Servolution 2008
The church where my family attends and serves regularly is called Healing Place Church. You might have read about it on the splash page of my website. It’s no coincidence that it’s called “healing place” because the church leaders felt that their mission was to be “a healing place for a hurting world,” so they made the change a few years ago and have set out every day since to serve the community, the state, the nation, and the world through “Jesus-style ministry.” Last year, our lead Pastor, Dino Rizzo, began a mission to take one day a year and call the church to community-wide service. He called it “Servolution” and about 500 members showed up to go out and reach the community in various ways. This year was our first year to participate as I was finally able to really function following the vertigo craziness after my last pregnancy. So, my husband and I packed up our 3 children and went to church for 830 on a Saturday morning. As we slogged into the registration area to find out where we were to serve, we found a good number of folks had already shown up. We were expecting about what they had last year…a few hundred folks or so. We were placed with a group going to a nursing home to visit residents, hand out flowers, and play games. After we got our nametags we went into the sanctuary to have some worship before embarking. Upon entering, we were hit with a wall of sound as we realized that there were more than a few hundred folks…there were a few THOUSAND…all there to volunteer to serve others in our community! We worshipped and were sent out inspired to go and touch others for Christ! The nursing home where we served was a nice assisted living facility with friendly residents, though not very many made their way to the rec room where we were waiting. Several of our party went down the halls to rooms delivering flowers while my husband and I stayed in the rec room with the kids to visit with those who did come down. It was lovely to meet Ms. Lu, Ms. Mary Jane, and Mr. Dan, all of whom had wonderful things to say and stories to tell. Mr. Dan, who talked at length to my husband, was a lovely conversationalist and was interested in talking about lots of things. My husband remarked to me on the way home how much he enjoyed Mr. Dan’s company. My little girls were happy to wave at the folks they met and never met a stranger, always ready with a “hello, how are you?” My son was also ready with a handshake and boisterous with the other children! Eventually, I got talked into singing “Over the Rainbow” just before we left which was met with the sweetest of compliments! It was a fantastic way for us to connect with others in our community as a family. While I know that the residents enjoyed our company, it meant so much to us to be able to serve, to pray with them, visit with them, love on them, even if only for a few hours before lunch. It is the hope and prayer of Pastor Dino and the leadership of HPC to make Servolution not just a once a year event, but a lifestyle of giving back every day. Thank you Healing Place Church for giving us the opportunity to serve others this way…to literally reach out and touch our community. If you, would like more info about HPC and Servolution, please go to my website, www.angieewing.com and click on the link.
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