The Nash Road Gospel Hall (Hamilton, Ontario) held a Community BBQ on May 7th. It was, to say the least, overwhelming by the response.
Being in a new location for only 1 ½ years has its challenges in trying to become known and established in the community. We had an excellence response from the community. Notices were inserted in the local newspaper in the general area near the hall. From 11AM to 2PM we had a steady stream of cars arriving for the BBQ – all folks who had received the invitation. Many others walked from the area. The believers responded well in talking to the visitors and inviting them to the Mothers Day program on Sunday as well as the Gospel Meeting. Upcoming events such as the DVBS were also promoted.
Paul Glenney kindly submitted the report in response to a request.
You have just read the above report. If you happen to be aware of some outreach activity in your area, please consider submitting a little report with accompanying pictures. Just because the activity is not new to you does not mean it is not new to others – so do not hesitate to share it.
This past Saturday (July 10) it was thrilling to see people from the community walking down the street (some drove) in ones and twos and in families to enjoy a great outdoor Saturday community meal offered by the Christians in the Langstaff Gospel Hall parking lot in Richmond Hill, Toronto, Ontario.
The first two years of hosting a community barbeque yielded very little response from the community. But like everything else, don’t give up after one or two attempts. Try again.
A large vinyl banner advertising the community barbeque was erected on the property adjacent to the street. For the benefit of the many Jewish neighbors, the availability of Kosher food was advertised on the banner. Those with a Jewish background seemed to deeply appreciate the effort the Christians went to prepare and serve Kosher food.
A tent filled with tables and chairs was available so people would have some shelter from the hot sun while they ate. A table with Gospel tracts, CDs and information about the Langstaff Gospel Hall was at the back of the tent.
An inflatable kids’ play area was available and used non-stop throughout the two hour barbeque.
Older children and teens played soccer in the parking lot.
Face painting was offered as well. Children and parents seemed to enjoy themselves immensely.
Some adults went home and brought more adults with them to enjoy the free food.
Benefits of such an activity:
Bridges the disconnect that often exists between the building and its people and the neighborhood it is trying to reach.
Allows the neighbors to see the non-formal side of Christians when they are relaxing casually outdoors, enjoying the sunshine, food and casual chats about life in general. “These are real people afterall - that go here!” “They're not as stiff and aloof as I thought they were. They’re actually quite nice.”
Without hearing a sermon, the neighbors get to ‘see’ a sermon. They see Christians happily serving a free meal with a smile on their face. They see the tracts and texts hanging around and can absorb the information in an non-threatening atmosphere.
Opportunities arise when Christians can share their faith or what they believe with the neighbors – using wisdom and caution.
Provides an opportunity for Christians to work together in a labor of love in reaching the community.
This particular BBQ event coincided with tent meetings so it was an excellent opportunity to advertise the Gospel tent meetings.
Add to this list by leaving a comment.
The success should not be measured by only the number of neighbors who showed up but by all those who drove by or looked out their windows and saw something positive happening in the parking lot. Maybe next year, they too will come.
Submitted by Peter Ramsay who was privileged to enjoy the community barbeque.
The local assembly in Hamilton, Ontario (Nash Road Gospel Hall) moved to a new building in a new location during the past twelve months. In their ongoing efforts to connect with their new neighborhood and to build relationships, they have invited the community to a barbeque and a tour of their renovated facility. If you have any questions regarding the response of the community to this effort you can email Paul Glenney.
Not every outreach effort can be linked directly to the salvation of precious souls but the experience below is just one of those encouraging stories you will want to read and share. Ken Kember , with the River Road Assembly in Ottawa, Ontario kindly responded to our request to have this story posted. It speaks for itself and it may give others the encouragement they need to try something similar.
About three years ago, we decided to try having a barbeque/open house at the hall to encourage our neighbors to check out the hall in an informal, "no-obligation" way. The hall has been in this neighborhood for many years, but many of our neighbors have never been through our doors. So we made up invitations and hand delivered them to the houses around the hall, inviting people to join us on a September Saturday morning for a free hamburger and to check out the hall. We don't have a parking lot, so we set up a couple of barbeques on our small front lawn and cooked up M&M pre-cooked tasty burgers, served soft drinks and cookies/squares for dessert. We opened up the doors to the hall and cleared away the chairs from the auditorium. We had a few tables with crafts for kids, and some places to sit down to enjoy the burgers.
