On March 7, 2021 together with two other local churches, our church House of the Gospel in Fresno, CA had an amazing opportunity to serve our church neighborhood in a project called, Serve Fresno. This was an event aimed at beautifying our streets and alleys and to clean up the city.
On this day we cancelled our Sunday morning church service in the building and during the regular church service hour we went out to clean the streets of our neighborhood. Over 300 volunteers from multiple churches in the city met at House of the Gospel, to serve our community. This also included the mayor of Fresno, Jerry Dyer and other city officials.
Church volunteers came prepared with gloves and gardening tools, ready to clean up and beautify the area. Many volunteers came as a family, some with young children and had a chance to serve together. The city officials provided two large dumpster containers which were quickly filled with garbage in a span of two hours. During the clean-up, church members had a chance to interact with the members of the community and meet volunteers from other churches.
This event was an amazing opportunity for our church to come together with other believers and serve those who surround us. In the gospel of John chapter 13 Jesus washes his disciples’ feet and after he is finished, he says, “I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.” (John 13:15 NLT) Jesus Christ set an example for us to serve others and in such a way fulfill the command to love God and to love our neighbor.
We are grateful to have been given this opportunity and encourage all Christ loving churches to seek out opportunities outside of the church walls to serve their neighbor.
Alex Ivanov,
Lead Pastor at House of the Gospel,
Fresno, CA
