Taking part in an outreach outing or a charity action with your church
Many churches organize outreach outings (handing out tracts, street conversations, prayer tables) or charity actions (street outreach to people in need, meal distributions, help for older people). This monthly quest invites you to take part in one of them, together with others.
What it looks like in your day
If your church offers such an action, here is how to make the most of it:
- Find out about it. Place, time, how it will run, the role to fill. Don't hesitate to ask the organizer questions.
- Choose a role that suits you. You don't have to be out front. You can hand out drinks, accompany someone more experienced, pray off to the side, help carry the equipment, keep in touch with the people you meet. Every role counts.
- Pray beforehand. Alone or with the group: for the people you will meet, for those who will welcome you, for yourself.
- Go with simplicity. Smile, listen, be respectful. If you don't know what to say, a “Hello, how are you?” is already a good start.
- Take stock afterwards. What did you experience? Who did you meet? What touched or surprised you?
If your church isn't organizing anything, suggest it to your leader: a group can set up a simple action, like handing out hot coffee on a winter morning.
If you are short on time, one hour is enough. If you are shy, favor a charity action (helping, cooking, welcoming) over a street conversation. If you are a beginner, ask to be accompanied by someone experienced.
What the Bible says
Jesus himself sent his disciples out together, never alone:
“After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come. Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.”
Notice: “two and two”. There is no lone hero. Proclaiming the Gospel is teamwork, and Jesus begins by asking them to pray for workers. Action and prayer go together. James, for his part, insists on faith that acts:
“If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.”
A faith that doesn't turn into action toward concrete needs remains empty. The church's charity actions are a way of putting into practice what James says. Jesus had already said it: let your light shine before people, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father (Matthew 5:16).
Pitfalls to avoid
Going out of obligation. If you drag yourself there reluctantly, you miss the point. If you don't feel ready yet, start with a charity action rather than a street encounter.
Reducing people to a target. Don't think “Here are souls to convince”: these are people to love. Don't hand out a tract the way you toss a piece of paper.
Forcing the conversation. If someone doesn't want to talk, respect that. A smile and a “Have a good day” are enough.
Treating the action as a one-off event. A one-time action bears more fruit when it is followed up: seeing a person you met again, staying in touch with an association, committing for the long term.
Serving only to be seen. The aim is not to show off your good conscience, but to help and to bear witness.
This month, find out what your church is doing. Sign up for an action, and prepare by praying.