My values, much like the Vineyard movement’s, are like the story of the Shamwow because the movement is all about making the mysterious real.  It’s our expectation that people would experience the supernatural presence of God like Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 2:4-5 when he says “I did not come to speak with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the spirit and power.”  You see, the Shamwow took off because of an infomercial – Some crazy guy demonstrating the unreal power of this tiny piece of multi-fiber cloth.  Something caught America’s attention.  Similarly, the Holy Spirit catches our attention and when we yield to Him, he uses us to do something special.

In our consumer driven society cost influences perceived value. If the Shamwow had stopped the infomercial before addressing price, the experience would not have been complete.  It wouldn’t have been the success that it is today. People would have thought that something this special is only for those who could afford it or those who just really like to clean.  But it wasn’t.  The Shamwow wasn’t just for the elites; it was favorably priced for all people at just $19.99.  But God one-upped QVC and the Spike TV Saturday morning infomercials.  God covered the cost and gave the “Shamwow” away for free so that everyone could experience its power.

Vineyard aligns with my values in that there is a shared belief that Christianity isn’t just for the “Religious Winners”. We believe “everyone can play”.  Jesus told Peter “come follow me”.  He didn’t apply spiritual measures.  Jesus didn’t say “follow me if you have it all together.” You see, we’re not just some ordinary towel that still leaves a mess and can’t dry up the water.  We’re something different, something special – we’re a Shamwow. We are able to reach all people because we’ve equipped ourselves to influence people where they are at, and bring them along for the ride.

When I played football at the University of Cincinnati, I would talk to guys about the faith element of their lives and they’d say “I’ll wait till I get right first.”  God didn’t call us with strings attached; He wants us all to participate in what he has in store for us.  Many people oftentimes feel that they have to be something first.  But God wants us to be who we are and who we are created to be.  Some people were created to use the Shamwow for drying cars, some for boats and some for simple household chores where a paper towel would suffice.  This story is only made real when we are able to share the Gospel, the undiluted Gospel, in practical and relevant ways that reach people who are considered “the missing”.

Vineyard Community Church has scripted on its building “Small things done with great love can change the world.” There is no value greater than loving God and loving His people. Agape love is not about rules or requirements.  It’s not based upon expectations or conditions.  It is about incorporating love and the leading of the Holy Spirit into everyday life so that real evangelism is based upon being available.

My football history taught me something priceless: success on the field was about community, a shared vision and values despite the wide variety of differences from race, religion, economics or even education.  The Vineyard movement embraces these championship values where God doesn’t call the equipped, He equips the called.  While no team is perfect, I want to be on a team that embraces the championship mindset and the Vineyard movement has that mindset.

- Chris Flores, Vineyard Cincinnati leader

“Go!” Boldly and with compassion.

Growing up in a UCC church in a small town it always struck me as odd that we would gather in our Sunday best in the church to sing antiquated songs with lyrics like “doth thou thath wrought” and I remember telling my grandpa as we were leaving one Sunday how I didn’t feel any different or know any more walking out of that church than when I walked in. That feeling of sameness bothered me greatly because I had learned early on in Sunday school about a compassionate and powerful Jesus who healed the sick, comforted the grieving and brought people back from death, but yet, this church it didn’t feel “alive” at all. Something was very wrong here. I knew in my heart there had to be more than this. No, this couldn’t be it. To walk in the doors every Sunday at 10:15, smile at the people, parrot some phrases with the congregation, sing some songs and try to stay awake during the sermon while daydreaming which NFL teams were playing on TV later that day.

My world shifted in 2000 when I came upon the Vineyard in Cincinnati. It was an early fall Saturday and I had been using The Vineyard parking lot as a shortcut to get to work. New in town, I was looking for a new church to join and decided if I was going to use their parking lot, I could at least see what they had to offer. To my shock and amazement, when I walked through the doors they had a huge “ServeFest” going on with at least a dozen outreaches, everything from a Coke outreach to a free car wash to a nursing home visitation, even a bathroom cleaning outreach. All to serve the people outside the church walls to let them know God loves them. It was incredible. This…this is what I had been looking for all my life. This is what I knew Jesus would be about today. This was “Go!”

