4 SUNY Oneonta Students Receive an Inspiring Ride Home in the Kindness Car [Transcript]

Transcript of a ride home that I gave to four female SUNY Oneonta students from downtown through The Redemption Movement’s #OneontaRides free ride service, around midnight on 12-15. For this ride, the Kindness Car was at capacity and all four passengers were encouraged by the following conversation. Making the ride extra special, is the fact that I broke my ankle just an hour prior (I didn’t know that it was broken). Instead of going to the E.R., I decided to finish the night and take people home. After having this conversation, I’m glad I did.    

Girl 1: I honestly can’t thank you enough. It’s really nice. Thank you so much.

Kaler: We’re happy to serve your needs.

Now what church are you guys with?

It’s a church called The Redemption Movement. I’m the pastor of it. 

Can you please redeem me? In all seriousness...

Girl 2: This is a really stupid question, like, what kind of a religion is this?

It’s Christian.

Christian. Not Catholic, but Christian?

Right, but I think Catholics are Christian, you know? 

Catholics are Christian, of course. 

Pastor, like, I’m serious, I made some stupid choices. 

Like, we all have. I’ve made stupid choices.

Like, in all seriousness, can you please like, help me. I’m sad now. I’ve had a lot to drink tonight.  

Tell ya what, at the end of the ride how about I pray for ya? 

Thank you so much!

I was talking to my friend the other day about this. I was confirmed Roman Catholic or whatever, and you know how you have to do that interview thingy with the priest? I remember in 7th or 8th grade confessional, they told me that I wasn’t going to go to Heaven because I don’t go to church every Sunday. Is that true?

That is not true.

Alight, well the priest was a liar.

Well this is one of the differences between Protestants and Catholics.

I’m literally like old now and I remember that from 7th or 8th grade. Like, it still scars me every time I think about it.  

Salvation and Heaven, that comes from faith in Jesus Christ. 

I literally have so much faith and I literally think about God so much.

If you put your trust and hope in Jesus...

I do. That priest was like trying to mess with me. 

I hate to say that it’s all about making it to Heaven because it’s about so much more than that.

No, I know. But he was trying to scare me. He was like, “Why don’t you go to church?” And I was like, “Ohhh yikes!”

I really am trying to be a good person, but I feel like people just take advantage of that. 

Yep. You know, that’s part of the package. 

No, literally, she was trying the other day and people literally take advantage so much. I try so hard not to. 

I do this ride thing and I get people that take advantage sometimes and ask me to go to house parties. 

No seriously, please don’t think I’m doing that. This is my first ride and it is amazing.

Like, I’m also really cold. I’m not going to lie. I don’t want to be a liar. It’s really cold and I didn’t want to wait for the bus. 

That’s what it’s about. 

Like, I’m not here to lie and all.

Sometimes we give rides to people that just don’t want to be cold, and sometimes people are just…

I’m also ssslighty drunk.

Whether you’re slightly, severely, or completely sober...

Exactly.

 ...we give anybody and everybody a ride home.

(All 4 girls) Thank you!

Like, I honestly I can’t thank you enough. Do you want money?

No. Not while we give rides. This is free. 

Does the church take donations?

Yeah, we do online and we have a little gift box at the tent, so we do it like that. But we’re not fundraising and this isn’t about money. So hold onto your money tonight. 

Girl 3: You know what you should do to give back? Go in your purse and get some money...

You know what, if I get to pray for ya, that’s going to make my night. I’ll be happy to pray for you. That’s why we’re going out and doing this.

Oh my God. Thank you so much.

What’s your name sir?

My name is Kaler.

Kaler, I’m going to pray for you.

Oh, you know what, I’ve been doing this for years and no one’s ever prayed for me.

No, I’m going to pray for you. Like, I pray every night and I’m going to pray for you. 

Genuinely know that, before I fall asleep tonight, I’m going to think of you and and your family. Like, I don’t know who you are but I’m going to think of you. 

Ahhh.

I literally sound like a lying piece of shit, but I am literally going to think of you.

Girl 4: This is great. This is so positive. I’m loving it.

