By Laura Carpenter Day 1 of The Redemption Movement's 30 Days of Kindness made for a pleasant evening. Our task was to clean the bathrooms of local businesses. The joy of sharing kindness outweighed any hard feelings towards the job at hand. (At least that is easy for me to say since Kaler, like a gentleman, let me take sink and mirror duty while he cleaned the toilets.) As we roamed downtown Oneonta, we became more acquainted with its unique shops and local culture sharing smiles and God's love all along the way.
We started the evening at The GreenEarth health food store. There a couple of young women sat at a
table serenading shoppers with their beautiful singing and
banjo strumming. It felt good to tell these singers about our churches vision to help local artist. Next, we approached the Golden Lotus Tattoo parlor
where a band of young gentlemen were running the shop. When we offered to clean their restrooms
the young men informed us that they had an apprentice who took care
of the bathroom cleaning for them, but they appreciated the gesture.
One of them remarked, "That's cool. You never hear of anyone
doing that."
Speaking of things that pastors never do, we next we went to a head shop called Twilight Boutique. When we walked in, there were local artisans selling handcrafted pipes to the store associate. He and the artisans were receiving of us and, of course, very chill. We enjoy doing acts of kindness for people who would least expect it from a Christian church. In fact, we do it intentionally. We want to send the message that no one is excluded from God's love.
While walking the streets deciding where to go next, we experienced the fruit of living in a small town and being intentional about meeting new people for 3 years. We ran into several people that we recognized and who recognized us. A Yellow Deli associate recognized us and invited us in and filled us up on free drink's, salads, and muffins (an act of kindness when going out and doing kindness). We completed Day #1 by making stops at The Eighth Note, The Green Toad, Cosmos, and Discount Liquor, and having great conversations with the store associates about God's love and church.
After scouring Oneonta's downtown we finished up the night at a rock show at SUNY Oneonta. The Music Industry Club (whose members have been volunteering at renovating our building), along with our friend Elio from #Occupy Local Shows (he put on our last rock show at our place), allowed us to set up information about our church at the band's merchandise table. There we enjoyed reuniting with "The Pants" and the MIC students who we have befriended. We also got in touch with some new students who want to volunteer for future30 Days of Kindness projects.
Speaking of things that pastors never do, we next we went to a head shop called Twilight Boutique. When we walked in, there were local artisans selling handcrafted pipes to the store associate. He and the artisans were receiving of us and, of course, very chill. We enjoy doing acts of kindness for people who would least expect it from a Christian church. In fact, we do it intentionally. We want to send the message that no one is excluded from God's love.
While walking the streets deciding where to go next, we experienced the fruit of living in a small town and being intentional about meeting new people for 3 years. We ran into several people that we recognized and who recognized us. A Yellow Deli associate recognized us and invited us in and filled us up on free drink's, salads, and muffins (an act of kindness when going out and doing kindness). We completed Day #1 by making stops at The Eighth Note, The Green Toad, Cosmos, and Discount Liquor, and having great conversations with the store associates about God's love and church.
After scouring Oneonta's downtown we finished up the night at a rock show at SUNY Oneonta. The Music Industry Club (whose members have been volunteering at renovating our building), along with our friend Elio from #Occupy Local Shows (he put on our last rock show at our place), allowed us to set up information about our church at the band's merchandise table. There we enjoyed reuniting with "The Pants" and the MIC students who we have befriended. We also got in touch with some new students who want to volunteer for future30 Days of Kindness projects.
Day 1 was a treat and we look forward to 29 more days of kindness. Who knows what God can accomplish in the weeks ahead. It is exciting to think of what He has in store.
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Our New Hampshire punk friends "The Pants" Hanging out at our table.
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If you live in the Oneonta area, check out our Acts of Kindness Calender. You do not want to miss out on some of these FREE services. This includes, a portrait studio photo session with a print, an oil change, haircuts, parent's night out, community dinner and much more. This is all building up for our grand opening on Good Friday, March 29, and of course, showing our community the unconditional love of God!
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