A Compassion Revolution
The following post appeared April 27, 2012 on Campbell University’s blog Service @ Campbell (Campbell University is located in Buies Creek, NC). Read two inspiring stories from Campbell’s Inasmuch Day here.
Campbell’s fifth annual Inasmuch Day expanded into a partnership with Accepted Students Day and the addition of five new projects. Check out the stats and photos from this year.
Cape Fear Academy / Photo by Billy Peterson
450 Volunteers
30 Projects
$ Value – 10,000.00
Approximate # of people served – 23,000
Average # of hours worked – 4
Click here to view the complete photo album on Facebook. [Note: the original post included additional photos.]
Campbell University (Buies Creek, NC) conducted its FIFTH Inasmuch Day on April 14, 2012! Over 450 volunteers from five schools within the University participated. Students donned Inasmuch T-shirts with our Compassion Revolution graphic on the back!
These students are surely moving the Compassion Revolution forward by their service. When we serve, of course, we are blessed, as the following inspiring stories illustrate (thanks to Campbell’s Office of Campus Minister for providing these):
We grabbed lunch at a restaurant in Dunn after we were finished. As we went to pay, our waitress came up and told us that “Good deeds do not go unnoticed”, a couple had seen our shirt and paid for our lunch (all 5 of us) and left before we could thank them or see who they were.
Jessica Robbins, Inasmuch Day Project Leader
PA Student with the College of Pharmacy and Health Services
We were provided with a list of things that needed to be done when we arrived on site [S.A.F.E of Harnett County, a battered women’s shelter] that was very different from what we had discussed prior to our arrival and the staff that was onsite on the weekend were not able to clarify the needs of the projects.
One of the projects that we were asked to do was to spread mulch, but there was no mulch provided. We went to the hardware store to buy some and the women at the cash register had utilized SAFE’s services in the past and ended up paying for most of the mulch as a way to give back to SAFE, which was very cool.
Sarah Brainerd, Inasmuch Day Project Leader
See statistics and links to more photos from this event here.
Scroll down to read several articles about the April 28 statewide Baptist Inasmuch event in North Carolina.
The following article appeared Friday, Apr 27 2012, in Cleveland County, NC’s shelbystar.com.
Friday, Apr 27 2012, 11:59 am
by Jackie Bridges
This weekend and next, volunteers from 24 churches in Cleveland County will be serving the community by providing meals, building wheelchair ramps, showing appreciation to firefighters and even helping to buy gas for unsuspecting customers.
Kim Wilson helps homeowner David Walker dig out a place for a ramp outside his home on Gatewood Drive in Fallston for preliminary Inasmuch project in 2010. Photo Brittany Randolph/The Star
The acts of kindness are part of “Operation Inasmuch,” a ministry supported by the North Carolina Baptist Men, said David Brown, county coordinator.
The event, which gets its name from Matthew 25:40 — “Truly I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.” — is a one-day missions blitz that will be taking place Saturday and on May 5 in all 100 North Carolina counties.
Churches participating are Buffalo Baptist, Bethany Baptist, First Baptist Shelby, Zoar Baptist, Second Baptist Kings Mountain, Elizabeth Baptist, Plainsview Baptist, Dover Baptist, Eastside Baptist, Westview Baptist, Carpenters Grove Baptist, New Hope Baptist, Trinity Baptist, Hopper’s Chapel, Sandy Plains Baptist, New Bethel Baptist, Calvary Baptist, Camps Creek Baptist, Second Baptist Shelby, Northside Baptist, Beaver Dam Baptist, Ross Grove Baptist, Zion Baptist and Poplar Springs Baptist.
Ladies of Elizabeth Baptist Church help build a ramp at a home on Gatewood Drive in Fallston for preliminary Inasmuch project in 2010. Photo Brittany Randolph/The Star
Volunteers will be building wheelchair ramps, repairing homes, serving firefighters a steak dinner, giving away clothes and food, picking up litter, raising money for Relay for Life, hosting a block party in the Ramblewood area, working at Special Olympics and sponsoring several other projects for the elderly, families, children and others.
Members of the Cleveland County Operation Inasmuch committee are Melanie Shull, Katie Harris, Janet Brown and the Rev. Jerry Welch.
Sponsors are:
Gold — Hoke Enterprizes, Cleveland County Home Builders and Keeter Ford
Silver — Restco, Monroe Tire, Carolina Crossings Restaurant, First National Bank, Joey Hamrick Construction, Business Consulting Group, Hendrick Appliance, What’s Up Shopper/WOHS, H&H Pest Control, Elizabeth Baptist Church, Trinity Baptist Church and Putnam Distributors
Reach Jackie Bridges at 704-669-3337.
###
The following article was published in Dunn, NC’s The Daily Record in April, 2012.
On Saturday, North Clinton Avenue Baptist Church, along with hundreds of churches in the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, will conduct Operation Inasmuch.
According to organizers, Operation Inasmuch is a way for a church to show the love of Jesus Christ in a very real way. The name Inasmuch is taken from Matthew 25:40. Operation Inasmuch began in Fayetteville in 1995 and has spread across theUnited States and into other countries.
