On Sunday, October 7th, the people of High Pointe Community Church began an outreach called the Pointe Project. High Pointe placed money in the hands of each family present to be used to help and to bless those in need outside the High Pointe church family. It is our goal to act as the hands and feet of Jesus as we see opportunities to meet tangible needs in a spirit of Christian love. As we do, we ask others to do an act of kindness for someone else.
Watch this blog for posts of what's happening as the Pointe Project unfolds. If you have been impacted by the Pointe Project, either as a participant or a recipient, we would love to hear your story!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
23 comments:
I've been holding on to this money for a week now. Waiting for divine inspiration on who to give it to. I've kept it in my purse, and have had numerous discussions with my husband on what to do. Last night I had to run to the corner JackPot to grab a gallon of milk (I was in the middle of a recipe). When I jumped into the car to leave the Pointe Project came to the top of my mind. I looked over to my Right and noticed 2 cars that looked like they had been sitting there for quite a while. I realized that they must belong to the workers inside. I took the columbia bank envelope that I was given, placed a $20 inside along with a card, wrote "open me" all over the envelope, and placed it under the windshield wiper of the car with the most...interesting...bumper stickers. I have to say my adrenaline was pumping when I left. What a great feeling! I'm glad Dan and I decided to break up the money into smaller chunks. I can tell that I'm already addicted.
We decided, like many other parents in the church, that we wanted our children to be involved in the Pointe project. No better opportunity, to get our 17 year old son involved, than Homecoming night.
As we were taking pictures of him and his date, we handed him an envelope and instructed him to open it at dinner and read it aloud to his date (you should have seen the look we got). Inside the envelope was $50, some Pointe Project cards and a note explaining that they were to perform random acts of kindness with the money on Homecoming night and they couldn’t come home until the money was gone.
I won’t reveal how they gave it away, because they did hand out the cards, and my hope is that one of the recipients will blog or call the church office. But how cool would it be as an adult, to be given a gift from two teenagers, dressed up in formal wear, who could easily be wrapped up in themselves and oblivious as to what was going on around them.
At our son's soccer game on Saturday, my wife Tammy and I started talking with one of the Moms about our busy schedules. She told us that it was really hard for her as she was a single Mom to her 4 children. As we talked more, she shared that she was going through a difficult divorce (precipitated by her leaving the Mormon church) in which her husband took all the money from their bank account when he left. She said that all she had was $40 in her account now. Tammy and I just looked at each other - $40 for 4 kids? We couldn't even imagine.
When she got up later and walked down the field, Tammy turned to me and said "Do you think this would be a good opportunity for the Pointe Project?". I told her "Absolutely - I was thinking the exact same thing".
After the game, when she was getting ready to get into her car I have her an envelope with the $100 inside, and the card explaining the gift. I told her that this money was given to us by the church for exactly this reason.
In our small group on Monday night, I shared this story with the group. One of the ladies in the group said "I think I know who you're talking about". I spoke with her later, and it turns out that she (a teacher) knows the Mom and had one of her sons as a student. She had just spoken with her last week about the situation, and was going to be seeing her again this week.
It's amazing how God brings specific people across our paths, and just asks for us to be obedient to His promptings.
Scott
I had carried this $100 around with me for several days, just waiting for the opportunity. So, Friday morning Oct 12, I went to my local coffee stand. I paid for the guys coffee who was on the other side of the building, I gave him the card and just asked him to have a blessed day.
Then I went to Starbucks and I was in line and there was no one behind me, so "I paid it forward" literally. God blessed them.
Then that evening, I went to Popeye's for dinner and was waiting for my food to be cooked and in walks a mom and dad and 3 small children. Cammie and Dan are the parents. I expressed that I wanted to buy their dinner if they would let me. They looked in amazement and said "are you for real". Yeah, I would just like to have this opportunity to bless you. I gave them the card and then we talked about my church. It turns out that they are looking for a church home and had heard some good things about HPCC. It is such a spiritual "high", just the opportunity to bless them really blessed me beyond belief. And, it was sooooooooo easy.Even the guy behind the counter said that if he had not seen this he would not have even believed it. Praise God, when you bless one, others all around are affected by that blessing. Let God use you a little at the time and He will bless and you will be blessed as well.
We prayed for God to show us someone to help, and he answered that prayer this morning. We were headed to the Y to exercise, when we saw a mom with two children walking down the street. It really caught our attention that one of the children was in a wheelchair. The sky was really dark toward the west, like it could start to rain any minute. We knew the weather would get worse since a strong windstorm was on the way.
