Service Project This Saturday (Aug 22)

As we've announced previously, the Watershed service project for August is coming up this Saturday, August 22nd. We are going to be helping Pastor Jim and the Neighborhood Church in a project to collect food for the Salvation Army. Fliers will be sent out to about 800 homes this week, and we will be picking up the food items on Saturday. We will be organizing 16 teams to cover about 50 homes each.

If you can participate, please plan to arrive at Neighborhood Church (our usual Watershed meeting spot) at 10:30am this Saturday. We will be done with collecting food by around noon. Then, we will meet back at the church for a BBQ where we will eat (obviously) and mingle with the neighbors. The BBQ will last until 2pm.

If you have any special talents (e.g. balloon animals, face painting) those would be cool to share at the BBQ as well.

If you have questions or if you plan to attend, please leave a comment below. If you are a member of the Watershed Facebook group, you might see an invite from there as well about this project.

The Harvest is Plenty

It's time for a pop quiz!

What did Jesus say after he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plenty but the workers are few"?

With Healing the Heartland approaching fast, we see a harvest that really is plenty. There are many thousands of people in Cedar Rapids that do not know Christ, and many of them will participate in at least one of the Healing the Heartland events.

Compared to the number of non-Christians, the workers really are few, whether the workers are Christians or volunteers at one of the events.

Hmm. Wasn't that what Jesus said? Something about volunteering or stepping up?

Nope.

Even though I strongly suggest reading Joe's earlier post and signing up as a volunteer, that's not what I'm going to ask you to do.

Healing the Heartland is going to be a great chance for all of us to share Christ's love with this city. There is an enormous harvest available, but the workers are few. That's why I'm going to make a serious request of everyone that reads this. I want you to do what Jesus commanded in Matthew 9:37-38.

I want you to "ask the Lord of the harvest...to send out workers into his harvest field." Please pray daily, for the next ten days, that God will send out workers into the harvest field of Cedar Rapids.

And if you're willing to pray, please post a comment to let us know you're doing so.

July 4 Young Life Fundraiser

Andrea S made us aware last Thursday night of an opportunity to help one of our local organizations, Young Life. They are looking for volunteers on the 4th (just a couple short days away) to help man a vendor stand from appx. 6pm - 10pm, and then help with cleanup from 10pm - 1am. Anyone can work one or both shifts.

If you're interested in helping out in this way, let me know (or post a comment here), and I'll forward that info to Young Life.