Not long ago, the Hawkeye Church in Iowa received a message from Christina, conference communication director, asking about some upcoming events she had seen on the church’s online calendar.
When the church checked to see what she was asking about, they discovered an entry that no one knew anything about.
The calendar entry was for “Random Acts of Kindness Day.” Christina’s inquiry started a whole series of text messages to church members trying to figure out who had put it on the calendar and why. No one seemed to know where the entry had come from.
The church decided since it was listed as an event on the calendar, they should take action. A plan evolved that fit with the church’s witnessing plan for this year: community friendship. The church decided to make cookies — enough cookies to deliver to every home in the church’s town.
The cookie project took on a life of its own! With only a few days before the Random Acts of Kindness Day, cookies had to be made, packaging decided, and cookies packed and delivered. To make so much possible in such a short time, the whole church got involved.
The church baked about 2,300 cookies and delivered cookies to 210 houses and apartments.
After all the cookies were delivered, the church heard many “thank you’s” from the community. The church received almost 30 messages of appreciation via Facebook. Church members said they have seen more smiles and positive responses from this outreach than for any other kind of witnessing and evangelism project in the past.
The church later discovered the “Random Acts of Kindness Day,” a day celebrated in the U.S., was added by default. However, the church members believe the inquiry about the day was God-planned.
Previously, the church had discussed how they could do more community outreach projects, but with about 15 attending members, widely separated from each other, some older and some with health problems, the members wondered what they could do to make an impact.
This cookie outreach has generated lots of enthusiasm. The Hawkeye Church plans to do it again soon. For future cookie outreaches, each package of cookies will have a special Bible verse and QR code taking them to the church’s website.
It is amazing how one question and one calendar mix-up led to something special.