We pulled over and asked the family if they had an umbrella in case it started to rain. The mom assured me they had umbrellas in a bag on the wheelchair. I asked where they were headed, and they told us they were headed to catch the bus for a doctor’s appointment. We then offered to give them a ride to the appointment, and they accepted. We loaded everyone in the back seat and packed the wheelchair in the back of our car. We gave the mom some of the “seed money” and one of the Pointe Project cards.
We discovered that the mom has five children, and her husband died of cancer recently. They were on the way to a medical appointment for the daughter in the wheelchair to have her leg and foot examined. We talked a little about HPCC and invited them to join us for a service on Sunday morning. The mom shared that they had visited several churches recently, and that they would consider attending a service at HPCC. They asked where we meet, and we told them at Emerald Ridge HS. The young girl in the wheelchair chimed in that she recently graduated from Emerald Ridge, but she did not realize that High Pointe holds worship services there each Sunday. We found out that another family member would pick up the group after the medical appointment.
We learned several lessons from our first Pointe Project encounter.
God is faithful to answer prayer….
People really appreciate a helping hand…. And
It really feels good to help others!!!
We've been praying and praying for guidance on how to use the money and share this gift. I was on my way to work two mornings ago and it hit me. When I got home later we sat as a family and I shared my idea. Here it is: I called our local pharmacy (locally owned) and said that without requesting private information our family would like to help pay for the perscription for someone who needs it, but isn't able to buy it.
The next day the pharmicist called me and told me that as group the employees sat down and thought about who in our small town would benefit the most. They decided on a woman whose husband passed away a few months ago and she has no insurance. Her family has tried to help, but cannot continue doing so. So I wrote out a note card and enclosed the pointe project card. Kirk (pharmicist) set up an account so that as her medications come in money will be there to buy them. We decided as a family that we will continue to put money on the account each month.
This has been a fulfilling and enlightening project for us and those we know who've heard it about nonstop from us. When we finally decided what to do it was an amazing feeling of goodness. We just pray that the person receiving this act of kindness feels love from what we've done. We're oozing with it now. :o)
an update on the project
I was at KFC the other night-Wednesday. I had paid for our dinner and took it to the car realizing that there had been no one for me to buy a meal for. God knew that I had forgotten to pick up something for Trinity to eat-she likes mac and cheese and imagine a grandmother forgetting to buy her food. So, I put my stuff in the car and went back in and ordered her Mac/Cheese and ask if I could speak with the manager-the staff thought they were in trouble-anyway, I said to her "can you give me the total of the next person in the drive through's dinner, I would like to pay for it" she gave me the strangest look as did the other employees. She said, "what if it is a lot?" to which I said "that's ok, how much is it?" So, she took the money and the card and gave it to the customer-to say he was shocked and surprised puts it mildly-and then he said he hoped I had a blessed evening as well. so, now the dilemna, i still have a little money left, let's see what God does tonight and tomorrow. What an awesome opportunity for God to use something precious to bless us by blessing others.
This project has been much harder than I originally thought. I like most others have been praying for God to show me how to use the money. Corey and I have talked about different ways but had been unable to come up with anything together. But today, while having lunch with a friend at Costco I saw and elderly woman sitting by herself. She looked very sad and I could not tell if she was waiting for someone or just passing time until the rain stopped outside. She did not have any groceries with her either. Something just kept pressing on me the whole time I was eating to say "Hi" to her and to give her some of the money. So I took $40 and handed it to her along with one of the cards. She shared with me that she had just had eye surgery for Glaucoma and that she was waiting for her son. I told her that she could use the money however she wanted, for medicines, food, bills or whatever else she needed. She took my hand and almost started crying. Then she said "Thank you, the world needs more people like you in it." It was so exciting and felt so wonderful to help a perfect stranger. I cannot imagine how I would have felt if I had passed up that nudging and opportunity. I hope to find more ways to bless people in the coming days.
OK, so how do we know High Pointe is making an impact in the community?
Today I was led to buy Dinner for the family behind me in the McDonalds drive through. I was out of Pointe Project cards and decided when asked why, I would just say that I'm trying to teach my 4 year old the value of being kind and doing nice things for others, please pay it forward. Well I got up to pay and the guy said "Oh, you're part of that thing". I said "Yeah, I'm part of that thing; you must have had a lot of people coming through here and doing this"? He said "No, I heard about it somewhere else. Pull forward and I'll give them the good news."
