“So…What’s the ForColumbia Day of Service All About?”
People still ask us this question all the time.
Whenever someone does ask, we know one thing for sure. That person has yet to participate in one of our annual days of service to the community. People who have participated in the past don’t have to ask…they know exactly what we are all about.
So…why do we send volunteers every year to work at the homes of individuals in our city? How do we identify the people we serve? Likewise, why are we serving in this neighborhood…but not that one? Also, what goes into the planning stages of the annual day of service?
Every year we field questions that, behind the words, express a legitimate concern about the wisdom of helping people by “doing for them.”
Rest assured that we completely understand these concerns. We also want Christians to serve our community both effectively and wisely.
Heeding the Biblical Call to Agenda-Free Service
We feel God has been clear on this topic in both the Old and New Testaments. God has a deep love and compassion for the poor and the marginalized, and He calls us to share His concern.
Deuteronomy 15:11
For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, “You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.”Proverbs 19:17
Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.Jesus in Luke 4:18
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed…”1 John 3:17
But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?
It’s easy enough to sit on the sidelines and “love the poor” in some sort of generalized, detached manner. Anyone can do that.
However, all four gospel accounts take pains to demonstrate that Jesus was “a hands-on kind of guy.” He got his hands dirty, quite literally, when He put mud on a blind man’s eyes to restore his sight (John 9:6) and when He touched lepers as he cleansed them (Matthew 8:3).
We’ve made service as simple as humanly possible, however…
Hands-on service can get messy. It often does. However, Jesus was well aware of this reality, yet He was unwavering in His invitation to flourish personally by following His example.
The bottom line is that ForColumbia is, first and foremost, about relationships. We are inviting everyone, from every walk of life, to work together for the good of our community, without a hidden agenda. In just a few years, we’ve seen God use ForColumbia to forge deep new friendships that are highly unlikely to have occurred otherwise. We’ve seen neighborhoods transformed. Businesses and city officials have come alongside to help. And we’ve had a lot of fun along the way.
Set aside Saturday, April 30, 2022, and plan to take a four-hour or eight-hour shift as best suits your schedule. We’re looking for skilled and unskilled, young and old, you name it. If you have a heart for the City of Columbia, we’ll find something for you to contribute.
