Winter Haven First Nazarene takes a hands-on approach to hopelessness.
“He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.” Psalm 40:2 (NIV)
Early every Sunday morning, the kitchen at First Nazarene in Winter Haven is buzzing. Lay volunteers are making breakfast and preparing bag lunches for HIS Mission Outreach. In the sanctuary, sound techs and musicians are preparing for a worship service, which begins at 7:15 AM.
In the congregation you’ll find people who have been marginalized by society, those who are homeless, underemployed, and on welfare. They arrive on bicycle, on foot, in the church van, or by car. They’re young and old, single and families. About one-fourth actually live on the streets.
“The genius of this thing is that all along it’s always been lay led,” explains Charles Davis, a Sunday morning volunteer. He stops at Publix supermarket each week, collecting the day-old bread and baked goods that the grocery chain donates. “This arose from a perceived need by laymen.”
Tom Whitesides, director of HIS Mission Outreach, is now an ordained elder, but works full-time in a secular job. He entered into the ministerial studies program after his involvement with HIS Mission.
“It’s exciting to see people’s lives change, especially when you know where they’ve been and what they’ve been doing,” he says.
According to Tom, the program receives tremendous support from the congregation. In addition to Sunday morning, the church hosts an annual Christmas banquet, with gifts provided by the adult Sunday school classes. Last year, they served 163 meals.
“It was tough at first, but people have seen the changes and heard the testimonies. When they see the fruit of our efforts, it’s easier to give support. Finances are never a problem now,” Tom says.
“I’m thrilled to have this cutting-edge outreach to our community,” says Pastor Don Smith, who attends the weekly services, and often prays with the participants. “Every Sunday we see people at the altars. They know the Word is preached here. We’re here to help the helpless and harassed, just as Jesus did.”
Tom preaches, and Lisa Harris leads the music. After the worship service, a team of 6-8 volunteers serves the group a hearty breakfast and coffee. But the ministry reaches beyond the Sunday morning experience, into offering regeneration.
“If we see that an individual gets saved and really wants to change their lifestyle, we provide opportunities through rehabilitation centers. But I call them regeneration centers,” Tom explains.
Since its beginning in 1996, the program has directed many participants to local and regional residential recovery programs. Some graduates have since become counselors, missionaries, and administrators of similar programs. One particular regeneration story stands out to Charles Davis:
“One lady that comes to the program openly admitted that she was coming to the services on Sunday, but during the week she was living a life of drug trafficking and prostitution, often stationing herself near the church building,” Charles laughs. “But then she got arrested and put in jail. Tom and his people heard about it, and retrieved her belongings from her apartment and stored them, so she wouldn’t lose everything.”
“She testified that the unconditional love and acceptance from Tom and the church proved to her that God was real. She’s turned her life around, has a steady job, and shares her testimony at church. She says, ‘They knew who I was and what I was doing and they still accepted me.’“ Charles adds, “That’s just Tom, right there. He has amazing patience.”
Before he or she leaves, each participant receives a bag lunch, prepared by the volunteers. It contains two sandwiches, cookies, chips, a beverage, and perhaps some fruit. They’re sent out with a smile, a hug, a full stomach, and with the knowledge that they’re loved by God and His people.
And that’s where regeneration begins.
Clearwater First Nazarene helps local elementary students and teachers start the year off right.*
“If it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously. . .” Romans 12:8 (NIV)
Each year, as school budgets get smaller, the list for supplies that a student is expected to bring to the classroom gets longer. The leadership at Clearwater First Nazarene understood the financial strain these extra expenses placed on 
families, and decided to form a plan.
The church had already developed a relationship with two local elementary schools through its “iServe Saturdays” ministry, when volunteers from the congregation had performed much-needed grounds and clean-up work around the school buildings. It seemed logical to work with the schools on this new project.
“We contacted the schools and asked if there was a need,” explains Sandi Herrington, Children’s Ministry Director at the church. “What were the basic items that students would need?”
Sandi says leadership teams from the schools met and developed a list.
“In that process we also learned that many teachers provided their own classroom supplies, as well as supplies for students who weren’t able to afford them. It was a real felt need in the community.”
“When I presented the needs to our church leadership, they were excited,” she remembers. “We felt like we could do something, even if it was small.”
They presented the plan to the congregation and requested donations. The goal was to provide supplies for 200 children and 50 teachers. It wasn’t long before word began to spread.