Would this community miss High Pointe if we were gone? I know we've been asked that question before and I never could answer with a yes. My opinion, for what its worth, if we can keep the momentum going and continue to reach out to the community, They would ABSOLUTELY miss us.
Don't let it die with you.
I was so excited after helping the lady in Costco yesterday that I wanted to keep going. I kept looking fo rways to help others. Last night I took my daughter and her friend to dinner at Denny's. While we were there we saw an older couple having pie and coffee just a table away from us. I decided to go to the counter and tell the woman working that I wanted to pay for their meal. The look on her face was priceless. I could tell she thought I was off my rocker! She didn't know what to do so she got the manager who was actually the one who had waited on them. She asked me if I was sure I wanted to do it because they had eaten dinner as well. I said that was no problem I still wanted to pay for it. She kind of stuttered and said who should I say is paying for it? I handed her one of the cards and asked her to give it to them. She came back and said they were so excited and grateful. After sitting down, I noticed the gentlemen getting his wallet out and realized that he was going to leave a tip (which I had already taken care of). So I went over to them and told them that they did not have to worry about that either. They thanked me for the meal and told me that they had been without power since yesterday and were cold. So they had come to get warmed up and eat something. They were hoping that the power would be back on by the time they got home. I offered to pray for them and they thanked me again for that.
It is such a rush to do such a small act of kindness for someone. We do things for our friends our family all the time and I think we expect thanks for it. I have learned that it is even better just to do nice things for EVERYONE, even strangers because Jesus calls us to. We do not need to be recognized for it. After all, Jesus was not thanked, he was crucified......
"DRATS! Tomorrow is the deadline for the Pointe Project, and we still haven't come up with anything to do!" Of course, We've been holding onto the money, saying that we're going to pray about it, talk about it, brainstorm ideas, etc. The other day, I actually deposited the money into our account because we were about $100.00 short two days before payday! But it's Saturday, and everyone is home. We finally start the brainstorming session, and everyone has good ideas, excited about our prospects. We finally decide that Derek and Dave are going to go somewhere on South Hill with the money and the cards. They end up at the Goodwill. Dave immediately sees a very young girl who is pregnant, and asks to talk to her for a minute. He tells her that she has been randomly selected to be the recipient of a very special prize. He tells her about our church and then gives her the card and the $100.00. Her eyes grew really wide, but she was speechless. She finally said "Thank you very much, and God Bless you." Dave and Derek came home with big smiles.
Hi Kevin,
On Sunday 10/7 after the service it was very rainy & cold. So we decided to take part of the money given to us to go to the Goodwill & get 2 nice winter/rainproof coats with hoods & go give them to 2 homeless men on the entrances of Hwy 512. We also gave them each a hot lunch, hot coffee & a bible.
On Thursday 10/18 a lady & her 4 children had to jump from the 2nd story of their burning home in the Augusta neighborhood here on South Hill. Their home is a complete loss & they have lost EVERYTHING ! They got out with their pajamas on & that's it. That night they were staying at a neighbors home & we took them some necessities: Shampoo, Soap, a board game for the kids & a card with $50.00 in it. They were extremely thankful.
This was a WONDERFUL experience !!!
God is GREAT !!!
Thank You !
Jim & Linda Lowden
We are splitting up in teams tomorrow - mom with one kid and dad with the other - to find some things to do tomorrow.
I'm thinking of buying groceries for somebody. My wife is thinking of paying for some prescriptions for somebody.
Once the pointe project was officially launched, and my husband & I received the money at church to go & spread God's love to our community, we were flowing with ideas, we wanted to think of something that would affect the most people in our community. At first, we were trying to think of one "huge" thing that would impact many in a great way, and after a couple of days of praying and discussing it further, we realized that to us, it's not about one "huge" event that will show God's love to the most, it is many "little" more personalized events that will impact many. With that being said, we took on the pay it forward mentality. First, my husband bought the coffee for the car behind him at the local drive thru on Tues. He handed the barista the money & the card and asked her to please give them both, she gladly excepted, and proceeded to read the card (Witnessing not just to the person's coffee he purchased, but also to the baristas...YAYA!) After his first experience, his fire was lite, he came back to our office and asked for more cards to hang onto so that he would be ready the next time a random act came up! We have continued to pay it forward by leaving a $5 Starbucks giftcard @ Starbucks with a pointe card on an end table, while with a girlfriend that does not go to our church, she asked what it was and I told her all about it (What a great time to witness!). He paid it forward at another local drive thru on Thurs. with the same response as the first. The most recent pay it forward at another local drive thru. was this Sunday. When we told the barista, she got a big smile on her face & said "Of course"! We also purchased 2 books on rebuilding marriage & the love languages for a struggling couple that we know who does not attend our church. They were grateful and we were so glad to help! We still have some of the money left, and are so excited to show God's love to more people! What a great idea & wonderful way to impact our community!
