- It all started when Jimi approached the city of Ogden well over a year ago and asked how our church could serve the people in the city. The response? "Well, we have all the supplies to repaint our fire hydrants, but we're short staffed and it hasn't been a priority. Could you do that for us?" So, last summer our church spent a Saturday painting over 2,500 fire hydrants in our community. But Jimi had much more in mind than just fire hydrants...
- Painting the fire hydrants helped to build a rapport with the city. Then, Jimi took the next step and told city officials that we'd like to do something on a bigger scale, perhaps renovate an entire city block of homes. That piqued some interest with the city officials, and they began to plan for almost a year "Serve Ogden 2010"
- Ogden City identified 25 homes to be worked on. Because of liability issues and the fact that most people who would be taking part would not have the skills to do renovations inside the home, the focus of the project was upgrading the outside of homes (painting, siding, porches, landscaping, and even a roof). To be eligible to have one's home worked on, the homes 1) had to be lived in by the owner; 2) had to have a need that could not currently be met. The husband in the home that my team worked on initially didn't believe Jimi when he went to the home to ask if they'd like a new porch and a paint job. He was delighted when workers were back just a few days later to begin work!
- Each home was assigned a team leader who would make sure everything was going well with the team and the house during the week. These were recruited well ahead of the project. Then, as people signed up for the week, they were assigned to a team. Each team had about 20-25 people. Four coordinators also were assigned about 6 houses each. The coordinators helped the team leaders during the week with supplies, advice, or additional people if needed.
- Some of the homes required skilled and/or licensed contractors to do some work. This work was done ahead of time to ensure that it wouldn't slow progress on the home during the week. Two contractors generously donated their time and expertise to oversee some of the heavier construction.
- The work week (Mon-Fri) was followed by a celebration carnival on Saturday at a park near the work sites and a combined worship service on Sunday at the local minor league baseball stadium.
God certainly was present throughout the week. One thing Jimi did well was to emphasize each day that it was not just about the homes; it was about loving the people in Jesus' name. There was a sentiment among all 550+ people that we were there to glorify God and proclaim his love in word and action. There were several opportunities to share with people why we were doing what we were doing.
I think Jimi and his team of people planning the week showed a lot of wisdom that really laid the groundwork for an amazing week. Here's what really made it a great local mission trip:
- Lots of people were encouraged to get involved and to plan ahead in order to take vacation time--just like they would for an overseas mission trip. Several people commented on how this was the first short-term mission trip they had ever been on. It was definitely an event that included people from all parts of the church.
- Children and teenagers worked on teams with their families. We went back and forth about how to get students involved--such as having homes that were sponsored by the junior and senior high ministries--but ended up encouraging students to serve with their families. That was one of the coolest parts of the week for me. Plus, I got to know some parents better who worked on my team with their teenagers!
- It was clear from Jimi and the event's leadership why we were doing it: to love people in Jesus' name. I was pleasantly surprised at how well this came through in the local media who did some stories on the event.
- We met as a large group every morning at the church for updates and prayer. I have to admit, some days I wished we could just go right to our site and get started on the work, but this helped us come before God every day as a community and ask for his leading.
- Our church's media team did a great job capturing photos and video throughout the week and posting them on the event's Facebook page. We also showed a video or two when we gathered as a large group in the morning.
I hope that this becomes an annual event at Washington Heights. So much work was done and we build a lot of relationships with people in the community. However, I have a feeling that we've barely scratched the surface.
