2010/

  1. Pray for the event. Pray that this event is the vehicle to reach the community. Pray the community sees the Light of Jesus from this event.
  2. Purchase 1 toy a month from now until December.
  3. Purchase several cans of food for the food bag each month from now until December (items needed are: green beans, corn, yams, boxes of stuffing, mac and cheese, Gravy & cranberry sauce.)
  4. Purchase 1 new gift item for the Secret Santa Shoppe.  Dad gifts are particularly needed

Just a little bit extra every month will allow you to invest in families in an incredible way this year. This event also requires hundreds of volunteers, and we will have that information for you very soon, but go ahead and save the date!

For ongoing updates, pictures, details on what you can begin to purchase, check the Hope For Christmas Facebook Page.

Everyone Belongs,

Paul

The Street Where You Live

August 19, 2010 in Community Outreach with 0 Comments

I love where I live. I love the people here. I live in a suburban community 25 miles outside of downtown Atlanta. That makes this place a little bit country, and a little bit rock and roll, along with an increasing usage of words like solid and shawty.
My heart is burdened for the people here and all over Metro Atlanta. Recently, Paulding County’s Children’s Cabinet did an honest assessment of our community. The Children’s Cabinet is made up of the people that do the hard work of helping families day in and day out. They work in child and family services among the hurting, abused, and the needy. As a church and/or community leader, if you don’t know the hard facts about where you live, you can’t respond and bring wholeness and healing.
I wonder how many churches know with any authority the condition of their community? If we are trying to reach unchurched people we may need to poll more than just our own congregations to ‘reveal’ what they think ought to be taught on. That’s a great way to carry a congregation forward in discipleship, but there has got to be balance. Understanding the condition of the heart of those outside of our churches is a little more difficult, but there are places to go and questions to ask if leaders really want to know the answers, and if you really want to reach them.
These are real stats. Some of them are more disheartening than others. All of them can be motivating.
Paulding County is officially the 5th largest growing county in the country. We have 136,000 living here. Around 88% of them don’t attend church. Some of the percentages below would be much higher if we didn’t live in the 5th fastest growing county in the country. All of these numbers increase the close you get to urban Atlanta.
  • 7.7% of our suburban residents live in poverty. Food pantries are nice to relieve the symptoms, but I think we need to do more. This is a matter of regular prayer.
  • Children living in poverty increased from 9.2% in 2003 to 9.4% in 2008; the state’s percentage rose from 19.1% to 20.2% for those same years.
  • Teen pregnancy has dropped (ages 15-19), but STD’s are on the rise. They are up almost 40% in the last 4 years.
  • Children living with a single parent increased from 14.8% (3,689) children to 20.4% (7,121 children) (2000-2006); The amount of people nearly doubled.
  • Eligible households, with children, receiving Food Stamps has increased from 696 to 1,361 (2003-2007). [This program is being cut back a bit right now on a Federal level]
  • Unemployment increased from 4.0% in 2004 to 10.7% in 2009; Georgia’s trend was similar: 4.2%-10.2%.
  • Total number of homeless students increased from 10 in school year 04/05 to 687 in school year 09/10. This humber is expected to be higher for the 2010/11 school year.
How do you define a homeless kid in suburbia? These are kids who are sitting in school today, but have no solid idea of where they will sleep tonight? They go from home to home, couch to couch.
  • There were 1285 cases of domestic violence in 2009; a 30.85% increase from 2007
Trends are a big deal. Anyone can move into a community and say there are less fortunate families or broken homes. These things that are on the rise need to be fought against and counteracted right now. Leaders inside and outside the church have a history of finding out way too late what the needs are, and then just treating the symptoms. We have to teach and reach to the root of these issues if our leadership is ever going to be relevant in a community.
I’m not saying that I or the church I serve at as answers to all of this. I do believe that with the right information we can ask the right questions, instead of sitting around making up the questions and answers on our own.
Everyone Belongs,
Paul

Eat Pizza. Give Christmas.

August 10, 2010 in Community Outreach, Partnership with 0 Comments

Got an e-mail from some friends of mine about a unique opportunity for tomorrow night, August 11th. A brand new Stevi B’s is having a grand opening and they are giving EVERY DOLLAR to A Fresh Hope to help provide Christmas gifts. Last year we partnered with A Fresh Hope to give away thousands of Christmas gifts to kids in need in Northwest Atlanta, and we are doing it again.  Here are some excerpts I got from my friends the Gilcrease Family (who run the non-profit) just a bit ago.

