People Over Projects

When I first came on staff, the founding pastor of Gateway (Ben Borsay) challenged me with this question: If Gateway Church had to abruptly close its doors and no longer exist, would the community be impacted by that? Since given that challenge, I frequently pause to reflect on how we as a church are executing in light of that challenge. Recently as I’ve reflected on this idea, I’ve become incredibly thankful for the members of our congregation who desire to “GO” into the community and share the love of Christ. Here are a couple stories that show what I mean.

Back in July we started a group for our church called the “Outreach Opportunities Group,” a group that our members can join so that they can be notified of any outreach events that come up. Since then, we have had over 150 people sign up to be a part of this group, we’ve done over 25 projects in the community - ranging from cleaning, to raking leaves, to construction, and more. With those projects, nearly 100 people have signed up to help in some way. While those numbers may sound great, that’s not necessarily what excites me.

What’s even more encouraging to me is the impact that our volunteers are having on the people we are helping. One lady who we helped in July, a widow in her 80s, was so thrilled to be having people help her that she stood out with some of our volunteers to talk to them while they worked. She was very excited seeing their joy and positive attitudes while they helped, constantly reassuring me of how awesome they were. Since the project’s completion, this woman has called the church multiple times to talk to someone when she’s having a rough day as it “makes her smile” to talk to some of the staff.

Later in November, we were able to rake leaves for 8 different homes of seniors who were unable to do it themselves. Since completing these projects, I have gotten frequent notes, calls at the church, and even seen organizations post on social media thanking Gateway for the work that was done. Multiple folks have inquired about coming to our church, asked us to pray for/with them, and most people continue to tell us that the volunteers were so kind, loving, and patient.

Doing the work is awesome, no doubt about it. But reflecting Christ’s love as we work is what we are called to do. As we seek to GO into our community, my prayer is that we will keep the mindset of “People Over Projects.” This, by the way, is the mantra of Reach Global, whom we partner with for short term teams. Stay tuned for two opportunities to go on a Gateway team with Reach Global this next year. Yes, the work must be done, but we are representing Christ first - who has commanded us to love our neighbors. Looking ahead to next year, I’m already excited for the many ways that we will be able to demonstrate Christ’s love in doing outreach projects for our community, putting people first and projects second.