Patrick O'Connell

A Day of Prayer for Reachout

Yesterday was my day off. I was able to respect that boundary, at least until the evening when I capitulated and started catching up on some administrative tasks.

But during the day I was able to spend several hours at the International House of Prayer here in KC. I prayed for Restore and more specifically, our Reachout ministry. I found the experience refreshing and energizing.

I am finding that more of my time, energy, and passion is being invested in our Reachout efforts. This is both exciting and challenging.

We dream of Restore being a church that makes a difference in the community, in the city, and the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). We are doing some pretty cool things already if you ask most .  And yet, I know that God will call us to that 'one thing' in the community where He wants us to make a difference. I prayed about this today. The fact that I was able to focus on Reachout (despite all of the other things that are going on at Restore and in my life) was encouraging.

What my day of prayer and contemplation at IHOP reminded me is that this 'one thing' will come to us through prayer. And so I am resolved to keep praying and praying and praying.

Parkville Days Booth

This weekend Restore set-up a booth at Parkville Days Festival along the river in downtown Parkville.

We thought that having a booth would be a great opportunity for us to reachout and connect with the community. Our plan was simple: be present in community, handout free water bottles, and ask people to complete a simple survey. The survey asked them to identify the 'Best of the Best' in our community before asking them for their opinions about its greatest needs.

By the end of the festival Sunday evening we'd given away a total of 1500 bottles of water. Our contributors had some really cool conversations with people while doing handing out the water. And nearly 200 people took our survey. We plan on using this information to begin a formal assessment of our community--more on that later.

I am convinced that it's essential for the church (especially new churches) to listen and dialogue with the community as frequently as possible. 

 

Replenish 3--School Supplies

Check out Troy's post about Replenish 3 earlier this month. 

For those of you who don't know, Replenish is the quarterly effort of Restore Community Church to replenish one of our partner organizations with some sort of supplies. We did food during Replenish 1 and 2 and now tried our hand at school supplies. 

I am really inspired by this outpouring of supplies for kids who really needed them.

Replenish Video

Nate put this video together and we ran it last week.

Check it out.

Replenish Highlight: March 08 from Restore Community Church on Vimeo.

Replenish 3

Troy has blogged about Replenish 3. Check it out.

ServeFest #3

A group of 25 people from Restore gathered this Saturday for our third ServeFest. After some prayer, we split into three teams:

One group headed down to the Kansas City Rescue Mission to prepare lunch and sort clothes.

Another group handed out over 300 cans of Soda Pop along with Repay Cards to people in cars. One guy took the soda and Repay card, went shopping and returned with several cases of soda. How cool is that!

A third team prepared all of the supplies we are going to need for our next Replenish event. On July 31, 2008 we are going to gather together people from Restore and go door to door in our community asking people to donate school supplies.

If you missed this month's Fest you missed a great time. But not to worry, our next ServeFest is Saturday August, 16. Check out our website for more details.

Haiti next week

Haiti.

One week from today I am leaving for Haiti with C3 Missions. I took the first dose of my dysentery medication today so it's official. I am going to spend some time this 4th of July weekend packing and praying.

I can't wait.

Last Saturday I went to an informational meeting at the C3 offices. There I met the other people who will be going on this trip. They come from all walks of life. It's a testament to the mission of C3 that they are able to draw people from such diverse backgrounds. I am eager to get to know them.

I've been praying about this trip. I've been praying that I will (as the leaders of C3 recommended) be open to all that God has for me in Haiti. I am very aware that there is a reason I am going this summer. I have been praying that my eyes and ears remain open and that I will trust God to lead me through an experience that I suspect will be life-changing.

The anticipation is almost unbearable.

Stoked about ServeFest

I am stoked. This morning I am off to participate in Restore's second ServeFest. My entire family is going to serve. I tell you all of the details when we get back.

Restore Community Church Reachout Launch Meeting

At Restore we call it Reachout. It's our way of serving the community and making a long term impact in the lives of our neighbors, our community and the world.

It's our dream that what we become a church of difference-makers in our community. Our Reachout ministry is one of the ways we can do just this.

The Reachout rollout meeting is Sunday, June 1, 2008, immediately after the 10:00 AM service. We are going to provide you and overview of our efforts and then start a dialog about ways we can really begin to make a lasting impact in our community. If you want to be a difference-maker in our community, serve your neighbor, or just change the world, then come and join us.

Be the church!

ReachoutWork

I spent a good deal of my day talking about our Reachout strategies. I loved it and yet I find myself exhausted. I mean Tommy and I really feel we have a vision for this thing, a vision we have thought and prayed and researched. But when you start telling other people about it the real work begins.