Day 30: Grand Opening - 30 Days of Kindness

By Kaler Carpenter

In the final day of 30 Days of Kindness, all of our hard work came to fruition with the Grand Opening of The Redemption Movement on Good Friday, March 29, 2013--and what a good Friday it was!

The service was a beautiful sight to behold. Every face was a person that Laura and I could trace back to either an act of kindness, or a friendship from the jobs we have both worked. This is a testimony to the power of reaching people with kindness and relationships, instead of pouring money into mass marketing (nobody showed up because of our online advertising, newspaper announcement, or flyers).

There were 20 people in attendance, which was enough to fill the small room with sweet worship music that echoed off the walls and into God's heart. Keeping with the 3o Days of Kindness, every family in attendance received an Easter lily as a gift, which gave the room a nice fragrance.

Looking back, the amount of work that went into all of this was extreme. When we kicked off the 30 Days of Kindness campaign, we still had a building that needed remodeling, no PA system, only 10 chairs, no tables, and we were launching a new ministry format that was untested. On top of all of this, there were dozens of small churchy details that still needed to be taken care of; details like, making visitor forms, sign up sheets, printing off handouts for worship, food, figuring out a way to collect offering money, the list went on.

By God's grace, all of these things were taken care of; even while we organized and performed an act of kindness every day after getting off work. Sure, the building was not 100% done, the sermon suffered a bit from being preached by an exhausted Pastor, the offering envelopes where blank with a sticky note that read, "write your name on the envelope," and everything could have been promoted better, but on that Good Friday, none of these details mattered. This was a time to celebrate the establishment of a new work that will bless the Oneonta community for generations to come!

The message for the first teaching session was me pouring out my heart and sharing the vision of The Redemption Movement. A rare time where I get personal when I preach, only because Laura and I are so personally involved in this work. For the second teaching session, I looked at Acts 2:42-47 and compared the beautiful picture of what the first public meeting of the New Testament church looked like, with what we were accomplishing at the first public meeting of The Redemption Movement, 2,000 years later.

One of the coolest comparisons was when I talked about the church meeting in the upper room for Pentecost in Acts 2. When I got to this point I paused, looked around our small/simple room, filled with a small group of diverse people, and I said, "I bet the upper room was not too much bigger than this room." It was a powerful Pentecostal experience.

At the end of the night we had a time of discussion and prayer. I talked about the death of Christ by vividly describing the agony of crucifixion (which is where we get our word excruciating). We then remembered Christ's death through communion.        

A lot of work went into that Good Friday. You can trace it back to Laura and I moving to Oneonta back in 2009, or even us committing to church planting back in 2007. It was a special night, I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world, and even with the craziness of all the work that it took, I do not regret any of it. Because I am convinced that every step taken, every mile driven, every nail hammered, every kindness card passed out, every late night Laura and I spent second guessing ourselves, every single sacrifice we made, was necessary to proclaim God's restoring love to the lost and hurting people of Oneonta. People who God values. People who are in need of a hope and a freedom that's paid for by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, found in the abundant life of His teachings, and made real by the power of His resurrection.

 

Day 29: Welcome Wagon - 30 Days of Kindness

"Preparation," By Laura Carpenter

Welcome Wagon was day 29 of 30 Days of Kindness. The objective of this act of kindness was to make welcome baskets and deliver them to new residents in Oneonta. Thanks to the cooperation of the city hall and several volunteers, we were able to pull this off.

After making a few phone calls to find the right contact person in city hall, we were given a list of residents whose homes were deeded to them within the past six months. I (Laura) did the shopping. Each resident received one all-purpose gift basket, filled with local treats such as: Brooks BBQ sauce and McCoy’s honey, light bulbs, batteries, a Sweet Home Oneonta publication, a reusable shopping bag, and homemade brownies. 

One of the parents that we connected with at Parent's Night Out, was inspired by our 30 day project and wanted to help. She joined me to help put the gift baskets together, and later that evening, she and two other friends teamed up with Kaler to pass out the baskets.

We made 10 gift baskets for homes that we determined to be lived in by new homeowners. When Kaler and I moved to Oneonta in 2009, nobody formally greeted us to the neighborhood, and we were kind of bummed out about that. We were hoping to cheer up some folks that might be feeling the same way we felt almost 4 years ago, as well as tell them about a great new church they can attend!

"Distribution," By Kaler Carpenter

Half of the residents were not home so we left the basket on their doorstep. Later that evening, we drove by these houses and saw the baskets were gone, that's how we knew they made it into the intended hands. I (Kaler) encountered a few people that were home and had great conversations with all of them.

There was one middle-aged single lady in particular that ended up not being a new resident, but I followed a leading and gave her a basket anyway. She seemed very appreciative and proceeded to tell Britteny and myself her story and how she was battling depression. She also admitted to being hurt by religion in her past, which influenced her depression. 

We got to show this woman love and pray with this her, as well as share with her the hope of the Gospel and invite her to our church. Unfortunately, it seems like you don't have to look too far when performing these AoKs before you run into someone who is hurt and/or bitter about church. As a church planter that has also been hurt by church people, I too know what it's like to go through a negative experience like this, and I love to invite these hurting people to visit our church. 

