A colleague sent me a nonstandard outreach idea this spring. He said that craigslist is a great place to find people who are in need and touch them with God's love.Craigslist is a centralized network of online communities, featuring free online classified advertisements – with sections devoted to jobs, housing, personals, for sale, services, community, gigs, résumes, and discussion forums.
I have used craigslist before to buy some golf equipment but never considered it as a tool of ministry. I was a little hesitant to solicit our service having heard about widespread misuse.
After publishing our ad we soon connected with a young lady who had just moved to town with only what she could carry in her little car. She was living in a one bedroom flat above a bar in a nearby city.
She sounded genuinely interested in re-establishing her life saying that she didn't want a handout but was willing to contribute financially to her need.
I solicited our congregation for household items and got a good response. We asked for and received quality used household and personal care items.
The next step was to contact our Special Operations Team who on two separate trips delivered the items and shared God's love with this lady.
Two weeks ago I received an email from Shannon who said that everything we collected and delivered was 'needed and used'. What really made this outreach so satisfying is that Shannon said she was touched by our kindness and would like to help another person in her same circumstance.
Out of the box outreach? Yes. Don't know if we'll do it again, but it sure was fun.
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