This past weekend was LOOP Sunday for the folks of Pleasant Prairie Baptist Church. Pastor Jim Tompkins has been leading the church through a study of the Good Samaritan, asking “Who is my neighbor?” The church discovered that we must get close enough to people to discover their needs, and then do what is needed to meet those needs, sacrificing our time and resources. To serve our neighbors, Sunday church services were cancelled on Oct 24th, and the Pleasant Prairie family went to work.
Service projects took place the entire weekend, and included tree felling, tree trimming, fence line clearing, brushhogging, painting, ramp building, wall and flooring repairs, food baskets to the needy, and even a ladies tea to several homebound ladies. We also had the opportunity to serve the Missouri Baptist Children’s home on J Highway with trimming, painting, fence screening and storage organization.
Services were conducted at Raymore Rehabilitation Center as well as at Beautiful Savior Nursing Home. First Responders (Police, Sheriffs, Firefighters, EMT’s and Life Flight) from Belton, Raymore, Cleveland, Peculiar, Harrisonville and Freeman were honored with large bushel baskets chock full of homemade breads and other goodies prepared by the ladies of the church.
LOOP stands for Love on on Purpose, and represents intentional acts of service and love for our neighbors in the name of Jesus Christ. The Loop in our logo represents the infinity symbol. When we ask “Are you are in the LOOP”, we want to know if you will be spending eternity with Jesus Christ.
The weekend was exhausting, and as Pastor Jim remarked, “It is easier just to go to church!” However, many commented this was the most rewarding weekend they had experienced in their Christian walk. Several firefighters mentioned they had already had a rough morning, and the Baskets of Appreciation were just what they needed. One veteran policeman mentioned this was the first time he had ever received any appreciation from a church or other organization.
Without exception the people of Pleasant Prairie commented that we need to do this every year. How do we show our neighbor’s the reality of Jesus Christ? By getting close enough to them to discover their needs, and then doing whatever it costs to meet those needs.
Some of the pictures:
Loving the Word with the MudPreacher 