At The Redemption Movement, we have worked hard to set up a model of ministry that removes all the legalistic elements that hurt people like the woman we gave the gift basket to, and as seen by this act of kindness, we go out of our way to make everybody feel welcome.     

Day 27: Funnel Cake Giveaway - 30 Days of Kindness

By Kaler Carpenter

For Day 27 of 30 Days of Kindness, we broke out the batter, vegetable oil, and deep fryer to treat the good people of Oneonta to some fried funnel cake goodness, and of course, God's love.

The free funnel cake giveaway is one of my favorite AoKs. I did several of them last Spring while I was trying to invite people to church information meetings. I have an efficient funnel cake giveaway kit rigged up that allows me to quickly pull off it off, even if I am by myself; and, I get to eat as much funnel cake as I can stand--which usually isn't more than two.

For this giveaway, I was on my own and I tried out a new location in the park off Dietz street, only 1 block away from downtown. The weather was still too cool for people to be out enjoying the park, so I was hoping this spot would pick up some after-work foot traffic.

Like several of our AoKs, it started off slow, but after one person participated it picked up. I am sure the snowman I made during the downtime helped to lure in several people.

The biggest impact from the AoK wasn't so much the amount of cake I gave away, but it was from making a new friend. There was one SUNY Oneonta student I met that was a mountain bike enthusiast. He was out riding his bike, enjoying the not cold (but not warm) weather. He stopped to chat with me and we hit it off. This young man kept me company for an hour and a half, possibly even more.

We had a lot in common, including our love for pushing down rotten tree stumps when we go hiking in the woods. It turns out that we both enjoy the same kind of music that features horns, and we found a dozen other relatable topics to discuss. It was a good connection and he helped me pack for the evening so I could make it back to the building and close down the art show that was simultaneously going on.

I was able to share my faith with this young man, and he very much appreciated the fact that I had no catch other than to show God's love. Apparently, he had been recently burned by the "survey-turned-evangelism tactic." It felt to me like he wanted to spend the first part of the conversation looking for my angle or my catch, when he couldn't find one, he seemed relieved, and even refreshed after hearing my heart and listening to my message.

It's positive connections like this that help me feel good about picking a college town in which to plant a church. It was wonderful connecting with this SUNY student.  Even if I make only one strong connection doing an AoK, it's still worth it. 

Day 26: Free Car Rinse #2 - 30 Days of Kindness

By Kaler Carpenter

For Day 26 of 30 Days of Kindness, we planned a car wash at Stewart's, thinking it will surely be warm by late March; yet once again, our plans were dampened by the cold New York weather, but our resolve for kindness remained strong. We just substituted a wash with a rinse and kept the kindness train on track.

 
We had done an earlier car rinse on day #3 at our storefront, which included giving away hot cocoa. While the first rinse was a positive experience there were few in attendance.  We've noticed our location is a hindrance for AoKs like this; seeing as we had 4 takers for the rinse (which spanned 3 hours), 2 for the free oil change, and nobody for the free dinner (all of these events where located at our place). This is a classic example of the flaw of expecting people to come to you vs. going to where the people are--even if you are doing a great service for them.

This "go to them" theory was verified as we rinsed the Winter salt off people's cars at Stewart's and found ourselves consistently serving a line of cars. I stayed busy enough that I didn't have time for a break, and if there was not a line of cars, I would approach a customer's car and offer to give a free rinse; to which most of them gladly accepted.

It was also nice to have some extra helpers with us for this AoK. We had a teenage girl and a college aged supervisor that made 30 Days of Kindness T-Shirts and signs to stand out at the corner of River and Main to help lure in traffic. Their enthusiasm was welcomed and an encouraging sight after leading 25 straight AoKs and beginning to lose steam.

With helpers cheering me on, I was able to man the power washer for a few hours, hose down all kinds of cars, and meet all kinds of people. At the same time, we had additional volunteers keeping the art show open, and if a car rinse recipient offered me money, I tried to point them to our art show down the street and encouraged them to use the money to instead buy art to benefit Opportunities For Otsego.

People are accustomed to getting their cars cleaned at Stewart's, although not so much in March. During the summer, it seems like there is a different nonprofit group doing a car wash at Stewart's every day to raise money. I was hoping to do a car wash for free to make a statement to our Oneonta community that serving and showing God's love is more important to us than fundraising. All in all, I do believe this message came out loud and clear at this event.
 

Days 25-28: Art Show for OFO

By Kaler Carpenter

For Days 25-28 of 30 Days of Kindness, we hosted our first ever art show! Making this a true community event, we had recruited the help of nine local artist, and looked to raise money, not for ourselves, but for Opportunities for Otsego, a great social service organization right down the street from us.

As cool as it is to have a newly remodeled building, it's a bit of a drag to be greeted every day with bare walls. We wanted to fill our space up with beautiful art while helping out a deserving organization. I have never put on an art show before, and I've only been to a few, therefore, I thought this would be as simple as hanging a few pictures on the wall and calling it a day. I was wrong.

Turns out there's a lot more work to putting on an art show than just hanging art. You have to look for local artist, arrange art drop off and pick up times, promote it by making flyers, hanging up the flyers downtown, and of course, you have to do the standard newspaper and social media plugs. With all the work that needed to be done, I barely had time to get the art hung before the doors opened, but I still managed to pull off a successful show.