Love & Blessings!
Aaron & Tara Walker
Our family doesn't observe Halloween, but we have always looked for ways to reach out to others on October 31. This year we decided to give out McDonald's gift cards in a small envelope along with Pointe Project cards. Our specific participation will take place three days after the celebration service, but we hope that others might be encouraged to do the same thing on October 31.
We decided to split up our money four ways, giving each family member $25 to give in a way that they were led to give. Mitchell was the first, he wanted to buy gas from someone and so we drove to the Safeway on Meridian and he bought a $25 gas card. Not more than 2 minutes later as we pulled out of the station onto very busy Meridian did we spot a man walking on our side of the road with a gas can under his arm. Perfect! God's timing that is, is perfect - James, the guy that ran out of gas graciously accepted his gas card and Point Project card. Next up was Tatum, and she wanted to pay for someone's dog grooming. So, off we went to the PetSmart grooming dept. and she quickly spotted the dog that she wanted to pay the grooming bill for. The actual cost was $40, so Mom gave $5 of her Point Project money and with Tatum's $25, that paid for most of the bill. We prayed that the person getting the Point Project card from the PetSmart employee would be blessed by God through this small gesture.
Brooke and I still need to give the rest of our PointeProject money out and should have this done before the 28th.
Can't wait to read and hear about all the other experiences that people involved are having with this awesome project. Thanks High Pointe and Kevin for making this happen!
The Friday before the Pointe Project began, I decided to go into Starbucks before getting on the trolley in Tacoma to head home after work. I got my usual drink and boarded the train, and when I got on, the security guard (whom I've spoken to briefly a dozen times before) spotted me with my drink and gave me this mock hurt look like "what none for me?" I said, "You know what? One of these days I'm gonna get one just for you."
I don't think she beleived me, but after the Pointe Project kicked off, I knew that $3.70 of the Project cash was going toward a drink for that young lady. When I finally bought a drink and handed it to her, her eyes lit up, she smiled wide, and started bragging to everyone around about how good it was. I handed her a card with the drink, but didn't have as much time to talk with her as I would've liked.
I don't know what she did with the card and I haven't been on her train since, but just knowing that a little of God's money brightened her day brightened mine as well. It'll be fun figuring out what to do with the other $96.30...
When we started this project three weeks ago I thought that it was going to be so easy. I couldn't think of anyone offhand that was in need so I figured that I would just keep my eyes open and it would become obvious to me who really could use help. Two weeks went by and I still had all of the money. I think that during that time when I was out and about I was so wrapped up in taking care of my kids and doing what needed to be done that maybe the need was there but I just didn't see it. But even those times when I was intentionally looking I didn't see anyone who struck me as needing help. Finally the last week began and I decided that I was going to bless people whether I thought they needed the money or not. We bought lunch for people in KFC and Arbys, bought coffee twice for the cars behind us and then bought two different tables lunch at Applebees. I definitely received mixed reactions. Some people said that they thought it was a great idea and asked all about High Pointe while others gave me the "well..umm..I think that would be okay" response along with a strange look. I loved it though! What an opportunity to touch peoples lives even in a seemingly simple way. I think that people were so taken aback because this sort of generosity it just not common in this day and age. It defintely caused me to get out of my comfort zone and get to the point where I didn't care if people thought I was strange. I want to keep this up though because this was an awesome experience!
Wow, talk about a life changing time!!
I have 3 awesome stories so far, and I can't help but share them so here I go...
After praying and praying for God to send the "right" opportunity my way, a time when I could you it for HIS good.
Well about a week into the project, I had the first obvious chance to do something. I was at work and showing my daughters fundraiser around when one of my coworkers said she would buy something but couldn't right now. I asked her why and she explained that her husband had lost his job and was struggling to find a new one that paid enough. Well after she went home I grabbed an envelope and put $40 and a card in it and left it in her mailbox, with nothing explaining who had done it. I don't know how but the next day she walked into work after lunch, walked straight to me and gave me a hug and said, thank you. I still have no Idea how she knew but it felt great and it has made us talk even more, which I think in time it could lead to THE discussion!!
