16 To reproduce faith in Christ... Helping People MAKE A DIFFERENCE in our World How each member of the First Church of God can help make the difference in others earthly and eternal life! www.letsmakeadifference.net www.fchogv.org Facebook: Vincennes First Church of God The First Church of God footprint of mission for Christ! Review and Choose Look through this catalog and consider each of the possibilities of making a difference. Find your place in this footprint of mission and sign up. Dedicate yourself to following through and showing up! Be ready to share your testimony with people from the community who may join us to make a difference.
2 Mobile and Ready: Disaster Intervention through Helping His Hands Ministry Homes destroyed! Tornado hits! Flood claims neighborhood! Helping His Hands is a short term mission organization specializing in disaster response. Our mandate is set upon immediate response to regions and people stricken by natural disasters, followed by continual aide in their journey of rebuilding. It is nearly impossible to predict when or where a disaster is going to take place. However, it is possible for communities to be prepare for what may happen. This equipping readies us for the unexpected, and allows for a greater organized, timely, and efficient response when disaster strikes. Helping His Hands began under the leadership of director Scott Shipman. Scott is passionate for, and deeply moved by those hurting and in need. It was his compassion that fueled a dream in his heart called Helping His Hands. We all know that natural disasters are a fact of life, and are unfortunately on the rise. Therefore Scott is spearheading an outreach for individuals, churches, businesses, and organizations at large to get on board with and impact a hurting humanity. "For these people this is the worst day of there life and it is for that reason we want to bring hope and a hand of service those in need." -Helping His Hands Director, Scott Shipman A time of crisis is often the best time for Christians to demonstrate the reality of God s healing grace. With your help, and the help of your church or business, we can make a difference. You can be a part of a disaster relief site team, a packing team (preparing relief kits), hunger relief team (bi-weekly volunteer at the center), or a warehouse supply team worker. Sign up on page 15! 15 Your Move: Step Out Please contact me about these projects: [ ] Mobile and Ready: Helping His Hands [ ] Men: Role Models in our Children s Ministry ( ) Sunday mornings ( ) Wednesdays evenings [ ] Volunteer Vincennes: Day(s) [ ] Alongside Learning Tutor ( ) or Prayer Team ( ) [ ] Men being Father Figures with PACE [ ] Work Camp Projects Abroad (information) [ ] Church on the Street Ministries: mark your specific interest ( ) Transportation ( ) Meal Preparation ( ) Setup/Stage Design ( ) Gardening ( ) Mobile Kitchen ( ) Clothing Distribution ( ) Soup Kitchen ( ) Facebook editor ( ) Homeless Shelter ( ) Grocery Distribution [ ] Five & Two Hunger Ministry ( ) Loaves and Fishes ( ) Vincennes Food Pantry ( ) Soup Kitchen with COTS [ ] Choir Outreach Ministry [ ] School Mentor: Make a Difference to One [ ] Random Acts of Kindness (grab some cards and go!) Name: Phone: Email: Texting? (Y/N)
14 I invite you to help us Make a Difference in our world. Some of these initiatives in First Church of God missional footprint involve groups and others involve one to one work. Take a risk with us. Follow God s call to us. Dare to reach out and make your life count for God s work in our world. So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven (Jesus). Your personal witness may then be integrated with your action witness. On the following page, please indicate the areas of strategic service that you are ready to pursue. This is not just about expressing your interest, but deciding that you will be a part of the footprint that our church makes in our world and our community. The church is not an institution but a fellowship of people who want to make an impact with the good news of faith in Christ. For that purpose, we will work together and make a difference in our world! Dr. Georg Karl Senior Pastor 3 Men being Role Models Serving children without dads through Children s Classes on Sunday Morning. With the growing number of single parent families in our community, children are growing up without a male figure in their lives. MEN you are needed! You can make a difference by choosing to be part of our children s lives here at the First Church of God. Task Become personally acquainted with each student, knowing such things as their names, needs and family relationships. Build a rapport with children and parents or other family members. Pray for the children. Time To make a difference in a child s life there must be consistency. The minimum time required would be two Sundays per month with children during our regular children s programming. Opportunities to serve are available: 9:15am Sunday Sessions 11:00am Children s Church 6:30pm Wednesday Kids Connect Thank you for Making A Difference! www.letsmakeadifference.net Worship at 9:15 & 11:00 on Sundays 1408 East Saint Clair St. in Vincennes Facebook: Vincennes First Church of God Sign up for Men: Role Models on page 15 and be ready to start!