So how does that snippet of my life fit into the Vineyard core mission? I hope it dovetails nicely. To reach out to people who are broken and heading down the wrong road at a breakneck speed stop so they can experience God to find a more fulfilling, peaceful path. To team up with those who used to want for only for themselves, but now want to serve in the name of something greater than self. To “Go!” and serve in the name of Christ.

Someone once said, “Christianity at its simplest form is one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread”. And through the history of the Vineyard movement and at VCC that’s what we’re all about. Now for sure, with a membership as large as VCC, there are people all over the spectrum in regards of serving. But it’s the culture of service and slipping on the dusty sandals of Christ for even a moment to a stranger, a co-worker or the cashier at a Taco Bell, it’s a force of a million light touches of love to demonstrate to people, sometimes on the worst day of their life, that there is a God, He is alive and well, and He loves you so much he would rather go to Hell alone than to be in Heaven without you.

“Go!” It’s the key core value that started with the Vineyard back from its inception and still holds true today. And it’s not just a suggestion from Christ, but a command, “Go and make fishers of men!” It’s pretty much what drives me to help lead with the LA La Viña outreach and when volunteering for Breathe or any of the other programs VCC puts on to reach out to the lost and serve those who live on “the fringe”.

And the best part is I can leave from any service or outreach at VCC and know I am changed, that I have learned something to put into practice that coming week and the weeks to come. And walk out with an attitude that’s focused on Christ so I can do what He asked us all to do in his name. ”Go!”

- Brian G.

So my vision is seeing people in the community around us coming together in circles of prayer. Complete strangers coming together as a branch of the body. – DP

A couple of years ago I went to the gym on one of my usual gym days. (My wife tells me it’s a good thing.)

When I arrived I asked the receptionist, ‘Have you been kissed today?’ She smiled and said, ‘Nope, not today.’ I then gave her a pack said, ‘Well you’ve just been kissed.’ She laughed and exclaimed, ‘You’re from the Vineyard right?’ I replied, ‘Yep. We are kissing people all over the city this week.’

On Valentines Day we’ll head out to a couple of strip malls near the Vineyard. We take the packs of kisses, and several buckets of carnations. We pop into the businesses and head to the customer service desk and ask, ‘How many ladies are working today?’

We then count out the flowers and Hershey packs…and say, ‘We are from the Vineyard and you’ve just been kissed.’

Usually some of the other assistants are around and join in the exchange. Often, a male worker will ask for a carnation for his girlfriend or wife. Some guys say, ‘Thanks for the reminder.’

Most people are open, curious, laugh and catch the vibe.

One Vineyard group went to a high end Spa/Hair place, all of the working ladies gathered to receive their flower. ‘Who are you guys? Others exclaim, ‘This is so cool.’ Or sigh, ‘This will be my only present today.’

Flowers and kisses were also handed out to the ladies who were becoming beautiful-er.

One of the team noticed one of the ladies getting her hair cut didn’t receive a flower. So being the sensitive, thinking person she is, made an extra special effort to find another team grab a flower and run back to the shop…when she gave the lady the flower, the surprised and delighted lady exclaimed, ‘You’ve just made my day! Thank you.’

Really? Made her day? Makes me wonder what one of her days looks like? Makes me wonder if she was ever loved, or had a caring boy friend, or had husband, or is now connected to an uncaring guy?

What’s in a gift of a small flower and a pack of kisses?

I think serving others in a fun, creative way sends an upbeat message to the people in our stressed out world.

Serving others often is a small action that sends a signal that says, ‘Hey, someone cares for you.’ The action preformed with genuine love somehow touches the heart.

