Reachout

Reverberate Team Brainstorms Ways to Serve in Cavaillon, Haiti

Tuesday night our Reverberate Team met at the Restore offices to brainstorm ways to create more relationships with our church and orphans in Cavaillon, Haiti.

There were three major topics/priorties the team contended with:

1. Kid City to Kid connections: Specifically, what can Kids City do to build stronger relationships with the Cavaillon Kids.
2. Orphan Care and Sponsorship: what can we do to help people at Restore become even more generous and sponsor more orphans?
3. Congregation to Congregation: What specific steps can we take to create deeper relationships with the people at the Cavaillon church.

The team has come up with some really cool ideas in each of these areas that we will be exploring. I am inspired that so many people would gather together to work-out how we can serve people so far away.

Restore Listens in Liberty

Nate Williams, Campus Pastor of our soon to be launched Liberty site, led his team at the Liberty Fall Festival last weekend. They set-up a booth and handed out candy bars and water and asked people to take a simple survey. Nate really believes that before launching our campus in Liberty, we need to listen to people to determine how we can best serve them. Here's the note Nate sent to all of the people who served at the Restore booth.

Hey Everyone,

I wanted to give you an update from all of the time that we put in this weekend at booth at the Liberty Fall Festival.

Nine days ago I challenged everyone at the Liberty info meeting to join us in listening to our community. You responded to that challenge in a profound way. During the 3 day period of the fall festival we had 35 people who served in the booth. You were challenged to engage people in conversation as you handed out water. You did that so well, that we handed out nearly 1200 bottles of water. But people didn't just take the water and leave. You invited them to stay and share their opinions about Liberty. We received a total of 255 surveys from these people about what is going well and what needs to be improved. Out of all the people that did stop and talk, we had 14 people sign up to receive more information about Restore coming to Liberty. We even had someone visit Restore for the first time on sunday as a direct result of our booth at the Fall Festival.

This was our first concerted effort to engage our community in conversation and listen for the needs of Liberty. Because of you, we were incredibly effective. This event exceeded everyones expectations and was a great success. I just wanted to express my gratitude to all of you who joined us in listening to our community. I will keep you posted as we sort through all of the data that was collected. It will undoubtedly help us focus our efforts in Liberty. Thanks for joining us on the adventure of listening and serving our community.

Story from Servefest

Here is an email I received from one of our Reachout contributors. She planned and executed a project at a nearby nature trail and school and invited others to join her. I just love the fact that people at Restore are creating opportunities for us to serve our community.

Hi Patrick -- Our ServeFest project went well this morning! They were all ready for us with supplies and mulch and we were able to jump right in and get to work. We mulched a pretty good section of the trail (maybe 90 or 100 yards), plus did some dirt work diverting runoff, and took out some roots across the trail. We finished up just before noon. Mrs. Davis (from the school) and her husband worked with us. They were very appreciative of our help and would love to have us come again sometime.

G

Join Our Reachout Conversation

Join the conversation—the Reachout conversation.

God has built an amazing culture of the serving at Restore and our Reachout ministry continues to be the catalyst for that.

But Reachout is evolving and that’s where you come in. You’re invited to join us in the Reachout ‘conversation’ to develop ways we can better serve our neighbors, our city and the world.

Beginning on Tuesday evening, September 15th, we will hold a one-hour long ‘conversation’ about what it means to serve. There will be a brainstorming session, some dialogue, and some vision and strategy. Here’s where you can help us figure out what it means to serve.

Join us at the Restore Offices at 6:30PM, 3000 NW 50th Street, Riverside, MO. 64150

Whether you currently serve in Reachout, want to serve in Reachout, have an idea for a project, or just want to learn more about serving, this conversation is for you. No experience is necessary and we will very much welcome your input.

People Are Still Donating School Supplies to Replenish

Even though we delivered school supplies to four different schools two weeks ago, people are still contacting us to donate supplies.

This person emailed us that she had been out of town during Replenishkc.org and wanted to know if she could still help. I told her of course and she wrote:
 
...My fifth child graduated from the Park Hill School District last year so when I went into Walmart and saw all the back-to-school supplies this summer I got a lump in my throat and a little emotional not being able to buy crayons and such after 23 years!!!  I know it sounds corny.  But then the next day your flyer arrived!!  Awesome! Thanks for letting me be a part of your wonderful efforts!
 
Thanks again!

Our Reachout Story in the Christian Standard

I had the privilege of telling our Reachout story to the Christian Standard in an article called "Loving our neighbors, Building Relationships in Kansas City Missouri." Check it out.

I would love to hear some of your comments.

Thank You from Hillcrest

Here's a thank you note we along with other churches in our community received for our participation in the Hillcrest Walk for the Homeless. People from Restore where out on race day handing out waters and surveying the community.

Dear Platte County Churches:
 
I wanted to personally thank all of you who participated in the  2009 Walk for the Homeless.   Because of you, 400 Walkers & volunteers raised over $51,000 to help move homeless families back to self-sufficiency right here in Platte County.  
 
96% of the 48 Platte County Churches contacted fully participated in helping us distribute over 7,000 church bulletin inserts letting members know about the walk.  Most mentioned the walk in their own communications vehicles as well including newsletters, mid week bulletins and websites. 
 
Many of the walkers and much of the money raised was thanks to efforts by your church and it's members.
 
Thank you for your service to the homeless of Platte County.
 
You make a big difference!
 
Mike Cole
Hillcrest Board Member, Volunteer

www.hillcrestministries.org

Celebrating with the Salvation Army

Restore is going to be recognized for all of the work we did with the What if the Church project at the Salvation Army Bellefontaine Center.

If you had anything to do with the What if the Church project I'd encourage you to go.

Here are the details:

Download Neighborhood Celebration Flyer

Changing the World One Bag at a Time: Replenish!

What a night! About 100 people from Restore gathered at Metro North Mall and then headed out into communities across the Northland to help gather school supplies for hurting kids as part of our Replenish KC Project.

We went door to door in 14 different communities and asked people to partner with us by donating school supplies. We dropped off approximately 785 bags for people to fill with supplies and left at least 850 door hangers. Every bag drop-off was a conversation we had with someone. Every door hanger is an opportunity for someone to be generous. The vibe we picked up was that people are very willing to be part of helping kids in the community.

I've already received calls and emails from people telling us that they are going to fill their bags.

Thanks to all of the people at Restore who showed up to make it happen. I love being part of this generous community.

We're headed back to the neighborhoods on August 8th to pick-up the bags. Keep praying that people will respond to our request and donate the supplies. Keep praying that God will use this opportunity to work great things in our community.

Reverberate Team Posts Pictures and Video of Haiti

The Reverberate Team at Restore is starting to post lots of pictures and video from Haiti on their Facebook Fan Page. Just

Look them up on Facebook. Search key words "Reverberate and Restore"