Love your neighbor as yourself.” It’s a simple phrase to say but how often do you actually do it?
Shoal Creek Baptist Church, Decatur, put the phrase into action during Love Your Neighbor Weekend 2014, held Oct. 11–13.
More than 60 volunteers from the Morgan Baptist Association church worked to replace a roof, trim trees in several neighborhood yards, spend time with seniors at several local nursing homes, paint houses, rake leaves and much more.
The idea started back in May, Pastor Gary Linville explained.
“We want to be a church that makes disciples and in doing so we have to show the love of Christ. And in order to do that we have to be outside the four walls of the church,” he said.
The church plans to do a week-long service project in 2015 so Love Your Neighbor Weekend was a “trial run” of sorts, Linville said.
The projects were funded by the church’s Great Commission portion of it’s budget as well as other donations from members. Each project site was found through the church’s benevolence ministry and by word of mouth, Linville said. Widows and the elderly in the community were the primary recipients of the help.
At each project site the volunteers, ranging in age from 14 to a man in his 70s, would pray with the residents, give them a Bible for their home and invite them to attend church.
At the end of the weekend, one church volunteer gave his life to Christ and was baptized Nov. 2. Several people who were the recipients of the help that weekend showed up at Shoal Creek Baptist the following Sunday for worship services.
“I was really blown away by the weekend,” Linville said. “I think there are a lot of great things in store for the church. We [felt] the impact of reaching people and the idea of really helping people. … We saw each other loving and caring and serving.”
The church plans to make the weekend an annual event, Linville said, and plans to include other area churches in the effort.
Shoal Creek members also plan to host a Thanksgiving meal event and a food giveaway for the community in the coming weeks.
During November the church will collect nonperishable food at the church office and at Traditions Bank in Priceville.
Linville said after Love Your Neighbor Weekend 2014 members were blessed by the outcome and the opportunity to serve and that “everyone’s been asking when we’ll do it again.”
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To donate nonperishable food items or for more information, call 256-353-7956 or visit www.shoalcreekbaptist.org.
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