Neighbor Appreciation Day

“We Spent our Saturday at this event at LivingWaters Church in Lakeville! The kids all got a backpack with school supplies, a haircut, face painting, bounce house, food trucks and ice cream – lunch for no charge! Thank you for the hospitality LivingWaters!” 

This Instagram post is a good summary of the Neighbor Appreciation Day. Hospitality and blessing our community was the goal of the day. While not as many neighbors came out as we had hoped…there were a lot of the LW community that served together as we blessed those that came. We were able to help few people with more, instead of a lot of people with a little. And the extra groceries and school supplies were also donated to bless more kids and families. The groceries were brought to 360 Community food shelf and the school supplies to City View Church in Minneapolis.

Here are some ways people saw and interacted with each other and with the community:

• Many took extra bags of groceries to give to family and friends – it was an unexpected way to include receivers in the blessing of giving. Those who were not comfortable taking more for themselves we’re happy to share with others.
• There were many blessed by the groceries, I saw and heard some excited kids coming in for their backpacks.
• One woman in particular blessed me. She’s homeless but is staying with her son. She was happy to bring some groceries to “help pay back “ the kindness of her son. She gave me a big hug and was truly grateful.
• I love the whole idea of it!!  It seemed very holistic with the many stations and services set up…all very life giving!
• Some mentioned looking for a church to get plugged in to – and now considering LW to be that church. The Lord answered so many prayers and I know spiritual seeds were planted.  Some we likely won’t know until eternity.
• Now we have started something and it will grow.  The friendliness of our church body was what I kept hearing.  People will come back and bring others next year.  Seeds were planted, trust was built, and our reputation will spread.
• I felt like the church came together and accomplished so much. Praises for the togetherness.
• It was so well planned, details were covered, ideas were implemented, and it all went so smoothly. We enjoyed both serving and participating. It’s always fun to share a meal with church friends and for the kids to play together. We invited a few others and I’m sure they’d come again. The things that were offered were all wonderful from food to supplies to bags to classes. This event was done with excellence and I think everyone could see that.

Those are just a few of the comments and thoughts that were noticed during the day. It was start and we learned what things were wanted by the community… like next year more barbers and stylists, more face painters for the kids! Those two services and the ice cream trucks had the longest lines, and the chicken and taco trucks were unbelievably good. People loved the fresh veggies from the farmers market, the free photo booth pictures in a sweet ’59 Chevy, the gigantic Plinko board, the cool fire truck and the cool fire guys, free blood pressure checks & a free CPR class, learning more about DARTS, free tea from Lakeville Nutrition and the list goes on.

If you were one who served that day – thank you!

If you came to support the day and enjoy the games and the food trucks – thank you for being there!

It was a great day for LW and a great way to start a new ministry that will grow year by year.

*Check out the photo gallery on the previous post!