4 13 Buy something for the person in line behind you. We have almost all been in line waiting to pay and get our food so we can eat and get on with our busy lives. Next time you are at the window or in line do the person behind you a favor. Buy their lunch. When they get to the front it s free! Our Community Our Neighbors Doing all the good we can, at home! Help make a difference in our world--right here with people of Vincennes, for Vincennes! The last week of April 2014- Sunday, April the 27th through Saturday, May 3rd will be a week of opportunity for the people of Vincennes to invest time and energy into different service projects that will help benefit the general well-being of the Vincennes community. Volunteers are invited to the KICKOFF Session at 9:30 a.m., Sunday, April 27th at the First Church of God; volunteers can also stop by the First Church of God at 1408 E. Saint Clair St. anytime between 8:00 a.m.- 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday or Saturday from 9:00 a.m.- 3:00 p.m. Volunteers will be asked to register, then presented with a service opportunity based on group size and skill set. Each volunteer will be given a free Volunteer Vincennes T-shirt. Projects may consist of, but are not limited to: Trash Pick-Up, Painting, Mowing, Small Repairs, Cooking, Cleaning, and many other projects needed by our community of Vincennes and its members. [ ] Sunday morning (whole church) [ ] Sunday daytime [ ] Monday at [ ] Tuesday at [ ] Wednesday at [ ] Thursday at [ ] Friday at Sign up for a day or several on page 15 An Unexpected Undeserved Act of Kindness Shows God s Unconditional Love and Mercy Sign up on pg. 15 Do It!! Then Leave a Witness Card Leave Change in Vending Machine Check your change purse. If you have enough change to buy a soda or snack, tape the change to the side of the vending machine with a RAK witness card. Cook a Meal for Someone Cook and deliver a meal to a friend who needs it. Perhaps you have a friend who is busy with a new baby or sick child. Or maybe you have neighbors across the street who just moved in. Help Someone Move If you ve ever moved, you probably know how tiring it can be. Do you know someone who is moving? Perhaps you have some good friends who are moving to another city, or a close neighbor who is moving to a different community.
12 5 Make Kindness a Priority No matter how old you are, where you live, or what you do, we all have the opportunity to make kindness a priority: to see the positive in a difficult situation, to encourage others, to listen to our friends and family, to treat others with respect and to volunteer our time, energy, and resources to help make this world a better place, in the name of Jesus. Whatever you did for one of the least of these (Matt 25:40) Pay the Tab for the Person Behind You Have you ever experienced kindness from someone you don t know? Pay the tab for someone behind you in line at the grocery store, gas station or the fast-food drive-thru. It doesn't have to be costly, just friendly. Take Someone to the Movies For many people going to the movies is luxury that rarely occurs. Make sure all of your friend's needs are met, then plan a time to treat your friend, neighbor, or lonely relative to the day. Treat Someone to Fresh Fruit Most people don t eat enough fruit, which is a great natural energy source full of vitamins, minerals and fiber. But who can pass up such a delicious and healthy food treat? It s good for your body and your soul! Put Gas in Someone's Vehicle The next time you borrow a friend or relative's Vehicle, fill it up with gas for them before you give it back. Or if you are on a road trip with your friends and you're taking their car, when you stop to fill it up, offer to pay for the gas. This is a thoughtful and generous thing to do. Make Blankets for the Homeless "Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.
