2nd Saturday Serve Safety Guidelines

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OVERVIEW

Our Serve Day is a church revolution through sharing God’s love and changing lives through simple acts of kindness. We believe every member is a minister at New Life, and this is our opportunity to be the hands and feet of Christ directly in our communities. Our goal every Serve Day is to touch our communities with practical outreach efforts that make where we live and love a better place. Various outreaches we have done include: handing out water bottles and sack lunches to the homeless, school and park clean-up, prayer at local hospitals, Prayer Walks, and much more!

GOALS

For disciples to partner together in actively serving where we live, outside the four walls of the church. To impact Oxnard and its surrounding communities with the love of Christ and to leave them better than we found them. To provide these services while protecting our volunteers and those we serve. Program Directions The Director of Outreach will select the service projects (areas) for that month and assign team leaders to each service project. The week before (or the morning of, for projects needing more volunteers for prep), supplies for each service project will be prepared so teams will be ready to leave after the assembly. 2nd Saturday Serve will begin with worship, prayer, and instructions at the church starting promptly at 9:00 AM. Following the service, teams will dispatch to the assigned service projects under the direction of their team leads.

SERVICE PROJECTS

Every Serve Day, you will have multiple areas where you can participate. Every volunteer can select the area where they would like to serve, and we encourage families to serve together, allowing them to bond over their Christian service. Service projects will include (but not be limited to) the following areas:

  1. Homeless care packages. Teams will go to assigned locations and distribute care packages to the homeless in the area while maintaining safety. Gloves are recommended for direct contact. Every location should have at least one hand sanitizer on site. Packages will be bundled with donated supplies (i.e., toiletries, non-perishable food items, water) for distribution. No coffee or other open beverages will be handed out to minimize contact. Care packages will be handed out to anyone in need at the selected site. Prayer will be offered to anyone who desires it. No one should hand out packages alone. Prayer should always follow the format where one watches while another prays, so we have environmental awareness and protect and cover each other. This project is not recommended for young children, as those who experience homelessness can at times be unpredictable in behavior and action.
  2. Community Clean-up Teams will go to assigned locations and remove litter from the area. The groups will work in teams of 2 to 3. Teams will sweep assigned areas to ensure the entire site has been covered. Gloves are required and provided for safety. Teams will be provided with pick-up sticks and trash bags. All garbage will be disposed of in proper receptacles at the cleanup location or securely sealed and transported to an appropriate area of disposal. Trash should not be transported in volunteers' vehicles.
  3. Cleaning 4 Christ. A team of volunteers will care for the church campus, offering extra cleaning and sanitizing of the church interior and cleaning up of the grounds, windows, etc., of the exterior.
  4. Intercessory Prayer Prayer warriors will gather to pray for God’s presence to meet the needs of God’s people. This will have a Zoom feature so those who cannot come out due to being high risk, working, reading out of the area, etc., can participate in prayer throughout the service time of those in the community. Every action of the church starts with prayer. Topic: 2nd Saturday Serve Intercessory Prayer Time: 2nd Saturday, 9:30-10:30 AM Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85960119146?pwd=YndMQ29UOFhqUE40WS84UGJ6Q3c4Zz09

Additional service projects will be added as needed. Stay tuned for specific instructions for these special events so we continue to serve well and serve safely.