Members of Harvest Community Church–Petroleum Valley Campus Petrolia, Pennsylvania, recently ministered to an underserved population. They concentrated on the nearby community of Emlenton, which is far removed from local businesses. Since there is no easy access for widows and single moms to have their cars serviced inexpensively, the ministry provided free oil changes and other light maintenance.
The goal was threefold: One, to fill that immediate need; two, to intentionally make use of the opportunity to get to know those who attended and share the gospel with them; and three, to advertise throughout the larger area that church members care about them and invite them to visit.
October 21 was cold and rainy, so coffee, hot chocolate, snacks and a warm fire were provided for participants while the cars received service.
The church hospitality team spent quality time with them and took advantage of the occasion to share why they chose to serve them in this manner. That opened up the door for some gospel conversations.
Deed of kindness
Not only did they hear the gospel, they saw it in action through a deed of kindness.
All of the widows and single moms who were ministered to during the outreach were extremely grateful for the service. In fact, one widow was so blessed she drove to the church’s campus and visited church the following Sunday.
The Baptist Resource Network provided an evangelism grant to the church, which helped secure supplies, facilities, snacks and outreach materials, as well as a mass mailing to invite neighbors to attend services.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was originally published by the Baptist Resource Network Pennsylvania/South Jersey.
