January 2014: Five of us traveled to Asheville, NC, to serve at YouthQuake, a Spirit-filled youth conference with several hundred participants from all over the southeast. We had opportunities to assist the leadership team, pray for and encourage youth, and go out in teams to pray for people in the community.
February 2014: We provided groceries and transportation assistance for a family in our community who were experiencing health and financial challenges.
March 2014: As a church we are praying together daily using the resource, Seek God for the City, a prayer tool to help us intercede for Lilburn and Atlanta and cities around the world which God has laid on our hearts. This month we also rallied around an extended family in our church who have experienced tragedy, by providing spiritual, emotional, and practical support.
April 2014: We brought meals to a family with ongoing medical treatments. We helped a family move their belongings out of storage into their new home and prayed for God to bless them in their home and community.
May 2014: Some of our teens served at a SCREAM Ministries Gym Jam, reaching dozens of children with the good news of Jesus Christ.
June 2014: We sent a team of both counselors and students to Camp Vineyard with 400+ youth from the southeast for a week of camp craziness + Vineyard values, high-energy activities and equipping of the next generation of leaders.
July 2014: We prayed together for and sought ways to intentionally reach out to our Muslim neighbors (across the street and around the world) during their season of Ramadan (June 28th – July 27th, 2014). Also nine of us went on a summer youth gleaning mission trip with Harvest of Hope / Society of St. Andrew. We gleaned potatoes & sweet corn, donated produce to local food banks, learned about domestic and global hunger, discovered how one person really can make a difference, through an emphasis on worship, realized the relationship between faith and service to the poor, demonstrated love for the body of Christ by experiencing the unity of the Spirit, embraced a nutritious, simple, healthy lifestyle, and responded to the gospel of Jesus Christ by making a commitment to continue to feeding the poor and to make service a lifestyle, rather than a once-a-year event.
August 2014: We reached out to our neighbors across the parking lot and built relationships by having lunch together at Royal Restaurant & Sweets (an Indian / halal restaurant).
September 2014: During one of our regular “work days” (building renovations), we served our community by doing our first “adopt-a-road” cleanup (a project with Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful). We picked up trash and took down old signage along our assigned 1.2 mile stretch of Harbins Road.
October 2014: We prepared all month for our November 1st Block Party. Despite very cold and windy temps, we had a fabulous gathering in our parking lot with our neighbors – people of all ages & businesses – joining together for an afternoon of food, fun, and friendship. Thanks to everyone who came and helped our Liberty Vineyard family show love to our community in a practical way . . . Spiced Right, Royal Restaurant, En Pointe School of Dance, Swanky Paws pet grooming, Mark & Ian with SCREAM ministries, John, Wayne & Barbara, Briana, Sarah, Party Time (bouncy houses)
November 2014: We sent a team of 9 people from Liberty Vineyard to a gleaning weekend event with Harvest of Hope / Society of St. Andrew. We learned about domestic and global hunger and did something practical about it by braving cold temps in November in Northern Alabama to glean turnips which were immediately donated to local food banks and distributed to families in need.
December 2014: We collected food and household items to distribute to local families in need via the Lilburn Co-op in advance of Christmas.