Last weekend, thousands of Saddleback members fanned out across the community and answered the call to be Good Neighbors. This weekend was the culmination of a teaching series that began in November in which we have been learning about why and how we are to love those in our neighborhoods and communities.
In biblical stories such as the story of the Good Samaritan, Jesus sets the example as he sees the needs of those around us, and takes the time to stop and serve. Following in his footsteps, more than 20,000 people from Saddleback Church’s nine California campuses and the Internet Campus and spent more than 100,000 hours serving people in a number of different ways.
We asked you to share your Good Neighbor weekend stories with us, and here’s what you said:
“We put up Christmas lights at several homes in a senior community, and packaged and delivered 50 meals to the "shut ins”. And, the coolest part was that, while delivering the meals, we ran into a lady who asked us to put lights up at her house. It turns out her mom lives with her and is the oldest living resident in Riverside, we had a chance to visit with a 106 year old lady!! what an awesome blessing!!!” Uly from Riverside
“We have a neighbor (not a Christian, at least that we know of) who has had a terrible year; son in jail, a mother who had to be placed in a home due to dementia, and the small restaurant she owns is struggling. So, we offered to distribute fliers about her restaurant throughout our community. Saturday we walked for nearly four hours, placing 400 fliers on 400 homes and businesses in the neighborhood where her restaurant is located. We've also invited her to our holiday open house/dinner next Saturday. It was a great day to walk, get lots of exercise, and hopefully help our neighbor's small business to prosper.” Anita from Orange County
“We both had to work this weekend, so we only did a small thing. You see, we just moved to a new neighborhood in September and up until now, we had not taken the time to meet our neighbors. So we baked some cookies and one by one we knocked on a stranger’s door and introduced ourselves. Two were not home, one looked at us like we were weird and the other two welcomed us inside to chat. If it weren't for Saddleback Church, asking us to pursue our neighbors, we probably would have kept to ourselves and just continued to only wave at our neighbors as we passed them each day. Like I said, it wasn't much, but it was a step in the right direction. Thank you Saddleback Church for inspiring us to step out of our house and do something different.” Wayne from Orange County
“I helped a man retrieve a wallet he lost while being mugged. When he came to pick up the wallet, I hugged him and said, ‘It is a miracle for you to get back your things this fast. God bless you!’ He looked at me and smiled. It’s is amazing, a true Christmas miracle moment.” Mats from Sweden
“I will be going to the Soup Kitchen in Costa Mesa on Sunday! They feed at least 300 people for breakfast! God Bless everyone for helping their Communities!” Theresa from Costa Mesa
“Our Wednesday small group of men from The Herd went and helped a service member with a broken foot whose wife is due anyday. We cleaned their home, put up Christmas lights, and cleaned out a garage with a car that wasn't running. The guys went to auto part stores trying to get the parts needed, but couldn't find them so they went to a junk yard and got the parts. Now the car is running. After finishing cleaning the apartment, we went back to San Clemente and helped a member from the Lake Forest campus who was injured in a car accident. We pulled up weeds all around her home. She put a sign on her car window that said, ‘God bless Saddleback Church.’ Under the leadership of Scott Friederichsen, we reported for duty and we were blessed by the people we served. Glory to God.” Eugene from Orange County
“About 400 people gathered together to serve with the Breakfast Together motel ministry. We split in to teams and went to about 15 motels. At each location, the teams passed out Christmas PEACE boxes, served breakfast, and a PICS photographer took family photographs for the residents. It was great to get outside my comfort zone and meet people in need, face to face, to talk with them, pray with them, and encourage them. I want this to be part of my regular day-to-day life!” Sarah from Orange County
Have your own Good Neighbor story to share? Share it in the comments section below!
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