North Clinton Church will offer a “yard sale” giveaway. Clothing and household items will be given away to those who are in need in the community. A community garden also will be planted to provide those in need with fresh produce later in the spring. These projects will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday.
A ticketed barbecue dinner will be served that evening from 4 to 6. Tickets can be picked up onSaturday morning at the church. There are a limited number of tickets available. This will be a dine-in only event.
North Clinton Church is also participating in a Food Roundup for the Baptist Children’s Home. Canned food and other staples can be donated at the church anytime Saturday.
North Clinton Avenue Baptist Church is located at 507 N. Clinton Ave., Dunn, where the Rev. Billy Stines is pastor.
###
The following article appeared April 26, 2012 in The King, NC Stokes News:
Pine Hall Missionary Baptist Church is preparing for Operation Inasmuch, which will be held on April 28th. Operation Inasmuch is a one-day mission event where hundreds of churches and thousands of volunteers throughout the state share the love of Jesus Christ with people in their communities.
Operation Inasmuch encourages churches to minister to those in need in their communities through hands-on projects. The Rev. Richard F. Lowery, pastor of the church, not only leads members in prayer and gives them their charge before the teams depart for their various projects — he also visits the site of each project during the day, encouraging the members and ministering to those he comes in contact with.
Projects that Pine Hall did previously were to build a handicap ramp and deliver Baskets of Love to law enforcement agents, firemen, EMS workers, and nursing home residents. They also visited the sick and shut-in, repaired an elderly member’s furnace and gave away clothing at Fowler Park.
This year members will do yard work at an elderly member’s home and visit sick and shut-in members to deliver homemade soup to them. Again this year from 9 a.m. until 11:30 a.m., a clothes giveaway will be held at Fowler Park in the heart of Walnut Cove. Also this year, the church has partnered with Ingles Grocery Store to allow customers to purchase items needed at East Stokes Outreach between 9 a.m. and noon. Members will be on hand to collect the items (a list will be displayed of the items most desperately needed), and they will be delivered to the mission after the event.
Operation Inasmuch provides the opportunity to people in the various communities. It is a time to bless others as God has blessed you.
The first Operation Inasmuch event was held in 1995 as an independent ministry of Snyder Memorial Baptist Church in Fayetteville. Since then, Operation Inasmuch has helped train churches to conduct one-day missions events in communities across North Carolina and also in other states.
More than 1,600 churches in 21 states have participated in one-day service events. The outreach takes its name from Matthew 25:40: “Truly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.”
Anyone interested in more information or volunteering can call the church at 336-548-9556.
###
The following article was published April, 2012 on the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina web site. It features our Executive Director David Crocker sharing how the an Inasmuch event effectively opens doors to evangelism.
By: Buddy Overman
David Crocker, executive-director and founder of Operation Inasmuch, said the culture shift of the last half century has taken a toll on the church’s efforts to impact lostness.
“The openness to hear the gospel is less than ever,” he said. “And the willingness to share the gospel is less than ever because we are afraid of being rejected.”
During a break out session at the recent NC Baptist Missions Conference in Winston-Salem, Crocker explained how Operation Inasmuch is an effective evangelistic tool that helps break down barriers between the culture and the church.
Operation Inasmuch is a one-day missions effort that encourages churches to minister to those in need in their communities through hands-on, practical efforts such as construction projects, landscaping, painting, block parties and prayer walking.
The compassion-based ministry provides services to the community with no strings attached. Connecting with the community in this way builds bridges between the church and a skeptical culture, and provides Christians a platform from which they can share the love of Christ through word and deed.
“When you serve people first you show them that you care and you earn the right to share with them,” Crocker said.
Crocker pointed out that the model for Operation Inasmuch is based upon the holistic ministry of Jesus, who routinely combined good news with good deeds. But he added that some churches have not taken full advantage of the opportunity to share the gospel while serving their neighbors in practical ways.
“There are a lot of churches that are doing Operation Inasmuch and they may not be realizing the full evangelistic potential of that one day event,” Crocker said.
During the break out session Crocker shared a few practical suggestions that will help churches make Operation Inasmuch as evangelistic as possible.
One approach is to make sure team leaders consistently reinforce to volunteers the motivation behind Operation Inasmuch. Leaders can also help prepare volunteers to share their testimonies while they serve in the community.
Another way churches can emphasize evangelism is to hand out printed materials such as postcards and Bibles. The postcards are an easy way to tell people why the volunteers are serving as the hands and feet of Jesus. Bibles are good resources to give to home owners who receive help with home repair projects.
Crocker’s final suggestion calls for leaders to identify evangelistically gifted volunteers and intentionally move them to multiple projects throughout the community during the day.
He believes when churches use these additional methods they will make a big difference in their communities. “When we put good news and good deeds together it creates good will in the community,” Crocker said. “Most of our communities could use some of that.”
North Carolina Baptists will have the opportunity to participate in Operation Inasmuch April 28 and May 5.
The Item, Sumter, SC’s local paper, published a nice article on April 2, 2012 about the upcoming Inasmuch United Sumter.