Since I put so much work into the art show, I decided to extend it until Thursday, instead of just keeping it open for one day (while still doing our regularly scheduled acts of kindnesses). The intent was to raise more money for OFO. But not all the money went to OFO, at The Redemption Movement, our heart is to be a church that doesn't stop at being friendly towards local artist, we also want to be able to support artists financially. Whether it's an art show or a rock show, we achieve this by making our space available for free and giving the artist all the door money, or letting them keep all the money from the art sale (unless it's a benefit show like this one). By the end of the week, we raised $49 for OFO, and several of the artist also made a few bucks off of their work.

The best part for me was to see the old storefront filled with beautiful art that we could never afford if we had to purchase it (including Stacy Brock's psychedelic piece that took up 36 square feet of wall space). The art that didn't sell remained on the wall for our Grand Opening (the following Friday), all the beautiful art helped make our much anticipated Grand Opening even more special.

A big thank you goes out to every artist who participated: Jim Seymour, Joe Hamilton, Abbey Koutnick, Chris Chase, Jen Jump, Stacy Brock, Donna Wessel, Garland Mallette, and Michael Shirk. 

Day 24: Free Community Dinner

By Laura Carpenter

Free Spaghetti Dinner was Day 24 of 30Days of Kindness. This event was advertised and promoted as best we could, and our sign was out front all day announcing, “Free Spaghetti Dinner 5:30pm.” By the time 5:30 rolled around, the tables and chairs were setup, the tea was brewed, the bowls, cups, and utensils were purchased, and enough spaghetti, salads and brownies were prepared to feed thirty people…but no one showed up. 

 

5:45 rolled around…still no one. As the clock ticked on and the room remained bare, Kaler and I looked at each other and said, “Want to eat some spaghetti?” So we sat ourselves down and, looking on the bright side, we decided this was a much needed dinner date for the two of us who had been catching quick on-the-go dinners for the past 23 days (except for Day #2).

As we ate, we discussed our thoughts and feelings towards the fact that no one accepted our offer for a free dinner. We were disappointed, as can be expected, but not crushed. After all, we’re looking at one complete dud out of 24 AoK's so far. Those are some odds we can tolerate. As to why people didn’t jump at the opportunity for a free dinner, I don't know for sure. To some degree, I was so worn out from the 30 Days of Kindness campaign that I began to experience a bit of numbness. I just wanted to eat some spaghetti, pack it all up, and get some much needed R and R for the night. 

Kaler on the other hand, was still determined to bless someone with a free meal. As we ate, I could tell he was trying to cook up a rescue mission. Finally, he arrived upon a fantastic solution, “We can give this food away to firefighters on duty tonight. Those are hungry guys who like to eat.” 

Kaler called the Oneonta fire department and offered to deliver the food to them. They accepted the offer and did us one better by coming to pick it up themselves. A few minutes later, a huge red diesel truck arrived in our driveway and Kaler loaded them up with pots of spaghetti and pans of brownies. A couple of hours later that same truck returned with the pots and pans empty and cleaned. 

All was not lost. Due to Kaler’s determination and creative problem solving, day 24 was not a complete flop. We were able to bless the Oneonta firefighters, a group of people especially deserving of kindness in return for their willingness to put themselves in the way of danger in order to keep our city safe. 

Day 23: Parent's Night Out

By Laura Carpenter

Parent’s Night Out was day 23 of 30 Days of Kindness. This event offered some fantastic perks for both parents and kids. Not only did parent's receive free child care for two and a half hours on a Friday evening, but there was also a free dinner provided by a local pizzeria! 

 Joe Ruffino’s restaurant in downtown Oneonta generously partnered with us for this AoK and supplied the parents with free dinner and dessert; while we entertained the kids with games, dancing, musical chairs, finger painting, and more.

Thankfully, we had some friends come and help us with this AoK. Kaler and I could not have done it alone. One volunteer and I watched the babies and toddlers, while Kaler and another friend entertained the school aged kids. A few families stopped in, dropped off their kids, and headed over to Joe’s for dinner.

As the children filed inside our building, our empty room burst forth with the noises of running, jumping, laughing, and yelling (sounds we haven’t heard in a while). It was a treat to experience the joy of watching a toddler chase my cat around our upstairs apartment, and being able to hold a baby for a change. By the end of the night, Kaler even showed some creative babysitting by entertaining the kids for a significant amount of time with large empty boxes from the new PA system.   

The parents greatly appreciated it. For many local parents, a night of child care is too expensive, or they just don’t have friends or family to ask. The parents that brought their kids were grateful for an opportunity to experience a few hours of sanity in the midst of their busy parenting schedules. We were happy to show God’s love to both the kids and the parents that participated. 

Day 22: Walking Dogs

By Kaler Carpenter

Day 22 of 30 Days of Kindness was Walking Dogs, and for this act of kindness, we extended the love of God to mammals who instinctively know how to show love better than many of us.

This AoK was another activity that required some quick thinking on our part. To promote this event we had a sign out front, a blast on social media, this blog, a mention in the newspaper community events page, and  hundreds of 30 Days of Kindness Calenders that we passed out during days 1-21, yet, despite our best promotional efforts, nobody arranged for us to walk their dogs.

