KANSAS CITY – Members of LifeQuest Church here served up some “crazy love” in the Belton and Pleasant Hill communities this summer, leading 22 to faith in Christ and baptizing 16 by mid-August.
During “The Summer of Crazy Love,” LifeQuest church members loved the people in their communities by serving them.
“The only way that we will ever begin to create a revolution that will change this world is love in action,” Lead Pastor Chris Pinion told his congregation in a sermon that introduced “The Summer of Crazy Love.” “We must begin to love people outside these walls, with no strings attached.”
This summer-long outreach contributed to “Light Up Missouri,” a Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) initiative designed to transform communities with God’s word through servanthood evangelism. Nearly 50 new, unchurched families have gotten involved at the church since last October because LifeQuest church members served their community in love.
During “The Summer of Crazy Love,” LifeQuest church members hosted neighborhood block parties, prayer walked and passed out Bibles, picked up litter off of the highways, provided 100 backpacks for students in Belton and Pleasant Hill and honored 65 teachers at the Mill Creek Upper Elementary School with a special teacher appreciation meal.
In both Belton and Pleasant Hills, church members reached out to 330 unchurched neighbors through backyard BBQs, swim parties and game nights. At one of these block parties, they raised money to help a seven year old girl in the neighborhood who had just been diagnosed with cancer.
In Belton, service projects included a painting project, in which 20 volunteers from the church painted a tunnel under Highway 71. Other volunteers picked blackberries and cucumbers from a community garden, as well as pulling weeds from the flower bed and doing other landscaping projects.
Another team of volunteers cleared a local wooded area, picking up sticks, brush and litter along walking trails. According to LifeQuest Executive Pastor Karen Blankenship, the Belton Parks and Recreation has already asked the church to help with future projects, as well.
LifeQuest church members from the Pleasant Hill campus also helped to restore the community’s historic Old Train Depot and served at the Cass County Fair.