Second time I was at the corner on Canyon and the a man was standing there with a sign, different then I had seen before..And I have NEVER given money to any "begger" before, but I felt A little push and thought about it but said No to myself. So I went to my job and was told I needed to drive a truck to Canyon road (just came from there) So I headed back up the hill and at the Exit ramp was the same man (completely different spot in about 10 minutes) Again I felt a push, but said NOOO. Anyway later that night I had to go back to Canyon Road to get the truck back. This time I was thinking, "if it is that guy I WILL do it, OKAY" Well it wasn't so I felt strange but a little relieved. Well i took the truck back and grabbed my car to go home.( I live off canyon) Well guess what I get to the stop light and there HE is again!! And guess what I am first car inline right beside him, so I grabbed the spare money from the called him over and gave it to him. I sat there long enough to watch him read the card and he looked over at me and smiled and winked. Again I felt so awesome.
But the latest story was the Greatest!
I had to go to downtown seattle for a part to pick up..I hadn't been there before and was searching and found the place, I hid my purse behind my seat, but then thought No I want to take it. I had to go in this business that repairs machine parts, way in the back I found two guys. The one was a painter and he was asking, "how much for this, and that" so I could tell he was adding it up in his head. Then he asked if they had used parts, and the guy said no. So the painter said okay I will take ONE. The guy told him, "twenty six dollars" The guy pulled out a bunch of small change and said, I will have to come back later, I don't have enough.
(okay feeling the PUSH) So I stand up to the two big guys and said, "I've got it covered, how much do you need?" the Painter first said, oh no you don't have THIS much. I said yes I do, how much do you need?" He said, "$20 bucks" I said, "covered" the dialogue went back and forth and he ended up in just TOTAL disbelief. He took the card and read it and asked me if I was a Christian and I told him "of course" He then said he was going to drive to this church, even though PUyallup was a long way away! He said you have changed everything, I can't wait to do this for someone else! I just told him that was what it was all about! He ended up leaving me his card, shaking my hand over and over again, the Cashier got involved and said you see something new everyday! We ended up in a fairly long discussion and he was just so excited to do it to someone else, he even said can you imagine, what the world would be like if everyone did this?
I just can't tell you how much this effected these two men! IT WAS LIFE Changing!
I can't wait to do this more often!!
Thank YOu Kevin for such an AWESOME idea and experience, we have touched the community, and beyond.
I took the Pointe Project as an opportunity to involve my husband in reaching out to others. He doesn't attend church and yet has a very generous heart. Together we decided to spend the money on fleece throw blankents and a couple sleeping bags that we could pass out to the homeless that we see everyday on our commutes to and from work. I have been excited, not only for the great opportunity to pass on love, a kind word and warmth to someone who really needs it, but also to see God working in my husband's heart. This experience has also made me realize how I need to have the courage to act when prompted by the Holy Spirit.
As we left the service with $100 burning a hole in our colective pockets, Doreen and I talked about how we would use the money for God's glory. We agreed to pray about it and were excited to get started. After a little thinking we thought we had the perfect person in mind! We started making calls only to find out the person we wanted to help had already left the state to be closer to family. God had different plans than ours! I would be lying if I said we weren't a little bit dissapointed, but, God wanted us to look closer to home. We had been trying to help a stranger, but God was gently leading us to help a friend. We have friends that are having a child late in life. Dave just started a new job that doesn't pay well and Joni is the bread winner. As a family they make just enough to not qualify for any help and the outlook of time off to care for a newborn is a little scary. Doreen and I went to Costco and bought diapers and wipes in the industrial size boxes. We made plans to visit Dave and Joni at their home for dinner. We brought pizza and pop. The look of suprise and thanks on their faces was priceless! We gave them one of the cards and explained the Pointe Project. We feel quite blessed to have been able to be a part of God's plan.
I was given a wonderful gift from Beverly Estrada. I had decided to take the "6 week solution" class at Curves because I have been trying so hard to get my diabetes under better control (I am Type 1, insulin dependent). When I arrived, Bev told me not to worry about the cost of the class. Instead, she gave me a Pointe Project card. What a nice surprise! This class has been so beneficial for me. I have been able to lower my glucose levels with just diet and exercise (not with more insulin!). In fact, I've been able to take LESS insulin! In just four weeks, I've lost several pounds and inches, and I am feeling so optimistic about a healthy future. Thank you Bev, and thanks to the Pointe Project!
J. Palermo
Post a Comment