It is always encouraging and empowering to hear stories from NAB churches who are actively pursuing how to best love and care for their local community, living out their faith as missionaries sent by God to their neighbors. With that in mind, we wanted to share a recent event hosted by Magnolia Baptist Church, an NAB church in Anaheim, California.
At the beginning of September, they hosted the twenty-first Love Anaheim service day, where volunteers came together to serve the city and bless their neighbors.
Roughly two hundred volunteers completed fifteen projects throughout the day, including cleaning up yards for senior citizens, making lunches for first responders, running a Red Cross blood drive, creating hygiene bags for food pantries, and putting together care baskets for Anaheim firefighters and Public Works employees. Those who volunteered came from local schools, faith-based groups, local businesses, nonprofits, and service organizations, all of them gathering to “spread goodness, meet needs, and demonstrate kindness.”
Through donations from twenty-nine sponsors and partners, as well as all the volunteer hours, a total of $23,980 was given back to the community through various acts of love, service, and generosity.
“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” (Ephesians 2:10 NLT)