6 Men being Father Figures 11 Make A Difference To ONE Serving children without dads through School-based Reading Times Many children are deprived of father figures. PACE Community Action Agency has developed a program that puts positive male influences in the lives of children throughout the Vincennes community. Once a month, male volunteers get the opportunity to enter a public school classroom, entertain many at-risk kindergarten students by reading to them a book previously assigned (the children will receive a copy to take home), and engage in laughter, times of sharing, and life-changing moments in the lives of the children. P.A.C.E. is flexible and will work with volunteers on a day and time that is convenient for the volunteer. Both research and common sense leave little doubt that youth need caring and consistent relationships with adults to navigate their way through adolescence and beyond. Your influence on one student will make a lifetime difference. This is a simple, relational program that connects one Christian adult with one student who needs encouragement for one session every three weeks. We serve the schools and leave our influence as a witness for Christ s love in the life of the student and the life of the school. Currently we are serving Lincoln High School but are ready to deploy Christian mentors, both mature men and women, to Clark Middle School. Are you. A Caring, Christian adult This is a once-a-month commitment throughout the entire school year available for any male, 18 years or older, who would like to make a difference. Consistent and Timely Ready to meet one to one with students who need your encouragement? You are needed! Sign up to serve as a father figure school-reading on page 15 Sign up to be a Mentor in our schools on Page 15
10 You give them something to eat Mark 6: 37-38 Loaves and Fishes provides weekly meals, along with other participating churches, (Assignments about every six weeks.) The Vincennes Food Pantry needs organizers and deliverers The COTS-V weekly Soup Kitchen involves preparation, serving, clean-up, and event logistic. [ ] Food preparation [ ] Meal time serving [ ] Food purchasing [ ] Meal time logistics [ ] Food Pantry store worker [ ] Food pantry delivery 7 Serving the Lord By... Building Teaching Healing Make a Difference in a foreign country using your labor and love. The Bi-annual Work Camp Projects Abroad are the best way to gain a global vision of what God is doing around the world! You will build relationships with believers in other countries and make friendships beyond our culture! The work is strenuous; the living conditions are austere. These are not for the luxury-seeking, faint of heart. Sign up for Hunger Ministry tasks on page 15 Choir Outreach Ministry You can make a difference join the choir for these outreach events by signing up! The Choir is an exciting way to join in the efforts of ministering to our community. Plans are forthcoming to join with our local high schools in giving a joint concert of sacred music. This concert would be given in the fall and at one of the high schools. The choir will give a concert at the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility on Sunday, May 18, 2014 at 6:15 p.m. To be a part of the Choir s Outreach, singers must be a part of the regular choir. The rewards are beyond our cultural definitions and transform our lives. We glean from the joyful faith of those for whom we build. We are blessed by the opportunity to teach eager children in Bible-class formats. We are moved by the physical ailments that God allows us to treat in the healing ministries. We build small homes in disaster regions, fully-functional churches, and church-related education buildings Come and experience the miracle of building a church in one week; housing many families by building 5-7 small homes in six days; gaining a new vision for God s work around the world and growing a vibrant faith as we worship and work with nationals of other countries. If you can swing a hammer, hand a tool, pass a block, or you have certified construction skills, you are needed! Sign up to join the choir (by audition) on page 15 Sign up to receive information for Project 2015 on page 15
8 9 Church On The Street: Where Everybody is Somebody and Jesus Christ is Lord! C.O.T.S is a mission outreach of the First Church Of God to those who live on the margins of society and those who might not feel at home in a typical church setting. Everyone is welcomed; the homeless, the under-housed, the forgotten, the hungry, the rejected, the old or young, the established Christian or the one first discovering the gospel. The Good News will never change but the way we package it has: WE DO CHURCH VERY DIFFERENTLY! The event, held outdoors in good weather, includes a praise band, special vocals, testimonies, prayer time, simple to understand message and an abundance of God s Love. A basic meal is provided each week. [ ] Wednesday Night Transportation [ ] Wednesday Night Meal Preparation [ ] Wednesday Night Child Care Provider [ ] Wednesday Night Setup/Stage Design [ ] COTS-V Gardening (Summer) - Manager [ ] COTS-V Gardening (Summer) - Gardening Labor [ ] COTS-V Gardening (Summer) - Harvest Distributor [ ] COTS-V Grocery Distribution [ ] COTS-V Clothing Distribution [ ] Mobile Kitchen Ministry Workers (Monthly) [ ] Weekly Soup Kitchen (at the Church) [ ] Soup Kitchen Promotion and Advertisement [ ] Facebook Editor [ ] Homeless Shelter Cleaning Crew [ ] Homeless Shelter Applicant Processing & Orientation [ ] Homeless Shelter Maintenance Crew [ ] Homeless Shelter Counselor [ ] Homeless Shelter Food Supply Coordination Sign up for CHURCH ON THE STREET ministries on page 15 and indicate which ministries you want to serve.