Service Day 2009…Don’t “go” to church, “be” the church!
Join us this Sunday, March 29, as the Watermark family gathers to serve people throughout our city on Service Day. Instead of meeting for regular times of worship, we’ll hop on buses at the Watermark campus and serve from 9 am to 12:30 pm at locations all across the city – including schools, transitional homes, homeless shelters, and many other places. The goal of this day is simple: to share the love of Christ with others through service and move folks towards intentional, relational, and committed service as a way of life…loving God and loving and serving others.
How Can I Participate?
1. Please arrive no later than 9 am this Sunday dressed in comfortable clothes. Busses will depart at 9:15 am. Your bus captain will tell you more about where you’ll serve.
2. Drop off young children (birth – 4 years old) for Children’s Ministry in the Watermark Tower starting at 8:45. Older kids are invited to serve. Children’s Ministry volunteers are needed, so please email Jinger Lord to sign up!
3. Get back on the bus around noon. We’ll return to the Watermark Tower at 12:30 pm. Remember, there will be no 9 am, 11 am or 5:30 pm services on the 29th.
4. Bring your family and community group. Also invite guests!
After Service Day…
Our desire is that this day would be far more than a single time of service for you this year, but rather as a platform to inspire and stir you towards service as a way of life. We have opportunities to be “on mission” in our daily lives – being salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16) to people in our workplaces, schools, and neighborhoods. The needs of our city are great and we believe that it’s our privilege to pray for those needs and be part of the answer to those prayers.
Small “Service Days”
There are many opportunities to get involved in regular, intentional, and relational service around our city. You can find these here on the page for current service opportunities. Additionally, a great way to get connected with others and hear about upcoming service opportunities is to subscribe to this blog. It’s here for you – to learn about opportunities and share your stories wherever you’re serving. Also, you can learn about smaller monthly “service days” where you can visit some of our ministry partners, serve with them, and learn about how you and/or your community group can get plugged in.
“Service Scholarships”
From time to time, we’ll also be giving away “service scholarships” to individuals and/or community groups that are creatively serving the community! So, please share those stories here on this blog.
Hope Lives! Class beginning this Summer
Additionally, be sure to watch for more information about our upcoming class, beginning on June 9, called “Hope Lives: A Journey of Restoration.” Compassion changes everything: how you view your world…yourself…even Jesus. This five-week exploration of compassion is aimed at both mind and heart, inspiring a new way to interact with the world. You will learn what the Bible says about poverty, prayer, discovering the causes of poverty, and becoming part of the solution to local and global poverty.
Thanks again and happy to be ”on mission” with you!
The Watermark External Focus Team
One response so far
Today was awesome! I loved seeing what the Lord is doing in West Dallas. Mr. Henry’s work in the community is amazing! Better than providing affordable housing, they are transforming lives of the young men in the community. I went to a building site for Builders of Hope. Many of the Watermark volunteers helped to tear down an old house, but we had more volunteers than necessary, so many of us set out on foot into the neighborhood to pick up trash and talk to the neighbors.
The best part of the day was hearing the testimony of one of the men employed by Builders of Hope – Mohammad. Mohammad grew up in the neighborhood we were working. He told us the house we tore down was a drug house and the men who ran the house had a very profitable business. Mohammad was envious of the men who ran this house and wanted to find success like those men. Although the house looked like it was worth very little, he used to look at the house as if it were worth a million dollars. Mohammad was running with the wrong crowd and engaged in inappropriate business endeavors. After spiraling down, he ended up behind bars. About a year ago, Mohammad started working with Mr Henry for Builders of Hope. Since getting a second chance, and having good men surrounding him and encouraging him, Mohammad found a relationship with the Lord.
What an amazing day! Builders of Hope will have opportunities for volunteers to help on the build sites the second Saturday of each month. Come out and help transform West Dallas by building new houses and transforming lives.