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Story | Village Church at Holly Springs

Our Faith in Action Day Was God-Sized

Village Church selected three projects, two of which were kid-friendly. One group washed police cars at the local police station. Another group renovated the landscaping at the school where their church meets, cleaning out a pond and a courtyard area. With the last group providing home repairs to a person in need within the community...

The Village Church at Holly Springs is a young church of about 150 that meets in a school building. Located in the Raleigh suburb of Holly Springs, North Carolina, this small church has recently been through some rough waters. “Yet I knew that Faith in Action was God’s plan for us,” said senior pastor Don Brown. “It turned out to be one of the best medicines of healing that we’ve had.”

According to Pastor Don, when church members heard about the idea, they wholeheartedly embraced it and began planning right away for their Sept. 30 event. They even set up a website, http://www.servehollysprings.org, for the project. It included a blog of prayer requests, lists of materials that would be needed, promotional stories and a couple of articles on serving posted each week by Pastor Don. The website is still in use, and includes a link to a video of the day’s events, which can be seen at http://youtube.com/watch?v=mvb2jPj2j4A .

Village Church selected three projects, two of which were kid-friendly. One group washed police cars at the local police station. “All the police officers came outside and watched,” Pastor Don recalled. “They were amazed – nothing like that had ever been done before. And our kids loved helping us wash.” They also presented food baskets and Policeman’s Bibles that they’d found at their local Christian bookstore, complete with a policeman’s badge on the cover. The same group also delivered food baskets and Fireman’s Bibles to the local fire station.

The second project was all about relationship-building. The group renovated the landscaping at the school where their church meets, cleaning out a pond and a courtyard area. “Visitors showed up for church that morning, and instead saw our team busy at work, serving instead of having a service,” said Pastor Don.

The third project grew to be much bigger than anticipated. Working through the county elderly assistance program, the church received the name of a woman who desperately needed home repairs. She had lived in her house for nearly 30 years, lost her job, yet was able to stay in the house for a few more years, but eventually had to move out when the bank repossessed her home. Two years later, her son discovered, in looking at the tax rolls, that the house was still in her name. Evidently it was in such bad shape that the bank didn’t want it. So she was planning to move back in – but her house was barely livable. The group from Village Church came in, assessed the problems, and got to work. Renovation went on much longer than just one day, but they were able to complete the project.

“That project grew to be much bigger than we could handle,” said Pastor Don, “but the Lord sent contractors and other companies to help us out. It became a God-sized project, and God provided everything that we needed.”

Village Church followed up their September Faith in Action Day with another service project on Christmas Eve, and has set aside another day in April for community service. Church members continue to bring ideas to the pastor for future projects. One involves ministering to migrant workers who will be coming into the area in late spring.

“Faith in Action proved to be a catalyst for each person in our church to use his or her gifts and propel them into a lifetime of service right here in our own town and beyond,” Pastor Don summed up. “It has become a launching point for our church’s long-term community ministry.”