Determined to make all 30 Days happen, I took advantage of the fact that our church is located in the middle of a residential neighborhood and proceeded to walk the streets looking for dogs to walk. It only took me two houses before I found a neighbor that was sitting on her porch with two black labs. I introduced myself and offered to walk her dogs for free. The owners seemed happy to let me, and the dogs seemed even happier to be challenged with my brisk walking pace.

I was able to find a dog for Laura to walk by approaching another neighbor who we knew had recently purchased a new shih tzu; and while Laura was walking black lab #2 from neighbor #1, I remembered that another neighbor that I met while inviting people to the 6th Ward block party in May, had a rather large white dog named Bear. While walking black lab #1, I knocked on her door and asked if she was up for a free dog walk.

As fun as it was for two cat owners to spend an evening walking dogs, it was even more fun to surprise our neighbors with a knock on their door and tell them that we wanted to walk their dogs as a way to show God's love. Sure enough, every interaction led to a great conversation about the church, and I think we ultimately spent more time talking with our neighbors than we did walking dogs--which is kind of the point.

Day 21: Window Washing

By Kaler Carpenter

Free Window Washing was Day 21 of 30 Days of Kindness, and for this act of kindness, we showed Oneonta's downtown merchants God's love by clearing up their view.

This was another outdoor AoK that would have been a little bit nicer if the weather was warmer, but  window grime doesn't take a break for cold weather, and neither does The Redemption Movement. I had my friend Garland with me for this adventure, and it was nice to have the extra hand, especially when cleaning the larger windows. Here are a few of the Oneonta businesses that we served:

• Capresso Coffee Bar: This was a fun one to do because we cleaned their toilets 6 days earlier and told them that we would be back for the windows. I'm not sure if our friend Klasik remembered our promise, but he did remember to hook us up with some of his famous Snickers hot cocoa.
• The Red Jug: This is a new bar in downtown Oneonta, and even though they went with the face of Satan as their logo, that didn't keep us from showing them the love of God. It felt ironic to show God's love by cleaning a window with a picture of the Devil on it, but that's the beauty of taking the light of the Gospel into new places.
• Crazy Gifts: This is another establishment that a church would not typically reach out to, but we wanted to show them love, and they only had one window.
• Discount Liquor: We tried reaching out to this liquor store for bathroom cleaning during Day #1 of 30 Days of Kindness, and we were denied only because the public was not allow in the back. However, they did let us clean their windows this time, and it was nice to see our kindness calendar still posted on their bulletin board. 

The best story from this experience actually came a few days later. On Day 21, Garland and I tried to clean the windows of a bar called The Railbenders. We were turned away because they had someone else scheduled for the task. It was my first time in the establishment, so I asked them about their business. Turns out they serve food and they gave me a menu to take home.

A few days later and after a long day of ministry, Laura and I went to Railbenders for dinner . They seemed to remember me (free window cleaning is hard to forget). The food was amazing and the staff was super friendly. After chatting with the staff for the duration of the meal, Laura and I went to pay and the bartender informed us that, "It's taken care of." A nice gentlemen across the bar paid for our meal after overhearing our church planting story. Kindness is contagious!

Day 20: Interior Painting

By Laura Carpenter

Day 20 of 30 Days of Kindness was originally scheduled to be a day where we paint over graffiti around Oneonta, however, the weather was not cooperating. It snowed all day and was far too wet and cold to do any outdoor painting. Paint doesn't adhere to surfaces or dry under such conditions. Once again, we had to think fast and make a change of plans. 

We had several high school aged volunteers lined up to help us with this AoK, and we didn't want to send them away. We remembered that we had plenty of painting to do in our own building that needed to get done for the Good Friday Grand Opening (in T-minus 10 days!), so we proposed to the volunteers that, if they were still eager to do something, they could do an AoK for us and paint our trim and our kitchenette walls. Thankfully, they were eager to help!

Four students and two supervisors came by and lent us a hand. In two hours they painted all of the baseboards of the entire church that still needed to be installed, and they even painted the kitchenette. It would have taken us several days to do what they did in two hours. It was fantastic! It felt great to be the recipient of kindness and we wholeheartedly praised the volunteers, thanked them, and fed them cookies.

We have learned from doing these AoK's that there are many individuals and groups around town that enjoy volunteering and that are eager to help. It has been encouraging to see others who don't even know us, learn about our 30 Days of Kindness and want to get involved. This particular group of volunteers cannot be mentioned by name due to privacy issues, but you know who you are and we once again say thank you!

Day 19: Shovel Sidewalks #2

By Kaler Carpenter

For Day 19 of 30 Days of Kindness, we had scheduled to pick up trash at the park, but then it snowed again, making it hard to find the trash. We made up for it by breaking out the snow shovels and once again shoveling walkways as a way to show God's love!

Not too much to tell on this one. Before I went to work in the morning, I walked up and down the street with a snow shovel and cleared sidewalks and driveways for people who needed help. This is the second AoK that got replaced for snow shoveling. Read about sidewalk shoveling #1 to learn about how magical an Oneonta snow storm can be the morning after.

