Good News for Our Neighbors

Greetings Neighbor!This past year we’ve watched economic hard times hit all of us in different ways. For some, it’s the loss of a job, while for others it’s seeing the price of nearly everything from groceries to clothing rise. As a neighbor, we could tell you we are here to help, but too often words are meaningless. That is why we want to show you we are here to help.Enclosed in this bag is a coupon for a free meal courtesy of your friends at Grace Church. All you have to do is take this bag and head over to the E. Euclid Hy-Vee and redeem your coupon. The meal will include the following:

• 1 - 1 lb. roll 80% lean Ground Beef
• 1 - 16 oz. bag Hy-Vee Salad Mix
• 2 - 15 oz. cans Hy-Vee Vegetables (corn or green beans)
• 1 loaf Bakery French Bread (this does not include take & bake bread)
• 1 - 16 oz. package of Hy-Vee Spaghetti
• 1 - 26 oz. can Hunts Spaghetti Sauce
• 1 - 16 oz. Hy-Vee Salad Dressing
• 1 small box of Jello-O gelatin or instant pudding

Hy-Vee has taken the extra step of collecting all the items listed above in one convenient location. Simply ask any associate where the Grace Church display is setup within the store. The coupon is valid through the endof October.Also in the bag you will find a card inviting you to a free breakfast this Sunday, Sept. 27 at the church. We’ll be serving from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. in the church’s Family Life Center. Simply bring the card and you and yourentire family can eat for free.Finally, we’ve included a copy of the Bible. This is a New Living Translation, which is a great Bible for daily reading. It’s our prayer that in tough times (and we all have them), you will find hope and encouragement in theBible. If you need a good place to start, consider reading the Gospel of John in the New Testament.Don’t forget our neighborhood clothing drive, Share What You Wear, is coming on Nov. 19-21. If you’ve never been to Share What You Wear, you will find thousands of articles of clothing for all ages and all sizes for the taking. It’s like a giant garage sale, and everything is free!God bless you, and thanks for being great neighbors!Your friends at Grace Church.

Good News for Our Neighbors Distribution Instructions

The purpose of our Good News for the Neighbors project is to share both a free meal and the Good News of the Gospel via a free Bible with our neighbors. To accomplish this, we are providing one canvas Hy-Vee bag to each of our neighbors containing a copy of the New Living Translation of the Bible, a coupon to Hy-Vee where they can receive free of charge all the items necessary for a Spaghetti dinner, and a card inviting each neighbor to a freebreakfast here at the church on Sunday, Sept. 27.Here are the instructions for delivering your Good News for the Neighbors bags:

1. ** Important: before heading out to deliver your card, take a moment and ask the Lord to use this gift of kindness to soften hearts and open eyes to the truth of the gospel. Pray for the families that will receive your gift bags and pray that ultimately men and women, boys and girls will be saved as a result of the Bible they are receiving. As you walkthrough the neighborhood, pray over the homes and the families living in these homes.
2. All bags need to be delivered by Thursday, Sept.24.
3. We have printed a card with a single address onit for each residence in our neighborhood. Take one card for each bag you take; deliver one bag to each residence.
4. Take the bag to the residence on your card, knock on the door and simply present the bag to our neighbor and say, “Hi, we’re from Grace Church, and we would like to present this gift to you as our way of saying ‘thanks for being our neighbor.’ Inside there’s a coupon you can take to the E. Euclid Hy-Vee and receive all the groceries necessary for a complete meal. It’s all free. Thanks, again, for being our neighbor.” Hand them the bag and move on.
5. What if no one is home? Use your discretion. If you can place the bag inside a storm door, do so. If there is no place to leave the bag, you can try again later or do not deliver a bag at this residence.
6. You need to honor “No Soliciting” signs. If a residence displays a No Soliciting sign, do not deliver a bag to thatresidence.
7. Don’t be surprised if some refuse the bag. That’s OK. Simply wish them well and move on.
8. If you cannot deliver all of the bags to the residences you have on your cards, you can try delivering them to residences outside of the designated area. This would include any of the residences in Norwoodville north of Broadway or any of the residences in Des Moines south of Euclid. Try to deliver your bags within the general vicinity of Grace Church. The bottom line is that we want to deliver all the bags. They will do no good sitting at the church.