“All the food is free tomorrow night for guests. They ask for a donation to A Fresh Hope per a meal instead of paying for the food but that is optional. This Stevi B’s is a huge one with the 106 flavor Coke Machine. Waverly hung out at the Coke Machine all day. They have like 6 different Diet Cokes- heavenly.

I would love to see a lot of support for A Fresh Hope and Stevi B’s tomorrow night if possible. This Stevi Bs is at the corner of South Cobb Drive and the East West Connector in the Publix shopping Center. Go past Cobb Hospital about 5 minutes on the East West Connector. We will be there from 5:00 – 8:00. Stevi B’s really seemed to ‘buy’ into A Fresh Hope and would love to partner in more ways in the future.

All money raise tomorrow night will go towards Hope for Christmas which is scheduled for 12-11-2010. So, bring your family. You have to feed them dinner, right?  Bring your neighbors, they probably need to eat too.

See you there,
Jennifer”

Everyone Belongs,

Paul

More Than Falafel

July 26, 2010 in Community Makeover, Community Outreach, Engage Atlanta, Personal thoughts with 0 Comments

Acts 2 tells us that the early church broke bread from house to house. That means there was lots of coffee, brownies, and perhaps an occasional Falafel being served. At least that is how we’ve come to interpret it in our churches. As small groups and house churches meet there can often be as much emphasis on the snacks being served as the prayer and worship.

Oddly enough, I believe these verses are about more than falafel. I believe they are about an invitation to be involved in each others lives, to share needs and hopes, and prayers. I believe they teach us to study scripture in community, and to not be afraid to ask the hard questions. I believe they teach church leaders to create environments where there can be no hiding, and no one gets lost in the crowd.

But I think there’s one more step to this. These verses always comes to my mind when I think of how the church should reach out to those around them. I happen to think there should be an element of our Outreach that goes house to house. I love street corner and open market give aways that we do to try and draw people into church. Those are great ways to create a presence in a community. However, when you go house to house you feel the tension and potential for a stronger relational connection to happen.

Now, I’m not a big fan of people showing up unannounced. Hospitality is not high on my gift mix. I wouldn’t necessarily suggest that you go cold calling and knocking on doors. What I would suggest is what a bunch of churches in Atlanta just did. They served their neighbors house to house.

We just finished hundreds of projects as part of Engage Atlanta‘s Community Makeover weekend. People ask, ‘Where do the projects come from?’ They come from neighbors who know about the needs around them, and just ask, ‘Can we help with the yard?’ ‘I heard you had an issue inside, can we have a look?’ ‘Do your kids need help getting back to school?’ All in all, it’s about not ignoring or just always driving by the houses on your street. It’s about stopping along the way long enough to see the needs, and then loving your neighbor as yourself.

If you live in Atlanta and you are feeling hungry, check out the Falafel King in Druid Hills.

Everyone Belongs,

Paul

It Needs To Look Different

April 12, 2010 in Community Makeover, Community Outreach, Engage Atlanta, Personal thoughts with 0 Comments

So back to the blog. I’ve been storing up some things I want to share so brace yourself over the next few days. Both of you!

Recently, I have had something brought to my attention in whole new ways. I knew this instinctively, but it’s being confirmed all over again. Many people that don’t know church vocabulary, don’t know the point of Christianity, haven’t been to church since that VBS when they were seven and grandma took them, are wondering the same thing. They would be called ‘Outsiders’, ‘Unchurched’, or ‘Seekers’; aka the people your church should try to reach out to.

Many of them are wondering, “Why so many churches?”

I live in the most ‘churched’ county in the State of GA. In other words, more churches per capita than any other. So everyone here follows the way of Jesus, right? 88% of the people in the county don’t go to church. At one point (and I think still is) the most ‘churched’ country in the world was Jamaica. So everyone there follows Jesus, right? Have you ever left the resort in Jamaica? You can get buzzed off the ‘second-hand weed’ down there. You don’t find more Christ-followers just because there are more churches.

I need to say I believe Church Planting is the best way to reach a community. In other words, adding more churches. I have tons of opinions on the issue as I’ve worn different hats on a church staff. Sounds like a contradiction, but it’s not. There are lots of reasons for Church Planting that I won’t go into today, but we need to realize something. All of the different buildings and banners, dress codes, and nuances are hard for people to wrap their minds around. All of these different styles look like competition to someone outside of ‘church-world’. We look like franchises from different companies instead of all being from the same headquarters. It seems to be confusing a lot of people in the churches too. That might mean Pastors are competing against each other, which I’m sure is not the case. :)

There are ways to look like we are on the same page, and still enjoy all the wonderful differences found in the Body of Christ.