“I got a call from a local doctor who said a patient came in and was so excited about what their church was doing. The doctor told me he wanted to get involved, too.”
Sandi says her passion is partnering with the community, so she contacted various individuals, businesses and organizations in the area. In the end, over twenty community partners were involved in the distribution. School administrators posted signs and handed out flyers during registration, letting parents know about the free supplies.
Volunteers sorted and packed the book bags with pencils, crayons, notebooks and more, and filled baskets for the teachers. In the end, every bag was filled. So many volunteers showed up to help with the project, Sandi says she ran out of jobs for them to do.
The day of the distribution, parents and children arrived at Clearwater First Nazarene to receive the supplies, and in addition they found encouragement and support from the volunteers. “Our church loves people, and it was very apparent that day.”
Love came from the community as well. One sponsor provided a meal for the families. Tropicana gave out orange juice, the Clearwater minor league baseball team sent their mascot, a local dentist handed out 200 toothbrushes, the fire department was on the scene, and the local Dairy Queen gave away coupons for free Blizzards, to mention a few.
One man gave away bicycles, something many students need to get to school, since budget cuts have eliminated some bus routes. Sandi recalls a child who received a bike that day. “He was being raised by a grandparent. It was clear that this man couldn’t afford a bike. You should have seen his face when we were able to give a bike to his grandchild.”
Students weren’t the only recipients. The church gave baskets of supplies to 50 teachers. “They were very emotional that day when they saw the baskets,” Sandi recalls.
“This ministry not only impacted the teachers, but also the community leaders who stepped up and helped us that day. We’ve already received emails from many of our community partners who have said ‘please put me on your list for next year.’”
“This was a simple thing, but it made a big difference,” says Sandi. “It wasn’t about having an event to gain families for our church. It was about doing the right thing.”
*Presented at the Deeper Life Tour on the West Coast Mission Area
To learn more about Clearwater First Nazarene, visit www.clearwaternazarene.com
Calvary Nazarene gives kids more than just a team experience.*
“. . . future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim his righteousness. . .” Psalm 22:30-31 (NIV)
Many churches throughout the country are using the Upward Sports program, a Christ-based children’s athletics ministry, but Calvary Nazarene in Apopka is taking the concept up a notch.
“We’ve decided to use Upward’s Basketball and Cheerleading programs to reach out to children from disadvantaged families who wouldn’t be able to participate in any kind of organized sports on the community level,” explains Ronda Rieves, Calvary’s Pastor of Outreach. “It has become our signature ministry.” The church provides scholarships to families who cannot afford the registration and uniform fees.
“One boy in the program is dirt poor. His coaches gave him a stocking at Christmas with clothes, money, candy, and of course, some basketball shorts. He was just thrilled.”
Some of the children walk or ride city buses to participate in the program. Once the leaders realized this, coaches or other families started providing transportation.
Upward’s curriculum includes Scripture memorization and a weekly devotional message. Ronda recalls a situation with an atheist family, who brought their child to basketball. The mother approached the 18 year-old coach and warned, “Don’t expect our child to learn the Bible verses, we’re atheists.” The young coach was taken aback, but accepted the parent’s statement.
“Every kid on that team learned their Bible verses!” laughs Ronda. “They all wanted to earn their stars.”
Ronda calls these events “God moments.”
“We see kids come to Christ and families wanting to come to other programs the church offers, because of what they see in Upward.”
The program continues to grow, from 70 participants to over 300 in just over 3 years. Over 100 volunteers help coach and organize games and practices. Debbie Dowell, Calvary’s Children’s Ministries Director, leads the ministry. Nearly 1,200 people visit the church’s campus on a game day, according to Ronda.
Ronda says the philosophy behind Calvary’s community outreach mindset is simple: “We don’t just want to have a great church; we want to have a great community.”
Sounds like a winning combination!
For more information on Upward Sports, visit www.upward.org For more information about Calvary Nazarene, visit www.apopkacalvary.org
*presented as part of the Deeper Life Tour on the Orlando mission area.
Melbourne First Nazarene ministers to foster families*
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27 (NIV)
John and Judy Martin from Melbourne First Nazarene have always loved children. Since becoming Christians in 1999 and not having children of their own, they’ve worked with children and teens at their local church. But it wasn’t long until the Lord started to impress on their hearts that they needed to do more.
