Something for Nothing
Action ideas - Something for Nothing
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Giving things away
“Even though you are bad, you know how to give good gifts to your children. How much more your heavenly Father will give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7 v 11).
I like that Bible verse. It talks of a God who loves to give extravagantly to his children. But in our cynical age there is the saying, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.” In other words, there must be a catch if someone claims to be giving out something for nothing.
There is no such catch in Willowfield, a working class area in East Belfast, Northern Ireland. George Newell, a Church Army evangelist and Community Outreach Worker in the area, works alongside existing staff in taking the church and God’s love out into the community, onto the streets, into the shops and pubs, wherever they can get the message that “God loves and cares about you” seen and heard.
George explains: “The church engages in many different forms of evangelism. One which I believe all churches can do is ‘giveaways’ – giving something for free to people on the streets and in the pubs. This does not bring thousands flocking to our doors. However, it changes the community’s perception of the church. It gets information into people’s hands that otherwise would be difficult to do. And it works up credit and/or grace in the community which enables us to be more direct in the future – it earns us the right to speak. We are known as the church that gives things away without demanding anything in return.”
George gives some examples of things they have given away in the past:
“Coming up to Harvest we give away small bags of potatoes with invitations to our Harvest services.”
“We give away poppy seeds coming up to Remembrance Day, with invitations to Remembrance Services.”
“We give pot plants to those moving into new homes in the area and we also do door-to-door giveaways in particular areas.”
“We hand out tea and coffee at bus stops in the early morning for those heading to work.”
“We provide a free barbecue in streets and at special events happening in the community.”
"We arrange with a local ice cream shop to give away free ice cream for perhaps a two-hour period on a Saturday afternoon. With the free ice cream there is also an invitation to a family fun event in the church." (If you do something like this, be aware that we live in a society where for some there are negative connotations attached to adults giving sweet things away to children - "Don’t accept sweets from strangers".)
“Coming up to Mother’s Day, we give mothers some fudge wrapped in a small bag.”
George says that this form of outreach is easy to do: “You don’t need to be a gifted evangelist. All you need is a smile on your face. Giving things away shows a side of God’s nature that can so often be missing from evangelism on the streets today – showing a God who loves us and calls us to love our neighbour.”
Action points:
- Always have something to invite people to, whether it be a church service or a social event. Apart from that, give whatever it is away with no conditions attached.
- Don't corner people or make them feel uncomfortable; just offer them the gift with a smile.
- People will want to know why you are doing this – be ready to answer them, but avoid religious jargon.
George Newell is a Church Army evangelist who works for the Willowfield Parish Community Association (WPCA) as a Community Outreach Worker in Willowfield, East Belfast.