My friend Scott, said, ‘Agape love revealed…  my love is demonstrated as I serve others through the choices I make, and by the actions I take.’

Process for Kiss Dayton:
4 weeks out: have connect cards printed (www.marketplaceprinting)
4 weeks out: order Hershey Kisses (snacc foods Cincinnati)
4 weeks out: order 4”X4” zip bags (BGR bags West Chester OH)
4 weeks out: order boxes of Carnations for pick up (Cleveland Plants and Flowers Dayton)
2 weeks out: have kids or teens pack the bags
Week of: have packs placed at all exits

Valentine Day Outreach
3 days out: pick up flowers, cut stems and place in buckets of water so they will be open on the day
3 days out: design maps with instructions and contact phone numbers
3 days out: make name tags
3 days out: gather Kiss packs and place in a larger bag or container

Day of Valentines Day Outreach
Gather at 10am
Give Instructions: go to shops, go to check out or customer service, ask, How many ladies are working today, count out Kisses packs and flowers give to workers, Say, ‘We’re from the Vineyard and you’ve just been kissed.’ Also, be open to need and pray with people if *God space is created.

Divide up into teams Load up and head out.
After project head to Caribou Coffee, or Starbucks for download and great java.

Steve Bowen

Turkeyfest turned out to be fantastic.  Our small group had 5 baskets to deliver but we only took 4 names.  We figured, somehow, we would be directed to the fifth family.  We asked the first 4 families if they were aware of a family that really needed help.  We were led to just such a family.

Here’s our story.

I have a son who was brain injured in a car accident when he was a toddler. He lives in a nice group home with two roommates and 24-hour caretakers. About five years ago while at a Christmas party with him and other physically and mentally challenged adults Bill and I noticed that not everyone received a gift at the party. However, when another group home’s name was called for receiving the door prize gifts, the others clapped with excitement for those that won, even if they didn’t. We wanted to do something to make sure everyone received a gift at the next party but time got away from us until this year.

Last year one of our group members said that she thought we as a small group should take gifts to my son’s group home. This year we all took action and decided to collect gently used or new re-gifted items (nice gifts that were received but not wanted or useful and that may just be sitting in storage), wrap them and go as elves to give the gifts and serve at the party. The morning we shared our idea with Dan Henry was the morning the Vineyard announced their outreach that was similar to ours. It was exciting to see that our small group was “in-step” with the heart of the whole body of Christ!

Shortly after Thanksgiving lots of nice donated items started coming in. Soon our living room, dining room, kitchen and guest room was so full that I doubted that we could get them all wrapped in one evening and wondered how we’d ever get our home ready for Christmas with the “mess”. The evening before the party we set up “wrapping stations” at the kitchen table, breakfast bar, dinning room table and a folding table in the living room plus a folding table for our chili dinner before wrapping. Because I am a planner and one that functions better in an organized environment, the clutter of wrapping paper, ribbon and boxes and bags of stuff looked overwhelming. However, seeing how calmly and well everyone was working together made the task look easy! In less than three hours over 100 gifts were wrapped, the scraps of paper picked up and folding tables put away with the help of many hands!

I say all this to encourage those who may think such an outreach is too much when in fact, with God’s people working together to serve in any way, it becomes a great blessing!

The next evening our small group plus four other Vineyard volunteers put on our elf and/or Santa hats and served drinks and dinner to each table. The people were so excited and wanted pictures taken with us. It is difficult for one or two caretakers to carry drinks and help take each of those in their care through the food line, especially if they are in wheelchairs and/or using walkers in the crowded room so they were very happy to be served! Our volunteers then mingled with and danced with those with disabilities and helped everyone pick out a stuffed animal from the two tubs full. There were enough wrapped gifts and stuffed animals and new gloves for every single person, including the caretakers!

It was so much fun to serve these special people and we are looking forward to doing it again next year!

God is great!

