Love Winnipeg mobilizes Christians to share Christ’s love
WINNIPEG, MB—Local Christians are gearing up to spread goodwill in the streets this month as part of the seventh annual Love Winnipeg.
With the goal of mobilizing Winnipeg Christians to share Jesus Christ's love through practical acts of service, Love Winnipeg will take place from May 27 to June 10. Events include a pulpit exchange, a day dedicated to caring for the inner city and a variety of events that individual churches can organize to impact their community.
"Getting the church out from behind the four walls is huge for me," says Mark Hughes, lead pastor at Church of the Rock and chair of the Love Winnipeg organizing committee. "The reason Love Winnipeg has life to it and longevity is probably because the people in the churches love to do it. They love the creativity, the ideas, and they love getting out of the pews and into the community connecting with people."
More than 90 churches organized over 100 events last year, according to Ruth Wall, who has served as the organizing committee's administrator ever since Love Winnipeg began in 2006.
Some churches planned neighbourhood block parties; some did neighbourhood clean-up including painting over graffiti and planting flowers; some organized free car washes and one-day fishing trips for neighbourhood children; and others collected toys and repaired bicycles to give away to inner-city children.
Wall expects similar events to take place this year. One of the fun aspects of Love Winnipeg, she says, is that it is up to each participating church to decide what sort of event they want to organize.
The organizing committee supplies participating churches with free bulletin inserts and brochures, and sells them red Love Winnipeg T-shirts at cost.
"We don't put any pressure on [churches]," Wall says. "They have all sorts of opportunities to be as creative as they want to be. If they want to partner with another church to do an event, they can do that."
Wall says she first got involved with the organizing committee because she believes God has an incredible plan for Winnipeg and she wants to be a part of it.
"I love my city and I want to see it totally transformed," Wall says. "I'd love to see people that don't know Jesus come to know Him, and if we can spread the love of Jesus in the streets of the city, that's a transformation from darkness into light."
Love Winnipeg was inspired by a similar annual event in Abbotsford, B.C. that started in 1998. Terry Lamb, who was the lead pastor at Abbotsford Vineyard Church at the time, created Love Abbotsford as a way to serve the community instead of just speaking to it.
Over the years, "Love Your City" events have happened in more than 45 Canadian cities in eight different provinces. There are also Love Your City events in the United States, England, Australia and India.
"I never thought it would go beyond Abbotsford, so it just shocked me when I heard that other people wanted to try it," Lamb says. "It's always shocked me that it went beyond our borders, but I thank God that it has."
Hughes thanks God for it too. He's seen Love Winnipeg's positive impact. He knows people who have been on the receiving end of Church of the Rock's acts of kindness that are now a part of the church and serving through Love Winnipeg.
"They're involved in the church and now they're going back into the community and [volunteering]," Hughes says. "That to me is an exciting circle, when people are back in their community serving."
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