This round of snow shoveling had a lot less interaction with people than the first time we did it. I spent the work day a little bummed about that, thinking my efforts may have been in vain. But later that afternoon, I got a phone call from a woman whose driveway I had shoveled and left a kindness card on her door.

She was very appreciative of the act, and she had heard about our church from one of her friends that we met at last year's 6th Ward Block Party. It turns out that she is part of a woman's Christian prayer group that meets in each others' homes. She informed me that her and her friends have been praying for years that a new church like ours would rise up in Oneonta to meet its unique ministry needs.

We chatted for several minutes about faith and church and how enjoyable life is in the 6th Ward. A few weeks later, after all the snow had melted, I got to meet this neighbor of mine and give her a tour of our building. She promised to pray for our church, which is more valuable to a church planter than any amount of money that could be made shoveling snow.

Day 18: Saint Patrick's Day Designated Driver

By Laura Carpenter

For Day 18 of 30 Days of Kindness, we provided free designated driver transportation to people celebrating Saint Patty's Day.

St. Paddy's Day means heavy traffic at the bars for a Northeast college town like Oneonta, NY. We figured this holiday would be the perfect time to give the Designated Driver AoK our first try. Originally, we had planned to go out on Sunday night, the 17^th, but one of our friends tipped us off that, since St. Paddy's Day falls on a Sunday, more people would be celebrating on Saturday night.

Therefore, we made a quick change of plans and penciled it in for Saturday evening. This meant that on Saturday, we hosted the SkyanI show, took a little break/nap, then headed downtown around 11pm. We brought along our trusty chalkboard sign, wrote on it “Free Ride, No Drink & Drive," parked our car right off Water Street next to the entrances of three bars, and then waited for the people to come rolling in.

I was a bit tired at this point, and it was pretty cold that night, so I spent the evening sitting in the heat of the car. However, Kaler stood outside by the sign and chatted with the crowds. The crowds were young, loud, and very receptive. All night long Kaler was complemented for providing free rides. He was told things like, “Man, that is the most awesome thing I've ever seen!” and, “This is great!” Kaler explained that this was a free service to show God's love, yet several people (many who did not need a ride) insisted that he take a donation. We ended the night with a little money to put back into the AoK fund. 

People were so supportive that, if anybody showed a lack of support, then others would rally to Kaler's defense. The only person objecting to our presence was a drunk guy who walked over, took a good long look at our sign, and then felt the need to kick it down. Everyone around was shocked at his rudeness. A bouncer from one of the bars came out and asked Kaler to point out which guy did the dastardly deed. All in all, we felt like we were in a safe place; we even felt like our little church was accepted by Oneonta's downtown crowd.

Slowly but surely, people began to approach the car for rides. Most were students ready to head back to campus. It hadn't occurred to me before just how many students make the two mile walk in the middle of the cold night back to campus. As we drove, we saw several groups of students plodding along Oneonta's streets trying to get home. The students who caught us for a ride were extremely appreciative. As we drove them home, we talked about the church and various other things. Students had many questions for us and our conversations were meaningful. Most students were a little buzzed, but not slobbering drunk. Several seemed entirely sober and were just looking for a warm ride. They talked to us about Christian fiction books they had read, their objections to Christianity, and their views about Oneonta's student housing. A few said they would check out our church.

Kaler and I really enjoyed this AoK. For years now we have tried connecting with bar-goers, but to no avail. This AoK hit the nail on the head as far as providing us with a way to connect with people at the bars. In two hours we were able to meet a dozen bar hoppers and communicate God's love to them. We care for them. We care for the safety of our community. And we want to do what we can to make the roads safer. We loved doing the free designated driver and we look forward to doing it again!

Day 16: Battery and Light Bulb Giveaway

By Kaler Carpenter

For Day #16 of 30 Days of Kindness we went door-to-door giving away free light bulbs and batteries to shine the light of God's love to our Oneonta community!

Due to the cold weather conditions, I did not want to ask anyone else to spend hours in the cold being miserable; so, determined to make sure that we see all 30 projects  through to completion, I loaded up a basket full of bulbs, bundled up, and trekked out on my own. For this Acts of Kindness, I picked a new neighborhood for us to reach, the Oneonta's 1st Ward.

I had a few memorable experiences with this door-to-door AoK:

• The first house I went to was a homeowner that acted like he wasn't interested, but, I peaked his curiosity since I was doing this AoK when it was so cold outside. He asked me what I was raising money for, I told him about God's love, and the new church. He told me he wasn't interested, but later, he drove by when I was a few houses down, flagged me down, made a donation, and asked me more about the church.
• Many people acted like they didn't need any light-bulbs. I kind of felt like most of these people were just telling me this to get me to leave (like when I passed out batteries door-to-door), but it would be rude for me to call them out on it. As I stood on one lady's porch, she told me that she didn't need any light bulbs. I paused, and then pointed to the porch light above my head that lacked a light bulb. I then showed her my stool that I was carrying and offered to change it for her. She chuckled, gave me the go ahead, and promised to tell her woman's group about our church.
• I met a musician that is the same age as me from Jamaica named Dwayne Rose. Thanks to my love for Jamaican music, we hit it off. He was raised by a Preacher and was very supportive of what I was doing. In fact, Mr. Rose was so supportive, that he sang me a song. His sweet pipes warmed my heart that cold evening and gave me the strength to keep going. Dwayne told me he would like to sing at one of our upcoming shows, I look forward to it.
• At the next house, I got to talk with a middle-aged man who was shunned by the Jehovah's Witnesses when he was a teenager and has been turned off from church and religion ever since. I could tell that he was still hurt from the experience. I got to share with him how we go door-to-door to show love and bless others (not to convert people), and how everybody is welcome at our church, no matter what their background is. We talked for 15 minutes and I would like to think it helped to heal some of his past hurts.

