Serve the City was an opportunity for our students to go out into the city of Dayton and show God’s love in practical ways.

We spent three evenings loving on people…

We had one group that painted a few rooms in a guy’s house because he was physically UNABLE to do it himself (because he is blind.) Another group went out and knocked on doors, giving out goodie bags and inviting people to our block party. We even got to pray for a few people!

As we went door to door handing out Goodie bags along with an invite to the Block party, we had some great experiences. A lot of times, going door to door can be quite intimidating for students. What was so neat though, was seeing students start to get comfortable with beginning conversations. They were able to learn how to even lead the conversations they were having to then talk about Jesus, and ask people if they could pray for them. One of my favorite parts of Serve the City every year is watching students learn how to talk with strangers about Jesus in a normal, real, and authentic way. 

One of the days of going door to door, we had a really neat experience. A few students went up and knocked on a door, and fairly quickly, a woman opened up. The students explained what we were doing and why, and she said “Hold on, who are you with?”. They told her that they were students from the Dayton Vineyard Church, and she said "WAIT! OH MY GOSH! LET ME STOP YOU THERE!" She went on to say "I had JUST been praying, that God would send some help to my family, and that’s when you guys ended up knocking." So the woman asked us to all gather around and pray for her. So we began praying for her as she asked, we prayed for her mental health, for protection over her house and family, for increase in areas of her life, and for the ability to see the Lord moving. And before we had finished, she said "HOLD ON, you’ve got to pray for my family too. This is what I’ve been asking God for!" So she opened her door and called for her whole family to come out to accept prayer.

So the Students ended up praying for not only her but also her husband and everyone else living in the house, all together as one big group. The family was extremely thankful that we were there, and they said we were an answer to prayer and they felt the presence of God, there, in their front yard.

The block party was also so amazing as we saw people from all over the community come and join the student ministry in a time of games and community fellowship. It was such a blessing to be able to show the love of Jesus in practical ways to our Dayton neighbors. Through Serve the City, the students were able to partner with God, and participate in what He was already doing throughout the city. The students learned what it looked like to put action behind their faith. They learned that because of our relationship with Jesus, this is what we do about it. And because of the power of the Holy Spirit, this is what God can do through us.

It was an AWESOME few days of serving our city!

I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your faithfulness in giving. It’s your continued generosity that allows us to do EVERYTHING we do as a church, including hosting events like Serve the City to help our teens grow in their faith. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!