We weren't sure what kind of response we would get, but we were pleasantly surprised with a really good turnout. It seems that people really appreciated the chance to "check us out" without feeling some sort of obligation. Several folks who had never been inside the hall ventured over for a burger and stepped inside and visited with the Christians. One young couple in particular living just down the street came over with their little girl. A couple of months later this couple came out to a breaking of bread meeting. They began attending regularly, and some months later came to faith in Christ, and are now in the fellowship.
Needless to say, this has become an annual event for us every fall. It is not a lot of work to set up but has the potential for great results. Many neighbors who would never step foot in the hall for a meeting have joined us for lunch. The Spirit of God is able to use this brief contact to generate some thinking and perhaps bring them back at a later date. The barbeque/open house format provides a great opportunity introduce ourselves to our neighbors, to give something back to the community in which we are located, and create a potential opening for the gospel.
If you are aware of other outreach efforts in your area going on, be sure to send us an email so others can benefit from your experiences. Even if someone else submitted a similar report from their area, we still need yours. There will be something unique about your event.
Paul Glenney of the Nash Road Gospel Hall (Hamilton, Ontario) kindly submitted the post below. The Christians who once met at the Hamilton Road Gospel Hall moved to a newly renovated facility in November, 2009. The post below deals with the transition and the assembly's gospel efforts in the community.
Here is a brief chronology of events since moving into the new building. It is only ten minutes from the former Kensington Avenue Gospel Hall so we have been able to maintain some contacts from the area. The lady who lives beside the old hall is picked up each Sunday night for the Gospel Meeting, unless she is unable to attend. Some children are also picked up in the area.
In the months preceding our move we delivered, as well as mailed, to apartments in the area a Seed Sower John 3:16 text (5x7) and a card indicating that we were moving into their neighborhood. We moved November 13-14th and the following three Saturdays had a craft class focusing on Christmas crafts. Then on December 13th we had the Christmas dinner.
It is hard moving into a new area and trying to make contacts. It is slow but we are in it for the long run, in the will of the Lord. To the neighbors on each side of our building we took a gift basket with texts and literature in it. We thanked them for their patience and understanding with us during the months of construction with its noise and dirt. It is really just another way of trying to gain the confidence of the people. We delivered about 800 baskets along with an annual calendar which had all the Sunday School and Gospel meetings marked for each Sunday in addition to special events such as Mother’s Day luncheon, Sunday School picnic and the Christmas program for 2010. Again these are small steps.
We are not getting many folks in from the area yet but we keep working at it.
Regarding our Christmas Program, we have tried this for a few years and are very thankful we have.
We have a full Christmas Dinner with all the trimmings.
We try to time the Program (with the children saying verses or recitations relating to the coming into the world of the Saviour and his death at Calvary) for about 7PM. This is the time of our regular Sunday evening Gospel meeting so if some of the neighbors unknowingly come for the Gospel meeting, they will still get the Christmas Gospel message. The recitation of verses is followed by a speaker for the children and parents - again with the focus on the birth and death of the Saviour.
For this Christmas program, we get a large number of unsaved in which normally do not come to the meetings. It is fair to say conservatively we had in at least 40 unsaved adults that we normally would not get in. In all we estimate we had between 230 – 250. The Christians were encouraged by it and in the will of the Lord we plan on it again for 2010.
We hope in the spring/summer to have a community barbeque on our front lawn/parking lot again with tents with texts, cds, literature, etc. The purpose again is to make contacts in the area. We are getting some inquiries from the website as well. (See link for Hamilton, Ontario under Websites)
While we have not yet been able to connect fully with our new neighbors we are continuing with the expectation that we will.
Regarding the renovations to our new location, our project manager, Mike Da Silva, is a Christian. We have arranged a Sunday evening for Mike Da Silva and his son to speak in the Gospel. We are using this as an opportunity to invite all the trades and tradesmen, our real estate agent, etc. that worked on the building to the gospel meeting, tour the building to see the finished product and have a luncheon. Will they come? we don’t know but here again we are trying to use this to make some contacts for the Gospel’s sake.
We carry on a Spanish Gospel meeting once a month on a Saturday followed by dinner. We always have some unsaved in for which we are thankful.
Posts
