This post is Part 1 of 3 in a series describing Restoration’s response to the Coronavirus.

From its inception, Restoration has been a church filled with people who eagerly serve one another. I think it’s probably a prerequisite for any church plant! But in the last several weeks, I’ve been so encouraged by your emails, calls, and texts to us saying, “How can we help?” In the midst of all the worry, stress, and upheavals in your own lives, you are actively looking for ways to be Christ’s hand and feet in this unprecedented crisis. Thank you!

In thinking through our community’s response to Covid19, I want to make three encouragements:

Let us not neglect the work of prayer.
Concentrate on helping those nearest to you: family, your church family neighbors, co-workers, & your school community.
Look for ways to serve the most vulnerable.

I’ll elaborate on the first two points in subsequent posts, but today, I’d like to draw your attention to three specific ways to serve the most vulnerable. Throughout the ages, Christians have had a reputation for serving the “least of these” because our God loves and serves the least of these. So it is our duty (and our joy!) to continue that legacy. While there are countless organizations in need right now, we’ve selected these three because of our existing relationships with them.

Community Emergency Service (CES)

Serving the hungry.

Emily Ralph, a member of Restoration, is the Food Shelf Coordinator at CES. They are looking for more volunteers to help pack and distribute food at their location in the Phillips neighborhood. If you are not in a high-risk category for Covid19 and would like to volunteer, you can sign-up here.

They are also in need of drivers willing to come to CES, pack groceries from a shopping list, and deliver them to people. Most of these will happen on Fridays between 10am – 2pm, but in order to accommodate emergency situations, they are doing deliveries other days of the week. If you would like to help with this (and it would be great small group project for 3-5 people) you can email Emily.

Wildflyer

How do you #stayhome when you have no home?

As many of you know, our Sunday morning coffee beans are provided by Wildflyer (formerly Gutter Punk) an incredible organization creating job stability for youth experiencing homelessness. Stocking up on food and cleaning supplies is not an option for these kids. Neither is staying home. Wildflyer’s executive director wrote a great post on how to help them in this time. You can advocate, donate, buy coffee or send supplies.

#ThankATrucker

Helping those who are helping us.

Another one of our members, Karen Bailey, works for a small trucking company in Minnesota whose 110 drivers are busy delivering food products around the country. They are essential to keep our country well supplied. And as you can imagine, their workload has increased significantly in the last few weeks! I wouldn’t normally put them in a “vulnerable” category, but it is imperative that they remain safe and healthy on the road amidst this pandemic. And unfortunately, it’s been difficult for them to come by the following critical supplies. If you are able, please consider donating: