Serving our LORD by Serving Others!

Introduction

For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.  1 Timothy 4:8

We all know the value of physical training when we are talking sports.  We often practice and train hard at a particular sport, but how much do we practice our Christianity?

Faith In Action is an opportunity for all of our Middle and High School students to serve their Lord by serving others.  Each student will be required to complete a Christian Service project each quarter.  Below you will find the details of the program, some suggested service opportunities and a link to the documentation forms.

Middle School

Each middle school student will be required to complete 1 hour of volunteer service each quarter.  The Christian Service Form must be signed by a supervising authority and turned in 1 week before the end of the quarter.  The Christian Service requirement will count as 10 % of their quarter grade.

9th - 11th Grade

Each 9th - 11th grade student will be required to complete 2 hours of volunteer service each quarter.  The Christian Service Form must be signed by a supervising authority and turned in 1 week before the end of the quarter.  The Christian Service requirement will count as 10 % of their quarter grade.

Seniors

Each senior student will be required to complete 4 hours of volunteer service each quarter.  The Christian Service Form must be signed by a supervising authority and turned in 1 week before the end of the quarter.  The Christian Service requirement will count as 10 % of their quarter grade. 

Supervising Authority

It is desirable that the Christian Service Form be signed by someone other than a parent.  For example, if the student works the gate at a DBCS home game, they should have the Athletic Director or his assistant sign the form.  However, we realize that some projects might be done in 'secret' or that there might not be a supervising authority.  In these cases, the parent may sign to verify completion of the service project.

Activities Not Acceptable for Christian Service Project

Although we support the following, for the purpose of this Faith In Action program, they are not acceptable.

• Any regular church or community activity at which a student only attends (Sunday School class, worship service, youth meetings, etc.)
• Any service done for one's immediate family that is part of the normal chores of family life (i.e. cutting your "parent's" grass, etc.).

Service Ideas

This list is to help you creatively think of your own Christian Service ideas and projects. It is not intended as a specific guide, list of instructions or template for your actual Christian Service. Please adapt for your own situation, school or community in order to maximize your gifts and talents. You should always obtain permission if your service or project involves entering, using or altering someone else’s property. You should always respect local ordinances, laws, health codes, “no trespassing signs” and government or city officials. Please consider working in pairs for accountability and safety.

