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Last Sunday, more than a dozen churches in our Region encouraged hundreds of parishioners to leave their sacred buildings and follow Jesus’ holy actions in their own communities. They delivered meals to firefighters, washed wheelchairs and picked up trash. They grilled a barbecue lunch at an addiction recovery meeting.

They surprised laundromat customers by paying for washer and dryer machines. They made blessings bags for foster children. And they did it on what is historically one of the lowest attended church Sundays, following the Fourth of July holiday, when millions of families are away from home on vacation.



“It wasn't about making a name for our local church or getting anything in return. It was simply about following the example Jesus gave us: to serve and help those whom he placed around us, said Pastor Ryan McDowell, senior pastor at Hobart Assembly Church . “Seeing our people go out with one heart and purpose to serve our local communities was deeply satisfying.

” One team of church members cleaned up the yard of an elderly woman in Miller. Another team picked up garbage at a beach in Portage. Another team joined a Habitat for Humanity work team.

A mobile shower vehicle allowed homeless people to clean up on a hot, sticky day. The collective outreach project of “mission assignments” blessed strangers across Northwest Indiana, from Hammond to Cedar Lake and from Lowell to Portage, all spearheaded by church pastors. (View more photos and a video at NWI.

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