MITZI GARDNER | Rose Hill Friends Church Outreach Committee Chair
Resource Teacher Marvin Sisk Middle School
We, at Rose Hill Friends Church, have been without a pastor for two-and-a-half years now, but
God has been asking us to trust Him, and He has been growing us in every sense of the word.
The church has been challenged to pray and ask God: What do you want us to do? How can I
serve during this time without a pastor? The Outreach committee had a member who felt that we
should actively pray for our community. She came up with the idea of having a prayer jar at the
Rose Hill Festival and Douglass Festival. Little did we know that the communities were in such
deep need of prayer.
The first year we began to ask people if they needed prayer, and it was overwhelming the
number of people that came to our table and filled sticky note after sticky note of needs they had
for themselves and others. It was also amazing that they would stand and agree to be prayed for
right there and be so appreciative and say how blessed they were. But the real people getting
blessed were the members of our church that manned the booths. God was there helping us say
the right words and let us know that when the Spirit is there it is easy to care for others because
we let go and let God. It also motivated our members to join in the work of blessing others as
they found that they were being blessed as God moved in others and their lives.
This year it felt as though Satan tried to stop us from having a booth at The Rose Hill Festival, as
all the booths were taken when we went to sign up. But God had a great plan. One of our church
members went in and asked if we could put up a tent outside and they graciously let us. Can you
believe our tent went up right by the opening of the building where all the main traffic flows? We
were able to pray for people and see our prayer jar fill up with prayer needs. It was amazing to
see our church members so excited about what the Lord was doing. They said God made this
easy!
At Douglass this year, God had put a lady on my mind that had asked for prayer 2 years
ago. Would you believe she was the first person to come to our booth? She gave me a huge hug
and thanked us for praying for her daughter who is now going to church and her older child was
getting baptized. God is so good! Also, a woman came and asked if we were at the Rose HIll
Festival, and I said we were, and she said that they circled around her and prayed for her and she
was so blessed.
In closing, I would like to encourage everyone to ask God to show you how to reach
your community, friend, neighbor, or family member. If you are willing and obey to take those
steps, He will work it out and be with you every step of the way. You might think you are going
to bless others when it ends up that you are the one that is blessed and end up growing and
trusting in our Lord even more.
Thank you for letting me share our wonderful adventure of how the Lord is working at RHFC.
May He bless you as you seek him for how you might reach out with the love of Christ.
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