Read the article here: Churches will help Sumter on service day
The following article appeared April 21 on Knoxville, Tenneesee’s WBIR web site.
Volunteers from 30 Knoxville area churches set out to serve tens of thousands of people in the community.
It’s the fifth time “Inasmuch United Knoxville” has been held.
30 churches partnered with 27 ministries and agencies to serve those who have needs in the community.
This year’s event offered a special twist.
For the first time, one of the minitries, Knoxville Inner City Kids Outreach will send volunteers rather than recieve them.
The group of nearly 20 at risk teens will help rebuild the playground behind the Laura Cansler Boys and Girls Club.
“Our kids are able to see that they’ve grown up in some of the Boys and Girls Clubs in different communities. And here they are now actually able to give back to the Boys and Girls Club as well,” said Michael Clark, the Youth Coordinator. “It’s just real exciting to see it come full circle to me. They want to do this every week if they could.”
Organizers estimate 2,500 volunteers served 15,000 individuals through “Operation Inasmuch” Saturday.
The following article appeared on April 18, 2012 in The Tomahawk, Mountain City, Tennessee’s online newspaper. The Johnson County Ministerial Alliance will conduct an Inasmuch United on April 21.
The Johnson County Ministerial Alliance will conduct its third Operation Inasmuch Service Day on Saturday, April 21, from 9:00 AM to mid afternoon. It will be a day of small repair and cleaning projects for needy people in Mountain City and surrounding areas in Johnson County, as well as special activities including Communion for shut-ins and others. These projects are intended for those who need help because of age or health, or lack of sufficient funds to hire the work done. Operation Inasmuch takes its name from Christ’s statement in Matthew 25:40 “Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
Operation Inasmuch began in 1995 at the Snyder Memorial Baptist Church in Fayetteville, North Carolina and has spread to hundreds of churches throughout the U.S. and parts of Canada and the UK. It brings Christians of various denominations together to serve needy people in the name of Jesus Christ.
The Headquarters for this year’s service day will be the First United Methodist Church on Church Street in Mountain City. The group will gather there at 8:30 AM for prayer and final assignments.
Workers with various skills, including carpentry, light housework, yard work, etc. are needed. If you would like to request help with such a project that can be done in one day or if you would like to volunteer, please call Pastors Carroll Hayworth, Victory Chapel (727-1975) or Thomas Peake, Mountain City Presbyterian Church (727-8801). A planning meeting will be held at the First Assembly of God Church at 1923 Highway 421 North on Saturday, April 14th at 10:00 AM.
The following article was published on April 9, 2012 in the Halls/Fountain City (Tennessee) Shopper News (p. A7) and the Bearden Shopper News (front page):
Comments??
The following article appeared April 14, 2012 on the North Carolina Baptist’s web site:
By: BSCNC Communications
On these two days, hundreds of churches and thousands of volunteers will share the love of Jesus Christ with people in their communities.
Operation Inasmuch is a one-day missions effort that encourages churches to minister to those in need in their communities through hands-on, practical efforts such as construction projects, landscaping, painting, block parties and prayer walking.
This outreach in North Carolina is coordinated through a partnership between Operation Inasmuch, Inc. and North Carolina Baptist Men (NCBM).
Gaylon Moss, NCBM volunteerism coordinator, said the event is a unique opportunity for North Carolina Baptists to share the gospel through word and deed. “It’s an opportunity to show God’s love in a tangible way to the people of North Carolina,” he said. “But we also want it to be a service that leads believers to share their faith in Christ with others.”
The first Operation Inasmuch event was held in 1995 as an independent ministry of Snyder Memorial Baptist Church in Fayetteville. Since then, Operation Inasmuch has helped train churches to conduct one-day missions events in communities across North Carolina and also in other states.
More than 1,600 churches in 21 states have participated in one-day service events through the training, resources and coordination of Operation Inasmuch, Inc. The missions outreach takes its name from Matthew 25:40: “Truly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.”
This year, event organizers are praying for churches and volunteers to serve in mission projects in all 100 North Carolina counties. Churches are encouraged to think of specific people in their communities who need someone to touch their life with the gospel.
Individuals, Sunday School classes, small groups and churches still have time to organize ways to serve their neighbors in the name of Jesus during this year’s efforts.
Rampin’ Up!
One unique opportunity this year is for volunteers to assist in building wheelchair ramps for aging adults.
NCBM and Operation Inasmuch are partnering with the North Carolina Baptist Aging Ministry (NCBAM) to conduct “Rampin’ Up!” on April 28, as part of the larger statewide Operation Inasmuch efforts.
The “Rampin’ Up!” campaign is designed to increase awareness of the need for wheelchair ramps and to help reduce the number of ramps needed across the state. NCBAM has a goal to build at least 300 ramps that day.
Wheelchair ramps consistently rank among the highest needs of North Carolina’s aging-adult population. Ramps built by North Carolina Baptists will help relieve a financial burden for those who need ramps but cannot afford it.
Churches and volunteers are still needed to help reach the goal of 300 ramps. To learn more about how to help, visitwww.rampinup.org