After attending a conference that focused on adoption and foster care in Florida, the Martins decided to launch an orphan’s ministry at their home church. They reached out to the Brevard County foster care system, and challenged their church family to do the same. As a result, for the past two years, Melbourne First has held a Christmas banquet – inviting all the county foster care families to attend.
“It’s kind of out-of-the-box,” says Pastor Larry Attig, “but the people have really gotten behind it. “
The Martins arrange to get the names and ages for the children who will be attending the banquet – usually 30-40 names. The information is placed on an ‘Angel Tree’, and members of the congregation select names and purchase age-appropriate toys or clothing. Pastor Attig says all the Angel Tree cards were gone the first Sunday they presented the concept.
The night of the Christmas banquet, volunteers from the church help prepare and serve the meal. Proceeds from the church’s weekly Wednesday evening suppers throughout the year fund the special evening. An estimated 60 foster families attended the first year.
After dinner, the group goes to the sanctuary for a worship time, with Scripture and Christmas songs. While they’re gone, a team of sneaky elves sets up the gifts for the children. The families are then brought back to the gym to open the gifts and enjoy dessert.
“It’s fun to watch the kids open the gifts. Even the volunteers hang around to watch,” explains Pastor Attig. “A large percentage of our people get involved.”
But for the Martins, the Christmas banquet program was just the beginning of a much larger commitment.
“After the first year of coordinating the Christmas banquet, we decided to take the classes to see if we could qualify to become foster parents,” says Judy. The couple became licensed in September of 2010.
“We know we’re doing something hard – but we have God on our side. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me! (Phil 4:13)”
They’ve already had two sets of siblings in their home, and currently have three children, ages 8, 9, and 11. The classes prepared them for the special emotional needs that are often involved with foster children, and for understanding that the goal is to return these children to their parents, if possible.
“We especially want to help the older children, because people tend to only want babies. We’ve learned we need to give them lots of love, and plenty of space.”
According to the Fostering Florida’s Future website, over 300 children ages 0 to 17 are in foster care in Brevard County alone.
“I’m just praising the Lord for how He’s worked with the children, and us, too.” The emotion rises in Judy’s voice, and tears fill her eyes.
“We’ve been blessed to get to minister to them. Our church really welcomes these kids and shows them the love of Christ.”
Presented at the Deeper Life Tour on the Space Coast Mission Area
Calvary Nazarene in Apopka provides clothes for local school students*
“I needed clothes and you clothed me…” Matthew 25:36a (NIV)
Five years ago, administrators at Lovell Elementary School approached the church across the street, Calvary Nazarene in Apopka, with a problem – their school students needed clothes.
“They asked us to start a clothes closet,” explains Don Heidler, facilities manager at the church.
As a result, on the first Wednesday of every month, parents gather to receive clothing for their school students. It’s estimated that ninety percent of the Lovell Elementary students come from low income homes. Don and his volunteers organize the clothing and hand it out with a smile and an encouraging word.
“I have an individual who buys $4,000 worth of clothes and shoes every year, for us to distribute,” Don says. He estimates that they give away 300 pairs of shoes and 2,000 pieces of clothing each year, including 100 coats. They also give away blankets.
“We’re on standby in case of an emergency during the school day, as well. Sometimes a teacher will call because a student needs a change of pants or a coat.”
Since word has spread about this ministry, other groups have donated clothing to the closet, much of it new. All the clothes are given to the students at no charge.
“But it wouldn’t be worth doing this if someone didn’t get saved out of it,” Don insists.
According to Don, three clients of the clothes closet are now members of Calvary’s Hispanic ministry, Casa de Rey. Some of the school children participate in Calvary’s after-school program.
Lovell Elementary’s principal, Oscar Aguirre, and other staff members, come to a Sunday morning service before the beginning of each school year, to thank the congregation for their support and to present the need.
“Of course, we take the opportunity to have them kneel at the altar while we lay hands on them and pray,” Don recalls. The connection between the congregation and the school has grown over the partnership. Calvary’s facilities are made availabe for their end-of-year awards ceremonies and other programs.
“I have fun doing this,” he says. “But nothing goes to waste.”
Any left over clothing is donated to the Haitian Nazarene church in Apopka, who distributes it among their members or sends the clothing to Haiti.
*presented at the Orlando Northwest Mission Area Deeper Life service
