Update…
Let’s catch up. We haven't posted in a while so let's catch everyone up on what’s going on in our world of Vineyard Columbus Circleville Campus Initiative! First of all, we get lots of questions about what’s the “initiative” mean in our title. The reality is, it means we are a “baby campus”. Vineyard Columbus has two other campuses and they both started out with larger congregations and at least one full time staff member. Our “initiative” as well as the Mansfield Initiative has started in a reverse manner. We are starting small, intentionally. We feel this is more appropriate for the communities that we are working to reach!
The summer…
This summer was such a wonderful time of outreach for our group!! We presented to our community “Movies in the Park” and it was a big success. We popped popcorn, partnered with other local congregations and were able to give out free meals (hot dogs and chips), we played games with community kids and met new faces and then showed a very family-centric movie for free!! One dad who brought his brood of 5 children thanked us and said that he had driven here from Columbus because he couldn’t afford to take his family to a movie like this in a theater! Mission accomplished-that’s what we were shooting for and what a privilege to provide a night out for that dad with his kids! We really believe that this outreach has helped create some inroads into our community and we are so incredibly thankful to the numerous donors that gave from hearts to help us pay for the costs of movie licensing!
We also finished our second season at the Pickaway County Farm Market. Every other weekend we handed out water and cups of cold lemonade to people attending the farm market. We met new people, as well as continuing the developing of relationships we made the previous year with attendees and vendors. We live in a Farm community, it just makes sense that we be apart of something that reflects and promotes the hard working values of our city.
The Bed brigade continues to allow us to offer dignity to those in need. We have given away 143 beds since March of last year. We have not done this alone. So many hands have cut, drilled, assembled, painted, and delivered. So many have donated the finances to meet these needs. (Feel free to donate online at www.bed-brigade.org) We want to say a special Thank You to the Transformation Zone Youth Camp that took on the project once again this summer and built 60 bed frames. We also want to express our sincere gratitude to the Columbus Dispatch for a tremendous article about the Bed Brigade. The article really laid out the heart of this ministry.
We have some incredible news, as a result of that article we were contacted by a church in North West Ohio. They read the article and feel led to begin a chapter of the Bed Brigade in Bryan Ohio. This community is in the corner of the state, by Indiana, and Michigan. We are excited that we get to template, this idea to allow it to grow and help so many more people. We have also been contacted and have been in discussion about another chapter wanting to start in State College Pennsylvania. So the Bed Brigade is growing…and it is about dignity. God is good.
Back to School Supply Drive…
We again gathered school supplies for local families who needed help. With the help of our community and with the support of several local stores who allowed us to put donation boxes inside their stores. We want to say a special Thank you to Carnival foods, Dollar General, Kroger, Save-a-Lot, and CVS. Give –A- Way day was held at Elsea’s trailer park. We joined The Salt and Light Church who organized the event and had collected clothes for families in the park. They sat up tables in the community center and loaded them with stack after stack of clothes, not only for children, but for moms and dads as well. The Circle of Light Church brought their food truck and fed all those who came. We sat up our tent on the basketball court and loaded up with the backpacks and we were able to provide 45 backpacks stuffed to capacity to kids who were headed back to school. 3 churches coming together loving on a community. What an incredible day. Sharing Jesus not only through words, but through shirts, pants, paper, pencils, and hotdogs and a bag of chips. The simplicity of God’s word becomes clear. Love your neighbor as yourself.
Special Note from Tracy…
In May my Grandma Maggie was diagnosed with lung cancer and from May to August my attention and energy was largely focused on her needs and my responsibility to her and to my family during her last months here on earth. On August 4th, Grandma Maggie passed from our arms to the arms of Jesus. I can’t express how very grateful I am to all of you for your love and support during this time for my family and me! Thank you all for your love, for the food, for the prayer support, for walking with me through this process of grief!
This Fall…
We participated in our second annual Pumpkin Show this year!! We had our face painting booth on Pickney Street and when all was said and done-despite the stinky weather that settled over The Show; we managed to paint roughly 450 faces!! That means we came in contact with nearly 1,000 people! Pretty exciting! Thank you so much to our painters and volunteers!! Jason, Phil, Autumn, Kelley, Bob, Darlene, Mark, Nate, Jerrie and Noel-we couldn’t have pulled this off without you and we so appreciate your dedication and support!!
The Holiday Season…
As we head into the Holiday season, we again look for ways to show the love of Jesus to those around us. We are once again working with Job and Family Services and will be providing Christmas to 5 Foster Children this season. We have also met several families throughout this year who have experienced serious financial and emotional hardships. God opened the doors for us to connect with these families and we recognize that Jesus’ heart is always with those suffering. Our call is to demonstrate Christ's love to these brothers and sisters.
If you are interested in helping us with these families please contact us directly at
614-374-1176
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