We need to work harder to work together. I have seen that when churches show unity to the community that they are in, it brings down walls both inside and especially outside the church. Elected officials don’t feel like they have to tip-toe around other Pastors. Schools feel a freedom to call and make their needs known. I have begun to encounter more people who have said to me that they now attend a church that was involved in a unifying serving event. We call our attempt to show them something different, ‘Community Makeover‘(you can click on that for a little more info).

The NW Atlanta Community has literally approached us with more than 2,000 projects for CMO 2010. I seriously doubt we get them all done. In this down economy they are coming to a group of churches that have a reputation for working together, and asking for volunteer labor. Community Leaders are spoon-feeding us opportunities to engage people outside of the church. That is what happens when it looks different.

Tomorrow, I’m going to do something that I shouldn’t. I’m going to answer some critics. I’ve been getting slammed by all new people. Me getting criticized is not that big a deal. I’m nobody. I just need to share my heart on something.

Everyone Belongs,

Paul

Like Never Before

November 30, 2009 in Burkina Faso, Community Outreach, Cuba, West Ridge Church with 0 Comments

So I’m 33 years old. I look younger, which doesn’t really have any advantages at this point. I’ve been a part or a church staff for 12 years, and have been around ministry for a long time. I’ve had the opportunity to be around great leaders and great ministry, but I have never seen it quite like this.

Over the last 10 years we have thought that people are more open to receiving the kindness of God, like September 11th or the financial collapse last year. But sitting at my desk with my view of the world this season is one like never before. Maybe it’s the flood relief we have all been involved in for NW Atlanta, maybe it’s the unemployment rate, I’m not sure. Every day at West Ridge we see families who have lost everything financially, emotionally, spiritually and physically, and they are coming to the church for help. There is no longer a high level of cynicism when we go out into our community. There is an extraordinary amount of people ready to listen to what God has for their life.

This is only possible when Christ-followers get involved and invite other friends from the community to do that as well. I can’t put a finger on what is happening, but I plan to share how we are leveraging this season to expand the kingdom.

Here are a couple of examples of what we have coming in the days ahead.

  • We will provide food and toys for over 1500 families at Christmas including 400+ families impacted by recent flooding
  • We will serve four-five dozen special needs families with a strategically placed Christmas respite event
  • We will send a family to Africa to continue to help us engage Burkina Faso in the areas of water and education
  • We will begin to unveil some of the rebuilding work that we and other churches have been called into for flood victims around NW Atlanta

I hope you will join with us in this. I think we are on the edge of seeing lives, communities, and countries transformed like never before.

Everyone Belongs,

Paul

Special Announcement

October 27, 2009 in Community Outreach with 0 Comments

I’m not sure what name you will remember the ‘Flood of ’09′ by that swept through Northwest GA. For a majority of us it will be the year of the ‘really crazy rains’ or ‘the year we missed school because of rain’. For hundreds of families it is the moment their life was changed forever.

I don’t want to be too dramatic, but it is pretty easy to drive around Metro Atlanta and not realize that thousands of people have been displaced or lost their homes in the last four weeks. Some are just starting to come to grips with it. In the last 7-10 days, Samaritan’s Purse has assessed more than 100 new homes damaged by the floods that no one has touched. How is this possible? Many of these families left their homes in the flooding that happened in September and are just now returning home. They are in shock. They have no idea where to begin. These families need our help right now!

The #1 way we can help these families is to volunteer with Samaritan’s Purse to help remove debris and tear out sheetrock. To volunteer you simply call 678-202-5974. Teams go out every single day. If you can take off work, or bring the office with you, do it! By the way, Disaster Relief experts are saying that it is too early to replace walls damaged by the flood. The wood will need a couple of months to dry out and make sure all the mold is gone. We will help families repair and rebuild, but we will wait until we can do the job right, not just expediently. Helping these families is going to require long-term care and commitment.

Spread this word around. Our partners as Samaritan’s Purse and these flood victims need our help.

Everyone Belongs,

Paul

Not Just Flood Relief

October 22, 2009 in Community Outreach, Engage Atlanta with 0 Comments

The past four weeks have been an absolute roller coaster. We have seen homes completely demolished, and we have seen neighbors and Christ-followers serve one another on a whole new level. From the very moment that we first became a Red Cross Distribution site, a center that FEMA was referring people to…from the time my cell phone number was put on the resource list for around a dozen relief organizations…my mind has been consumed with one thought; This is not just flood relief.

As believers from around the country have come here to serve alongside of us and Samaritan’s Purse, families who have never been too church have experienced the love and kindness of God. Some of these families have been out of church since they were kids because something turned them off.

Now that we know about these families we can’t just throw their belongings in a dumpster and move on. We have to look for other opportunities to serve. How do we go about doing this?

Some of our community non-profit partners have really stepped up. Warehouse of Hope has done an incredible job ministering to families impacted by the flood. They could really use volunteers to help them with all the needs they are meeting. You can contact them at 770-489-0509 to volunteer.

CAYA Ministries does a food drive every year for Thanksgiving and Christmas. This year they would like to provide Turkeys, not just to the 400-500 families they usually serve, but also to over 300 families. How can you help? Thanks for asking. CAYA would like to invite you to partner with them by buying a $20 Publix gift card to help pay for Thanksgiving. Publix gives us a smokin’ deal on Turkeys. We have a CAYA table set up in the atrium at West Ridge, and I would invite other churches to do that too. Contact CAYA at 770-505-8451.

Our friends at A Fresh Hope are stepping up in a big way. Last year they put on a Christmas Outreach Party and worked with  Toys for Tots, Paulding Christmas, and Paulding and Cobb County Children and Family Services to provide Christmas assistance to those in need. Christmas assistance means toys and lots of ‘em. We are going to add flood victims families to our Christmas Party this year that we are calling, ‘Hope for Christmas’ on Saturday, December 19th. CAYA will be providing food boxes as well.

Start picking up some extra toys and canned goods now. Don’t let Christmas sneak up on you. It comes every year. If everyone does just a little bit extra we will be able to demonstrate to hundreds of families that the kindness of God is not a once in a hundred year flood occurrence. Loving your neighbor and inviting them into the family of God should be the rhythm of every day life.

Everyone Belongs,

Paul

Yes, We’re Open

October 1, 2009 in Community Outreach, Personal thoughts with 0 Comments

A couple of days ago a community leader called to ask me  if I would help out with some of the flood relief. I said, “Sure”, and asked what that would mean. He asked if I would be willing to work with some government agencies that were trying to serve Northwest Atlanta in the area of flood relief. “Yep.” He asked if I would be willing to work with people of other faiths. “Yep.” Looking back on that conversation there were several things that were asked that have made me think, “At one point did churches start saying no?”

A volunteer from FEMA approached me yesterday and asked me if ours was the kind of church he could send people to. Seriously! This question is not born in the halls of ‘anti-religion government leaders’. It was not created by pagans or atheist. At some point, the church got the reputation for only being open to a certain type of person or a certain part of the population.

This is part of the reason old churches are dying and church plants are successful. A new church has this built-in message that screams, “Yes, We’re Open”. Maybe it’s because the new church staff will starve if people don’t come, but it is also born out of a major desire to be a part of seeing communities transformed by the love and message of Jesus Christ. That means no one gets left out.

To the hurting, to the addicted, to the Republican, to the Democrat, to the black and the brown and the white, to the lonely, we’re hanging the sign and flipping the switch to turn on the neon lights, “Yes, We’re Open.”

Everyone Belongs,

Paul

How this will work

September 24, 2009 in Community Outreach with 0 Comments

By now most of you know that West Ridge Church and Engage Atlanta have partnered with Samaritan’s Purse to provide Disaster Relief to NW Atlanta from the recent floods. The damage done in parts of Hiram, Dallas, Powder Springs, and Austell is unlike anything I have ever seen. The number of homes reported as impacted in Cobb County is more than four times that of the most recent hurricane that came through our area.

The outpouring of love and care in the NW Atlanta community has been astounding. Everyone wants to help, but we don’t always know where to start. In order to make sure we are giving the right kind of help in the right way, we have the trained and experienced professionals from Samaritan’s Purse. Cleaning up debris from contaminated flood waters is not a job to jump into without important information and the right supplies. These things will be provided to every team before they go out by trained SP volunteers from around the country.

Here is how this will work:

If you live in Metro Atlanta and would like to volunteer you can call 678-202-5974 and Samaritan’s Purse will get back to you with volunteer information. Individuals may volunteer, but what we really need are people calling to represent groups. That will help cut down on the volume of calls. You may also e-mail them at disasterresponse3@samaritan.org. Bible studies, Sunday School Classes, Boys Scouts, clubs and civic groups are welcome. Perhaps your small business, or a department from your company would like to take a day off to volunteer. We strongly encourage it. Samaritan’s Purse plans to be with us until mid-October, and we want to make every day count.

We are distributing items that have been received from the local community and lots of friends from around the country. I will post some thanks to them in the days to come. We are also passing those items on to ministries in Cobb and Paulding. If you know of a family in need of clothing, water, juice, blankets or shoes, please send them our way.

For more questions you can contact us at West Ridge Church at outreach@westridge.com.

Everyone Belongs,

Paul

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