The second family we served was a single mom with 6 precious children ranging from 7 years to 7 months  We took fully cooked meal to her on Thanksgiving morning.  She too allowed us to pray for her.  The small children were so receptive to prayer; we joined hands and prayed in our little circle. The mom specifically asked for prayer to pass her driver’s test.  When we finished praying, the little 4 year old tugged on my shirt and gleefully said, “My daddy’s out of jail now.”  The mom laughed very nervously in response to her child’s statement. What a heart break!

We did not leave either place feeling good about what we had done, instead we felt overwhelmed by the needs of our community and asked ourselves, what else can we do?  Taking a few meals is just not enough!
Of course, we will continue to lift the families up and many others just like them and also continue to ask God what else can we do.  Our small group is meeting again this coming Wednesday to walk through another chapter of the Outward Focused Life book.  We know God has a plan for our group and we are praying that we pay close attention to His voice as we enter into this busy holiday season.

We are grateful for your prayers!
Annette (and Mike)

What an amazing time on Saturday. Our ‘receive turkey dinner crew’ were sorting dinners at 8am at 9:30am they received, checked and repacked 150 dinners that were dropped off for the 10am outreach.

At ten am 350ish people showed up… with their dinners. The buzz in the place was off the chart…The first timers were nervous, asking the, ‘What are we going to do? Wow do we do this? Where are we going? Whatz up?’ They were directed to the three tables where they could choose their location, grab a map, a tips sheet and a name tag. We then all gathered in the main room…

We reminded people about the two great commands…Love God with all…and Love your neighbor as self…we connected the thought to Heb 13:15-17  …worship and serving others gladdens the Fathers heart… They go hand in hand, and when they collide …God things can happen.

We worshiped, prayed, picked up our connect cards and ‘we’ve been here’ door stickers and headed out.

Stories are now coming in. People at the right door at the right time. Mom’s weeping. Kids excited and many, many people receiving encouragement through prayer. One guy was so moved that he knelt down beside his boxed dinner to receive prayer.

Here are two stories:
At one house there was a woman, her daughter and sister, both about 8 y.o. They were so incredibly happy that we had food for them. She hugged all 5 of us several times, allowed us to pray for her, hugged us all again. After we left we could hear them all shouting and singing…singing something like “we got turkey dinner” over and over. It was funny.

The third house was where a lady named Earnestine lives. She was pretty shocked when we said why we’d come–as a way of sharing God’s love. She said it made her feel really special and then she just started to cry. She said it was such a wonderful feeling to know that somebody cared.

I told her that God knew that she needed some encouragement today,and that we’d been to a lot of houses where no one answered and that we had ended up waaay in the back of the quads where she lived, We are here because He wanted her to feel His love. We prayed for her too. We hugged her a lot. I told her to call the number on the card if she needed someone to talk to. It was obvious that she was struggling with something. I told her about that church up near the entrance…Destiny.
Anne

At my work, I shared what we were doing this weekend.  A co-worker (Jorge) decided to buy a turkey and trimmings for us to give away.  When we were near the end, I picked a dinner up and said “OK God, this is Jorge’s dinner”.  As I was walking back to the quads, a lady came out of nowhere and asked me if we had food.  I said we had a few dinners left and asked if I could I carry a box to her house?  She seemed very thankful and told me she had three kids (14, 16 and 18).

It turned out that she was originally from Mexico.  What is really cool about that is that I was able to share with her that the guy from my work who paid for a dinner to be delivered was named Jorge and is also from Mexico.

That really touched her and she started crying.  I told her out of all the dinners given out today, God had appointed that one to be hers.  I was able to pray with her and with one of her daughters.  She cried through the whole prayer.  I asked her daughter what her favorite Thanksgiving food was.  She said it was pumpkin pie.  As we looked through the dinner box together, there was not one, but two pumpkin pies.  God cares!

Thanks to all for making this opportunity happen again this year.  See you tomorrow.
Jeff

As a friend of mine says, Good deeds creates good will that opens hearts to the good news.

steve bowen

Nellie S.