Gaylord E-Free - Meeting & Moving!

Last night here at the Gaylord E-Free Church we had our "All Ministry Team Leader's Meeting" in which the leads of all of our Ministry Teams met together with our Leadership Team to give updates and to see how we can work in synergy together rather than doing ministry as silos.  As I listened to the report from the leader of our Outreach Team I was so very thankful to be able to be the Lead Pastor of a church that doesn't just say we are about reaching out to the community and to our world - but a church that is actually doing it.

We have stated that our purpose is to "MEET as many people as possible right where they are at in order to help MOVE them to where God wants them to be."  As a church, one way we do this it by partnering financially with many missionaries around the world as well as local organizations.  But we don't just "write checks."  Below are just some of the things that our Outreach Team is orchestrating to help mobilize our church to reach lost people and to help those in need:

Once a month we have a Food Truck in which a full semi-truck full of food is brought in and then given out free to people in our community who are struggling in these tough economic times.  650 people each month in our county here in northern Michigan are ministered to physically and spiritually through our Food Truck.

Each fall on Halloween we have a Harvest Festival for kids and families.  Last year over 600 attended.  In our recent "Get Acquainted Class" for newer folks to our church, one of the families in the class shared that their first contact with our church was last year's Harvest Festival.

Each Thanksgiving we join ranks with other churches in our community to pay for and hand deliver full Thanksgiving meals to hundreds of homes in our area.  Last year over 400 volunteers, many from E-Free Church, delivered enough Thanksgiving meals to feed 2500 people in our community.

This Spring we had our first CIA (Church In Action) Day where over 100 people from our church gave up their Saturday to go out into our community doing service projects.  The next CIA Day is scheduled for August 18 and we are looking for twice the participants this time.

This summer a Disaster Relief Team from E-Free will travel to Joplin, MO with Samaritan's Purse to help rebuild homes and lives from people who are are still misplaced after the devastating tornadoes that occurred one year ago.

Last year a team From E-Free travelled to Nicaragua to minister at a Child Development Center connected to a local church in this very poor village in South America.  Another team will be going back to Nicaragua again this coming February.

And this is simply a glimpse of E-Free's "MEETING & MOVING" through just our Outreach Team's efforts.  Add to this all of the other "M&M" type ministry happening in all of our other teams and you have quite an impact taking place.  E-Free Church is right on mission and is it ever exciting to be a part!