At the end of the night, I had given away almost all of the light bulbs, I told a neighborhood about God's love, and I warmed up with a slice of cold cheese pizza from Joe's.

Folk Show for the Hungry

Day 17: Folk Show for the Hungry

By Laura Carpenter

Thanks to the lovely ladies from SkyanI (pronounced Sky and I) for helping make this AoK happen! For a few weeks we were wondering if AoK #17 would ever be. Kaler had been calling and chasing down bands for quite some time, but to no avail. It was the Saturday night before St. Patty's Day and around here that means many young adults and musicians have plans to engage in some kind of revelry. Finally, SkyanI accepted our invitation to play at The Redemption Movement and the event was on! Since we were unable to get any other bands on the bill, I seized the opportunity to subject the audience to a few songs of my own. Admission was $5 or a bag of non-perishable food items and all proceeds were donated to The Lord's Table, a free meal service provided daily by St. James Episcopal Church.

I accomplished a personal victory while doing this AoK. I wrote a song ten years ago called Short Skirt (a satirical song about immodesty). The guitar line has a lot of finger picking in it, which I am not accustomed to doing in public. I get nervous when performing and it results in some shaky hands.  I discovered this problem back in junior high. At that time, I had been practicing the song Fur Elise for months and had it down. I especially loved playing the runs at the end. However, the night of a piano recital, it all broke down. I was nervous and my hands were shaky. The song had been going just fine, but when I got to the runs I lost all control and dexterity. My hands felt like fingerless nubs. I botched the runs. I started them a second time and botched it again. I knew I could play them, so I tried a third time to play the notes and my fingers were simply not responding. My mind went completely blank and I didn't know where to pick up again with the song. So, I put my hands in my lap, let out a sigh of defeat and exited the stage. Later that night I felt powerless to control my nerves and wondered if I would ever be able to perform music ever again.

I took up trombone in high school. Trombone requires no dexterity because it's a slide instrument and I did well with it. I had forgotten about my performance jitters, but while studying music in college the problem returned. 

In college, I was required to perform vocal solos and piano solos in front of a judge of professors. I remember just laughing at myself as I played piano at an adjudication feeling that my hands had virtually been disconnected from my brain.  They limped along as I played a song I could play note for note when alone in a practice room. I remember singing vocal solos in rehearsal with my voice teacher exclaiming, “Laura, that was so good I got shivers up my spine!”, but in performance I could barely squeak out the high notes because my throat and chest tightened up. I looked at my teacher in the audience and the expression on her face was shock and bewilderment.

All of this goes to say that ten years ago I wrote a song that I wanted to perform for others, but felt I would be unable to do so, due to nerves. I literally had visions of being on stage trying to play it, but my fingers turning to useless stubble and me having to exit stage in defeat.

 Last Saturday night I faced that fear head on. After some practice and a calming Kava tea, I played my song for a small group of strangers for the first time. I was able to play it through completely and my fingers didn't miss a note! Even though the audience was small, it was a big personal victory for me. I love writing songs and I desperately want to be able to play them for others. Fear tries to keep my musical passion under lock and key, but with God's help, and a husband who keeps pushing me into scary situations, I am slowly but surely breaking free from fear.

 SkyanI then took the stage. They are an indie-folk band composed of three young ladies.  The three of them sing harmoniously while one of them also accompanies on an acoustic guitar.  Since there were no other bands, they were free to treat us to just about every song they knew. They covered a wide range of songs such as Gigantic by the Pixies, Mr. Saxobeat by Alexandra Stan, and Animal Tracks by Mountain Man. SkyanI also played several well written originals.



Their voices and harmonies blended beautifully and their melodies were enchanting. Kalil's guitar strumming resonated gently through the room. We thank them for sharing their songs and their time with us and look forward to having them back again. Thanks to their participation we were able to follow through with AoK #17 and collect some money and food for The Lord's Table.

Day 15: Bathroom Cleaning #2 - 30 Days of Kindness

Day 15 of 30 Days of Kindness was Bathroom Cleaning #2, and for this act of kindness we got down low to exalt He who reigns on high!

Originally, we were scheduled for a door-to-door light bulb giveaway, but with the weather being in the 20s with snow and 30mph winds, even a warm public bathroom was preferable to being outside. For us, visiting Oneonta businesses and cleaning their bathrooms as an act of kindness is an easy and inexpensive activity to do. It sounds weird, but this is one of our favorite AoKs. Cleaning the restrooms of businesses was the first AoK that our church performed for our community, and it was what we did on Day #1 of this 30 Days of Kindness campaign.

Laura and I have cleaning public restrooms down to a routine. We have a designated bucket of supplies ready to go, and we make a great cleaning team. I roll up my sleeves and hit the toilets and Laura cleans the sinks and mirrors. We again went to Oneonta's downtown to visit the businesses that we missed on round 1, as a bonus, a strip of businesses lined up next to each other meant less walking outside in the cold.