• Soccer Game Service: Emplacing the four corner flags, providing water igloos to the two team benches, operate the scoreboard during the game, return igloos empty to kitchen, pick up trash by the benches and the bleachers
• Volleyball Match Service: Staff the admissions gate or serve in the concession stand; provide water igloos to the two team benches, assist with pushing in bleachers at the end of the match and picking up the trash in the gym, assist with putting team chairs back on storage rack
• Basketball Game Service: Staff the admissions gate or serve in the concession stand; provide water igloos to the two team benches, assist with pushing in bleachers at the end of the match and picking up the trash in the gym, assist with putting team chairs back on storage rack
• Volunteer to baby-sit free of charge.
• Anonymously drop off food to a needy family, ring the doorbell and run.
• Buy some small pots and a tray of flowers, assemble and give away.
• Clean/dust screen doors.
• Edge grass on sidewalks for senior citizens.
• Find out where your local dump or recycling center is, get a pick up truck and do general yard pick up.
• Fix or take food to a shut-in, needy family or a family with someone in the hospital.
• Give away cheap flower pots with flower seed packages and a card with an appropriate verse of scripture.
• Haul off Christmas trees to the local drop-off point.
• Intentionally go into a neighborhood or business to commit Random (not random...specific, with purpose) Acts of Kindness as God reveals them to you.
• Mow lawns for free one week (or look for lawns throughout the summer that look like the person could use some assistance).
• Offer to carefully remove ashes from people’s fireplaces.
• Offer to check and help replace people’s smoke detector batteries- test the units.
• Offer to clean leaves out of gutters- bring your own ladder and trash bags for first-class Christian service!
• Offer to clean up dog messes in yards or parks.
• Offer to do general house cleaning or kitchen clean up for someone who has had surgery or is physically unable to do very much (call your church office or a hospice center).
• Offer to dust, vacuum or run errands for a senior citizen or someone recovering from surgery.
• Paint house numbers on curbs with stencils and reflective white paint (get permission, write the number down for accuracy… and do an excellent job!).
• Pick up branches and sticks, bundle with twine and offer to families in a neighborhood for fireplace kindling.
• Rake and bag someone’s leaves for free and dispose of the bags.
• Return people’s empty garbage cans.
• Shovel snow from sidewalks and driveways.
• Sweep sidewalks and make the world a cleaner place one house at a time.
• Contact your church missions committee/elder and obtain a list of missions or missionaries your church supports- write each one an encouraging letter (make sure you have the right postage).
• Create a weekly encouragement e-mail system for the youth or sick in your church.
• Create or work in a welcome center at your church.
• Deliver cookies to first-time guests at your church.
• Do creative childcare for kids whose parents are in a home Bible study by leading songs, having Bible coloring pads or playing games.
• Get e-mail addresses of missionaries your church supports and send an encouraging note (make sure the missionary can receive e-mail that has Christian lingo for security purposes).
• Head up a Samaritan’s Purse shoe box project for Christmas.
• Help clean your church each week or volunteer to show up early or stay late after an event to vacuum, clean, take out the trash.
• Provide free baby-sitting for a single Mom-so moms can go shopping or run errands.
• Look for items around your church that need some attention, but no one else seems to notice or care about- get permission to organize a clean up crew, painting party, or “spruce it up” day.
• Make phone calls or home visits for your church- ask the minister to let you go along with him to learn how.
• Play in a worship band for a youth group or church- or put on a benefit concert for a fundraiser or charity
• Play piano for a church worship service.
• Run the sound system or lights at your church.
• Serve as a nursery volunteer at church.
• Serve as an usher or greeter in your church to help people feel welcome so they can get the most out of the message and worship.
• Cut grass for a single mom or widow.
• Show up at church early and offer to help whoever’s there with whatever’s needed- purposely be the last person to leave after everything is cleaned up.
• Take digital pictures at a youth group and e-mail them to the students during the week with an encouraging message or scripture.
• Take digital pictures of kids/families having fun at an event in chronological order and e-mail them to the families (this is free).
• Think of several people and write an encouraging note to them, listing their spiritual qualities- use a Bible concordance to find matching scripture verses- write out the verse and add, “This verse reminds me of you!”
• Volunteer to escort guests from your church’s welcome center to classes or worship.
• Volunteer to start or serve on the tech/video crew for a youth group and make videos of the students, editing videos to music which matches the next week’s theme topic.
• Write several anonymous notes of encouragement to the ministers and volunteers at your church.
• Bake and give away cookies in a business district.
• Be an “Umbrella Escort” at a public event or anywhere in the community.
• Build or assemble bird feeders and offer to hang at local nursing homes outside patients’ windows or on a patio area.
• Buy a bundle of auto rear-view mirror fragrance cards and give them away.
• Check and fill people’s windshield wiper fluid at no charge.
• Check people’s tire pressure for them.
• Clean people’s windshields or pump gas at a local station for free (with permission from the manager).
• Clean someone’s bathroom or a small business/gas station restroom.
• Do face painting for kids at no charge in a park or at an event.
• Do gift wrapping at Christmastime for free at a local store.
• Give away carnations on mother’s day at Wal-Mart.
• Give away Easter Baskets to children in an apartment complex.
• Give away some pizzas to people who are moving on the last day of the month at an apartment complex.
• Help bag or carry groceries at a small grocery store for free.
• In cold weather, walk around a school or apartment complex looking for people’s windshields to scrape.
• Look for Father/Son or Mother/Daughter style events and “adopt” a kid from a single-parent family to take with you.
• Make a flyer reminding people of daylight savings/time changes and distribute.
• Offer to organize birthday parties for kids with single parents or at orphanages.
• Purchase and distribute cans of soda or water bottles at no charge to people in their car while stopped at a stoplight- or organize a table to do this for free at a community event like July 4th or a parade.
• Push all the shopping carts in a store parking lot back to the store.
• Put money in someone parking meters if someone’s time is running low.
• Serve food at a homeless shelter (with a friend or your small group).
• Set up a spot in a public place (with permission) to give away free coffee without asking for anything.
• Shine shoes for free.
• Spend an evening at a local laundry and bring a bag of quarters to pay for people’s wash and dry.
• Volunteer to sew or mend items for college students, single dads or the elderly.
• Wash people’s cars for free- add a vacuum and make it “full service”.
• Write secret letters of encouragement with scripture to someone.