Ideas for REEF event needed….

Here’s a time for all of you who read this to give your input!  We are looking for ideas for future REEF events – specifically ones that will help build our relationship with the community…..so please take some time to read this post and post a comment!  Or if you would prefer, you can email me through this link.  Thanks!

Below are my notes from a book I have read to help in our REEF projects….it is a great book by Steve Sjogren.  It was one given to me when I accepted the opportunity to lead REEF. 

But I also believe the outreach we are doing needs to be tailored to our community and their needs – not what is easy for us or what makes us feel good.  The bottom line is that we are trying to show God’s love in a real and personal manner without any strings attached to the people in our ‘territory’. 

 “101 Ways to Reach Your Community”

In the introduction, Steve makes sure he makes the point “this is a read-and-do” book!  The focus of the book is “servant evangelism”.  This is based on the premise that “God’s love is free, so this gift of service is totally free in the same way” and that Jesus served others – he didn’t only preach to them but showed them too (by His words and His actions)! 

There are several examples of how effective this type of outreach is – we also know that it is effective too – most of you have experienced the reaction when you tell the people that it is only because God loves you – it catches them off guard and brings up a certain level of intrigue – especially in our world today where nothing is free!!   Another statement I just love in the book – “We exist to love our city into relationship with Jesus Christ.”   He admitted that it took them about a dozen years to get to this statement – but what a perfect description of what REEF is trying to accomplish!  And of course, the biggest question that always comes up….”What if things go wrong when we are doing our outreach?”  His point – we need to be flexible and able to learn and modify as we move forward – after all, God is leading us and the intent is good.  I think we do an excellent job of this and since a lot of the projects we have done to date involve similar tasks (planning, obtaining items, assembling and going out), we have modified some of the approaches as we adapt to our specific neighborhood (“territory”).  So we are definitely good here!  Other key points – pray, be organized, have fun, debrief, keep a record of successes (and failures) and keep going out – some of these we do well and others we could do better…. 

The projects basically are broken into 3 levels – “blitzing”, “connecting” and “investing”. 

“Blitzing” is focused on action and typically doesn’t require much planning.  “Connecting” is focused on serving the public and creating an opportunity to have conversations (significant and evangelistic) with the people we are serving – we will be able to serve them better by getting to know them.  “Investing” is focused on building community ties, listening at an even deeper level than “connecting” and building bridges of credibility with the community.

Blitzing projects listed – soft drink giveaway, gasoline buy-down, donut giveaway during morning traffic, assorted giveaways, dollar drop or quarter drop, dollar tipping of restaurant servers, trash pick-up with ‘kindness in progress’ signs, twenty-dollar outreach experiment, newspaper giveaway, coffee/hot chocolate, cappuccino giveaway, stamp giveaway in front of post office, business blast, grocery bag packing, grocery cart escort and return, popsicles/ice cream giveaway, ice cream coupons, hand cleaning towelettes, vinyl gloves at gas stations, windshield washing, parking meter feeding, drinks at biking trails, pen (pencils and post-it notes) giveaway, photocopying, compute diskettes giveaway, drinks at intramural or Greek events, breakfast toaster pastries giveaway, exam answer (Scantron) sheets giveaway, phone cards for long-distance calls, ‘biggie size’ food orders at fast food drive-thru’s, suntan lotion giveaway, surf wax, Mother’s day carnation giveaway, church matchbook giveaway, watermelon/pumpkin/cantaloupe giveaway, boxes to merchants, scotch tape giveaway at Christmas, flower seed packet giveaway, golf ball (or tee) giveaway (or golf ball cleaning) and glow-in-the-dark necklace giveaway.

Connecting projects listed – totally free car wash, interior car cleaning and vacuuming, oil changes for single parents, car drying at self serve car washes, windshield washer fluid fill, windshield ice scraping, windshield washing at self serve gas stations, bike fix-up clinic, restroom cleaning, umbrellas escort, neighborhood food collection and distribution, business window washing, Polaroid photos, shoeshines, helium balloon and balloon animals, dog washing, doggie dirt cleanup, dorm move-in help, coffee/tea/lattes during late-night study sessions, soft drinks/Gatorade/lemonade at class signup, pizza on move in day at dorms, Christmas gift wrapping, meal purchasing at restaurants, door-to-door Sunday morning paper and coffee, filter change for air conditioners and heaters, garage cleaning, leaf raking, lawn mowing, roof gutter cleaning, address number painting on curbs, garbage can return from street, tulip bulbs and potted plants, snow removal from walks and drives, ice melting for sidewalks, window washing, light bulb replacement, fireplace ash removal, smoke detector battery replacement, library fines payment, winter/summer survival kits, Christmas tree giveaway or after-Christmas tree collection, Laundromat washer and dryer payment, cocoons on Good Friday, friendly pet outreach to convalescent and retirement homes and ‘free prayer’ table at fairs.

Investing projects listed – Matthew’s party, block party, lamb’s lunch, parties of appreciation for police officers/fire fighters/EMT’s, accident scene cleanup, single parent’s house repair, blood pressure screening, tutoring, school supplies for needy families, dorm room cleaning, shopping assistance for shut-ins, apartment move-out help, birthday party organizing, memorial service for the unchurched, move-in welcoming party, pool party with a purpose and birthday cards.As you can see from the list, we are already doing some of these – and I hope this list helps generate some more ideas (more specific to our territory). 

We welcome all ideas!  Thanks!!