The first place we cleaned was one of our favorite coffee shops Capresso Coffee Bar. We have visited here many times as customers, but this was our first visit to Capresso as cleaners. Being a Thursday evening, it was not too busy, which gave us a good opportunity to get to know the clerk. He is a young Jamaican man named Klasic, who seemed a little confused by our gesture. It took a little convincing to let us clean the bathroom, but he eventually gave us the go ahead.

Laura and I made the bathroom sparkle, and when we came out Klasic greeted us with free hot beverages. We insisted that this AoK was a free service, but he was intent on rewarding our efforts with premium hot beverages. As we sipped our beverages, I got to talk to Klasic about Jamaican ska music (a passion of mine) and I invited him to an upcoming a ska show that we are having.

Klasic seemed touched by our cleaning efforts, but at the same time he admitted that his first thought was that it was a little weird (I can't argue with that). That gave me an opportunity to explain our motives, how Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve, and how we believe this means Christians are to be servants to our community. Klasic asked us, "Are you doing this for Lent." We answered no, but at the same time, this is very much like Lent for us. I can definitely see this being an annual Lent-like tradition for our church, except instead of sacrificing for a season, we give.

It was encouraging to share the Gospel with our new friend, we told him that we would be back to wash his windows next week. We then stopped at Sal's Pizza. They let us clean, but business picked up and they got too busy to talk with us. As a rule, we try and pick businesses that are not busy for bathroom cleaning, this will give us time to talk with workers.

We next went to Pyramid Liqueur Store, this was an interesting stop because we cleaned their bathroom almost 3 years ago, and to our delight the same clerk was working and he remembered us. We knew where to go and gave that bathroom the Redemption Movement treatment. Bill was the guy working that night, and we got to chat with him for 10-15 minutes about church and his new puppy that he had with him.

Our last stop was The Bearded Dragon, Oneonta's best comic book and game store. Gaming is a subculture that I have been getting more into over the past few years. I have found myself more interested in board games and less into video games (so much so that I want to incorporate games into our Friday night meetings), therefore a stop in The Bearded Dragon is always enjoyable for me.

Here we met Will, a 21 year old young man from Oneonta who goes to school in Binghamton. He wears a cross around his neck and we could tell that he understood what our mission was about. He pointed us towards the bathroom, which was in a corner of a room full of gamers battling wits. We definitely stood out as we maneuvered our way around tables carrying buckets of cleaning supplies, and it was great to explain our AoK the gamers that were curious.

After we were finished cleaning, we hung back and talked to Will. He was appreciative of our efforts and gave us lots of insight into how to minister to Oneonta culture, like confirming to us how burnt out local people are from door-to-door evangelist. We had a great talk with our new friend about church and gaming, and I look forward to inviting him to game nights at our church and schooling him in Dominion.

Cleaning four bathrooms led to Laura and I making three new friends. As much as we both value relationships, these new friendships are totally worth a few minutes of scrubbing toilets. 15 days into 30 Days of Kindness and we have served a few hundred residents of Oneonta and made dozens of new friends. 15 more days to go and we can't wait to see who else God will place before us!

Day 14: Entertain Assisted Living Home - 30 Days of Kindness

Day 14 of 30 Days of Kindness was Entertain Assisted Living Home, and for this act of kindness our accordion playing friend Chris Lynk really got the people moving!

A blog article describing this outreach written by Oneonta's own accordion guy will be coming soon!

Day 13: Battery Giveaway - 30 Days of Kindness

Day 13 of 30 Days of Kindness was Battery Giveaway, and for this act of kindness the experience was both positive and negative (battery joke).

We have done several giveaways with our previous acts of kindness, but this was our first door-to-door giveaway. The idea here was to visit people’s home and give them a small free gift that they would find useful, and it seems like everybody uses batteries.

I loaded up a basket full of 4 different types of batteries and ventured into new territory for The Redemption Movement, Oneonta’s Center City. This neighborhood is Oneonta’s most high profile neighborhood because it lies directly between the downtown and the two colleges. It has some of the cities biggest, oldest, and most well kept homes, sitting alongside other big old houses that have been divided up into student apartments. Oneonta’s Center City is truly a neighborhood of diverse residents which is one aspect about Oneonta that drew Lauraand I to it.

Laura had to work, which meant that I was flying solo for this one. This was probably for the best since it was cold and raining. With an umbrella in one hand and a basket of batteries in the other, I set out. In the first hour I was actually met with a lot of rejection. Not so much the mean kind of rejection, but more like the kind where people tell me, “We already have enough batteries,” and then quickly shut their door.

My approach was not overbearing, I simply stated, “Hi. My name is Kaler. I am from The Redemption Movement and I am going door-to-door giving away free batteries as an act of kindness to show God’s love.” I would then hold up the basket and offer them free batteries with a smile. I was a little confused at the lack of response; could it really be every home owner is sitting on a giant stockpile of batteries?

My confusion was compounded when I had a police officer stop me because of a complaint. Seriously. Knowing the ridiculousness of the situation, I answered every one of the officer’s questions with a big smile on my face, I even offered him some batteries. I was more than happy to tell him about everything that I was doing and how much God cares for him, at least someone was willing to listen to me.

