Community Mission

In a nutshell	Five days of community mission saw around 50 university students from Nottingham join up with The Family Church to help decorate the premises of the Asian Women’s Project and a local shop. They cleared rubbish, visited and created activities for residents in an assisted-living home, supported the tidying of city allotments and local government rubbish clearing initiatives. They also supported The Family Church’s ‘Sports Challenge’ for local un-churched kids who are ’challenged and encouraged to build character’, plus another local church’s holiday club for children. In addition, they set up a website and PowerPoint for a school in the Philippines, and visited a young offenders’ institute amongst other activities. All within five days!
Who has done it?	The Family Church, Nottingham, and University Students
Why do it?	The mission was motivated by a desire to offer hope through acts of kindness.
The Outcome	Here’s just a few comments made by those involved:   A Young Offenders’ Institute inmate: ‘I was just sat there wishing someone would come – I can’t make sense of the fact that my mate committed suicide two days ago. Then your friends turned up and offered to pray for me . . .’   The Chief Executive of the Asian Women’s Project: ‘I was impressed by the attitude of the students and appreciative of the practical help they had been able to give.’   An Allotment Committee member: ‘Thanks to all the volunteers and The Family Church team for their input . . . Great people, and we recognise, even if some of us are hairy (or shaven-headed) heathens, why they wanted to demonstrate their faith in a practical and tangible fashion. I think they succeeded!’