Last week our church, the Bridgton Alliance Church in Bridgton, Maine, had its biggest outreach ever. SPARK week was a week of outreach modeled after a short term missions trip, but right in our home town. After a great kick off weekend, we had seven straight days of rain! This led to the cancellation of some outdoor events, such as a public hymn-sing and free golf lessons at the local driving range, but by and large events went on as scheduled. A concert and a free movie were moved inside, the construction team worked in the rain, the backyard Bible club set up under tents, and many events were planned to be inside already. There were times of discouragement, but in the end, there are many testimonies, and the whole congregation got involved.
Highlights:
After three days of a medical clinic that had only one or two congregation members per day, on Thursday a man came in having a heart attack. Alan, a doctor in our congregation, treated him, got him to the hospital, and the man is recovering. The next day, Alan saw eight patients in four hours.
The team that prepared a community meal held at the Bridgton Community Center fed 50 people.
After three days of Backyard Bible Club having only a handful of church kids in attendance, some neighbor kids came over, and returned for the rest of the week. One little girl asked a leader to review the colors of the "Wordless Book" to share with others.
The construction team repaired three homes in the community, and got a lot of attention for the work they did.
Men involved with the construction team are discussing making this an ongoing ministry to the community.
The baked goods team delivered home made baked goods to the police, town hall, nursing home staff, group homes and other locations in town.
A Gideon in our church hand delivered Bibles to every room in the local hospital.
We had a large turn out at our closing concert, even though it was moved into our church due to weather. I was blessed to do a 30 minute set among a variety of musical acts.
At our closing service on Sunday morning packed the house. After the service, a young man who just moved back to the community came into Pastor's office. In a nutshell, he was asking about the meaning of life. Along with others, I was pulled into the conversation. He was dealing with a need to forgive, anger issues, and church hurts. We were able to minister to him, pray with him, and exchange contact information.
Three totes of food were collected (in addition to a significant amount of cash) for a local food pantry.
The week truly was a spark. The congregation is on board to do it and I'm confident the town will welcome another SPARK week next summer.