Greetings in the precious name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Imagine a thousand Christians swarming together to love Orillia. Picture the believers from your church blessing Orillia by cleaning up a local park, painting the women's shelter, mowing the lawn for a shut-in, running a community basketball tournament, or other practical projects. Think about the impact this would have on sinners and saints alike. Consider the honour and glory that would be brought to Christ as acts of loving kindness are done in His name.
Now, imagine hundreds of thousands of Christians across our nation swarming together to love Canada ... a tide of good works from sea to sea. From May 26 to June 10 the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada is calling the Church together in a campaign known as Celebration.
In response to the EFC initiative, OADAC would like to suggest "LOVE ORILLIA" days can be held by all churches and para-church groups.
• Each local church identifies a practical "love" project that will take place throughout the day.
• if a common date is set by OADAC for an annual Love Orillia day, all of the participating churches will join together for a celebration concert.
These ideas are intended to be a resource for your church, giving a basic starting point in the selection process.
1. Volunteer at the Lighthouse Men's Shelter
2. Run a one day arts festival
3. Basic car repairs for seniors or single moms, i.e. oil changes
4. Free cooking classes
5. Paint the local woman's shelter
6. Have a neighborhood block party
7. Clean up a park
8. Sing in the mall
9. Remove graffiti from a neighborhood
10. Mow lawns for free
11. Assist police officers or fire fighters on a project
12. Give provisions to the homeless
13. Distribute food baskets to the needy
14. Parking meter feeding
15. Offer drinks at biking and hiking trails
16. Appreciation barbecue for police officers, fire fighters and EMT's
17. Free trash pick-up
18. Newspaper giveaway
19. Grocery bag packing
20. Grocery cart escort and return
21. Shopping assistance for shut-ins and for disabled
22. Single parent house repair
23. Free window washing, at self service gas bar
24. Free eaves trough cleaning
25. Free yardwork and garden work
26. Free outdoor painting
27. Free dog washing
28. Free car wash
29. Free barbecue
30. Free bike repair clinic
31. Free car interior cleaning and vacuuming
32. Free pancake breakfast
33. Free yard sale
34. Sweep streets in the downtown area
35. Do drama by the downtown bus station
36. Free stamp giveaway in front of post office
37. Outreach golf tournament
38. Ball hockey tourney
39. Restroom cleaning
40. Garage cleaning
We encourage each church to select an outreach that makes sense for the context of your church. You may find that your church may want to do 2 or more random acts of kindness. Different ministries may want to select their own way of reaching out to their community.