After the officer processed my identification and everything checked out, he then reported to the dispatcher in his walkie-talkie, “It’s just a guy spreading happiness and kindness, over.” He let me go and I went on my way. Why I was reported didn’t make sense to me at the time, but it did after I talked to Will from The Breaded Dragon on Thursday. Will is a 20 year old clerk at Oneonta’s favorite comic book store, after cleaning his bathroom as an AoK, Will told me how nice it is that we do this and how tired everybody in Oneonta is of religious people going door-to-door. This would explain why few people would even take the time to hear me out.

I have had religious groups visit my door carrying Bibles and passing out religious tracks. In Oneonta, when the weather is nice, especially in the summer, it seems like I see lots of teams of religious folks going door-to-door wearing suites and dresses and carrying Bibles. Everybody I talk to is sick of this approach. Herein lies the beauty this acts of kindness battery giveaway; people come to the door guarded and expecting a sermon, only to receive a free gift along with a smile and a brief statement declaring God’s love. I think if Oneonta’s home owners were not entirely burnt out from our resident door-to-door religious groups on a mission to convert, then they would be more receptive to my message. Regardless, it is my mission to reach these burnt out people and show them love in the face of suspicion, because in the end, “God is love, and love conquers all!” 

After experiencing some rejection during the first part of my mission, I realized that I needed to change my approach with door-to-door giveaways. Many home owners in this neighborhood told me, “Go give it to someone who needs it.” So I did. I headed away from the streets full of large well kept homes and into the northern part of the neighborhood where there are smaller homes and apartments.

Here I received the welcome I thought I would. People were engaging, appreciative, and they took the batteries while asking me questions about the church. I passed out kindness cards and calendars and considerably lightened my heavy basket of batteries (I did feel this AoK in my arms the next day).

I met one college-aged girl who has a heart for ministry and is going to spend her summer in Arizona helping with a church plant, she promised to pray for me. I met another girl who was a part of SUNY Oneonta’s Music Industry Club. She has heard about us from the shows that we host, and told me that she was the one that added our shows to the local newspaper events calendar, and she wants to bring disabled students that she works with to our future shows.

Being a an opportunist, I also passed out calendars to people who had children and told them about our March 22 Parent's Night Out; and if they had a dog barking at me, then I was sure to mention our March 21st dog walking service. After working mainly on the building for the past few years, it feels so nice to have events on a calendar to meet different people's needs that I can tell them about, as well as having a weekly public service that I can finally invite people to.

By the end of the night the rain had stopped, my basket of batteries was much lighter, and I got to tell 20+ people about God's love. All-in-all, meeting new people was a great way to spend an evening. We are now 13 days into this project and I am blown away with how many new people that we have got to meet and proclaim the love of God to.

Day 12: Garden Seed Giveaway - 30 Days of Kindness

Garden Seed Giveaway was Day 12 of 30 Days of Kindness, and for this act of kindness we literally sowed seeds of faith looking for good soil and receiving hearts in our Oneonta community.

In upstate NY, it may still be too early to plant your garden, but with the days getting longer and the snow melting quicker, Spring is on everyone's mind. To encourage people to focus on the warm weather, we thought it would be a nice gesture to pass out free packs of garden seeds.

We were able to setup on a downtown sidewalk in front of a newly remodeled mini shopping mall at Ford & Main. Thanks to a pleasant free gift wrapping acts of kindness at the same location last December, the owner of the property was happy to have us back to set up once again at his location. It was also nice to visit with the store owners on the property and watch the hustle and the bustle of city hall just accross the street. 

 

After a morning of seed shopping, Laura headed to downtown at 12 o’clock in order to reach the lunch crowd and catch the warm part of the day. By 12:30, she was setup and giving away seeds and Kaler joined in on the outreach during his lunch break. There was a lot of traffic, the sun was out, and the location was perfect!

We were impressed with the amount of young men and women interested in gardening. Some of them seemed like pretty hardcore organic types complete with dreadlocks and piercings. One girl beautifully clad in, I’m assuming, homemade knit accessories, explained to us the seriousness of politics making it difficult for small farmers to sell their produce and stay financially afloat. Another young lady was inspired by our 30 Days of Kindness and took a calendar to pass on to her yoga class. She wanted to spread the kindness and lead her class with some of our AoK projects. One young man drove by, saw the sign, yelled thank you to us out of his car window, then called his buddy telling him to stop by to get some free seeds

All-in-all, the seed giveaway was a hit. About twenty people of all ages received a packet of seeds with a kindness card and message of God’s love. We almost gave away every packet. In addition to this, we met one young man who is interested in helping and attending our church and we hope to see him again soon!

We met some nice hippies. We met people serious about visiting our church. We met families with children. We met one religious guy who did not like the idea of a new church in Oneonta and wasn't afraid to tell us, followed by another religious person who donated $40 for us to keep up the good work (which more than enough to cover the giveaway!). Every time we do an act of kindness, we never know who we are going to meet, which makes it an adventure! AoK = Adventures of Kindness!  

Check out our 30 Days of Kindness calendar and contact us to join us our next kindness adventure.