Shh! The church has a well-kept secret!
I only found out recently, when our couples small group was studying the topic of love and serving others and this came up. We usually serve our families, and commit to church ministries, but what about ways to serve someone at work or in our community, even anonymously?
Vineyard has a program called Payd4u.com. The goal is to “share God’s love in practical ways.” When you do a favor or act of service for someone, you can leave them a Payd4u business card–on their restaurant table, desk at work, or hand it to them, etc. These business cards are located in the church visitors’ center, along with brochures explaining the program. You could also use them to invite someone you who doesn’t have a church home.
The Payd4u card is linked to a website which explains having a relationship with the Lord, with additional links to the main Vineyard website. There is a comments section, as well, for card recipients to leave comments.
Why might you engage in this kind of “stealth” evangelism? Maybe you’re shy about witnessing or not sure how someone would respond, or you don’t want it to be about you. I remember the days of high school and college church youth groups, where we were encouraged to pass out salvation tracks to random people. It always felt a impersonal to me, to be honest, because it wasn’t truly relational.
Additionally, this is an opportunity to truly bless someone in a thoughtful way, even if it may happen spontaneously. Carefully consider when you notice someone who needs their spirits lifted, an act of service done, some extra TLC, or simply that little nudge to be invited to church. Your motivation is to follow God’s prompting and to serve others.
What sorts of activities could you do? I still hand out hats to homeless people, nearly 70 so far this year. While I realize they probably don’t have phone or internet access, my point is, this is an example of ways to bless others in a practical way, or mention the food and clothing bank.
Perhaps a neighbor needs their weeds pulled, or a co-worker could use a coupon for a Starbucks, or a single mom would love a coupon to the car wash or gas station. What about a card in the mail, just to say, someone’s thinking about you today and praying for you? Or, even when you strike up a conversation with a complete stranger, maybe they say something which emboldens you to ask to pray for them, right then and there. Then hand them a card as an invite.
Let’s let this Vineyard “secret” out of the bag. How can we creatively and thoughtfully bless others, while pointing the way to Jesus?
Feel free to leave any comments, if you’ve done an act of service which blessed the socks off of someone, or you have other ideas that might work with these quiet acts of servitude.
Thank you for writing about this!