As each of us grapples with our homes, neighbors, families and work at this time, God is working for his glory.

Luis Orellana, one of our members, was disheartened as he went through his mail to find an invitation to virtual services from a local Jehovah’s Witness service. Even before the pandemic, Luis was inviting people to our Sunday services. Now he’s kicked his efforts into virtual high-gear with the following video encouragement for us all.

Jim Vanne used our current stay-at-home circumstance to reach out to his neighbors with the following note which he delivered to the porches of their neighbors:

“To my neighbors during the Coronavirus Pandemic

“We are the gray house at [address] and wanted you to know that, if the COVID19 virus hits your family and you are housebound, we would be honored to get groceries for you, pop over to the drug store to get prescriptions, or similar errands, and leave it at your front door. Or once the grass starts growing, I could also pop by and mow your lawn or similar (e.g., snowshovel if we have a late snow).

“As Christians, it would also be our honour to pray for needs you may have, in addition to the practical things noted above. We are both working out of home offices, so we might not be able to turn things around immediately, but certainly could after work hours (and also assuming we, ourselves, don’t get sick, of course!)

“We’ll stick together as a neighborhood, and make it through!

“Blessing to each and every one of you. Please let us know if we can support you in any way!

“Jim and Janet Vanne (with cellphone and email included)”

Another one of our members, Kathy Burke, created a Facebook watch party and viewed Pastor Moody’s Q & A with facebook friends—which included fellow College Church members, but also a surpising collection of other people: a current neighbor, a neighbor from when she lived in Holland, Michigan, old high-school friends, an old boyfriend from college, relatives including a cousin she has never met, and people who used to attend College Church but have moved away and others she has not had contact with for years. After the Q&A ended, Kathy is following up with online discussions. She’s going to continue doing this with some of our other services as well.

Kids’ Harbor has created a yard sign for Kids’ Harbor families to share a verse of Scripture to neighbors. Encourage your neighbors and open doors to the gospel with this colorful yard sign. You can order a sign and a Kids' Harbor team member will deliver it in eight-ten days. Cost is $7.50 and supplies limited.

Are you reaching out in a way that we can pray for or be encouraged by? If so, tell us your story at by emailing connections@college-church.org.