Category — Outflow

We went out to connect with retail shops by offering to clean their toilets. We simply walked into these places with our cleaning kits in hand and said, “Hi, we’re here to clean your toilets – for free – to show you a bit of God’s kindness.” Pretty much everyone gave us a funny look. They all said they didn’t want it – but I could tell they assumed we wanted a donation. I know they thought this. We had to say several times we were doing this strictly for free with no donations accepted at all. It was only after we had told them several times that this was for FREE and we weren’t taking donations that they lightened up. After that we were able to connect with them. We were able to tell them this was a way of conveying the love of God to our neighbors. They warmed up quickly after that.
The Church has a lot of work to do in this area. We need to get to work by conveying to the culture around us what we are about. It is common that people who aren’t a part of church (perhaps they are a part of church…) think we are all about raising money. It is almost inconceivable that Jesus’ followers would do something altruistic. We need to get to work by serving others in a big way.
At the same time this provides the Church with significant opportunities. We make a strong impact by serving in surprising ways. We are able to break through into people’s lives by doing simple, doable serving projects. I don’t have a corner on the market of ideas we need to be involved with but I have discovered a few things apparently connect with the watching world.
I pray for more hearts in the Church to be able to hear the challenge God is offering these days. I pray we can sense his calling out to the culture around us. As Jesus said the harvest is plentiful – it is the laborers that are few.

This morning went out with several Coastland folks to serve the community by cleaning toilets. We went to a number of businesses – it’s a little too much of a head spin to clean home toilets (though I would do that in a minute if I thought we could get away with it).
We had a great response. A couple told us we couldn’t clean their johns because of insurance coverage stipulations. We were able to get into the middle of things with the majority of people we went to though. There is something powerful that transpires at that moment when those we serve get it – that we are there to serve them with no strings attached – that we are going to do something menial to show them God’s kindness.
I was able to get a few of these folks on video today. Will post those candid moments on ServeCoach.com later this week. Pretty amazing stuff. I highly recommend you try this project in your backyard. Everyone has a toilet – and everyone hates to clean it.
I wonder if this is the sort of thing Jesus would be doing if he were walking the streets of our cities these days.

I have been working to launch teams of windshield washers. It has been a while since I last connected with strangers in this particular serving style. Found some very cool squeegees – they have metal handles and expand long enough that you can wash both sides of a large windshield at once. Got them at WalMart for about $5 per item. Went into WalMart to get equipped for both restroom cleaning and windshield washing. Ended up spending around $125 for a LOT of great serving equipment. It pays to go to a place like WalMart – it is easy to find the cool stuff needed and at a great price!

Just Show Up!
When it comes to doing outreach projects with teams a lot can go right… and wrong. After doing team-oriented outreaches for decades now I realize a lot can go haywire when you step out to serve the community with a number of people. Today I was scheduled to go out with a number of folks. We are approaching the end of the year so people are a bit busier than usual. However today we had a number who were to have been present at this outing no matter what. When all things came together we had a grand total of just me and another guy present. Two of us! We made a last minute adjustment to our focus and we went out just the same.
All went well in spite of the low numbers. We spoke with a number of interesting people who were out in the retail areas of town. It seemed a good time was had by all. All and all we made progress today.
When times are down a bit it is still time to go out and make connections. No matter what, today is the day for us to connect with the community. God will show up day after day as long as we show up.

It only takes a little bit of life to make a difference. Sometimes we talk ourselves out of attempting something significant for God because we think it takes a great thing to make a dent in life. Nothing could be further from reality. God delights in taking something rather small, anointing it and blessing it to become a great thing.
God is looking for hearty people who are willing to step out of their ruts and risk with him. He is interested in setting up adventures with those who will risk the way forward.
Most of what we do is small stuff. That is the way life is set up. It is best that we give up on the notion of major accomplishments being the goal in life. What is left is the many things we can do that are small but significant in God’s hands.