We call it the Kindness Car. 

This is a lot of kindness. I’m loving it.

Okay, I sound very drunk and stupid right now, but I genuinely think of people and pray for people at night. 

I’m (name given). Nice to meet you.

My grandma is Christian, she’s very, very religious. But I feel like, you know, she preaches all this Christianity, but she doesn’t give back or be kind to people. And that’s one thing, I’m not resentful, but I think, you know, it’s very hypocritical. I think, you know, to be Christian you need to give back. You know, that’s part of the thing is being a good person, and not always is she. And I think what you’re doing is exemplary. It’s wonderful!  

Yeah. I’m trying to show what Jesus’ love is like.

Exactly! Jesus’ love is giving back to people, it’s being kind and showing others love and help, and that’s what you’re doing.

So I’m crying because this is, no no no, because I literally stress over the stupidest stuff, and I get so mad and upset over the stupidest things. 

And I don’t think of little things like this.

And then, yeah yeah, in retrospect, like this, stuff like this is real.

You know, especially with the season of Christmas, this is so exemplary, you know. This is the key!

I wouldn’t be too down on your grandma. Because, when it comes down to it, we’re all hypocrites on some level. So, I think that’s what’s cool about Jesus and the Gospel, is that the Gospel redeems even hypocrites. So, the point of it I think is, the longer you follow the Christ, you look less hypocritical, more and more. 

Can I please, like, I’m being so serious, I am coming to your mass on Sunday, because I believe this.

Sure! I’ll give ya’ll cards.

A card would be wonderful!

I sound so bad, but I genuinely miss religion. I went to private school like all my life, elementary school through high school, I went to Catholic school, and I kinda miss it.

You guys going to be around this Sunday at all? 

Yes we are!

This Sunday is like big Christmas production.

I would love to go!

That would be awesome!  

I went to Catholic school but I never went to mass with my family because we just didn’t do it. But like, I miss praying in Catholic school. I never thought I would say that because I hated the uniforms, I hated it. I went to an all-girls privatized high school. I don’t know, I just miss it now, now that I think about it. 

See I used to go to church every Sunday when I was little with my parents, but you know, I kinda got away from it. But you know, my mom, this past year getting chemo and everything, that really affects your faith, you know?

That’s rough.

If you don’t have something to get you through that, you got nothing. 

Yes.

So, I mean, maybe I’ll start going to church because I am very faithful, you know? I would love to go to this church!

I’ll hook you up, yeah. Actually, I’ll give you the card, I’ll write some info on there. My phone number is actually on the card. If you see me, it’d be awesome if you sat with me and my family. 

That would be wonderful!

I’ll introduce you guys.

Yeah so, seriously, like this ride, obviously I was so upset about something so small and this made my night.

Yeah. That’s why we go out. You know, when people serve you and show you kindness when you don’t expect it, it changes everything.

Oh my God, this is so meaningful.

I do this every Friday. I love meeting people.

Like, I hope that you get the appreciation that you deserve. 

Thank you so much.

Well, I mean, that’s not why. We’re not doing it for ourselves, but there’s a lot of good vibes.

Yes, but coming from an outsider, I really hope that you’ll keep doing this. Like, this is really, really good. 

Why thank you. I appreciate hearing that. (Pulls up to dorm) Okay well, you know what, if I saw you at church that would be huge. That would make me so tickled pink. So I’m going to write it right here.

Yes, can I please have. I’ll take it.

So this is a church called Anchor. It’s 6pm, Sunday, at 12 Grove. Do you want me to write that for each of you? (gives invite card to Girl #1)

Yes, I would love one.

6pm, 12 Grove, Sunday, Anchor. There’s like multiple churches represented here. (hands invite card to Girl #3)

And if we go we just walk in, and it’s just like, it’s okay?

Yeah, like I said, this is actually my phone number, my cell. So if I know you’re coming I’ll introduce you to my family and we can hang out.

That would be amazing actually.

That’d be wonderful. That would be so nice.

(hands invite card to Girl #2) Thank you so much. (door opens)

Wait (Girl #1) I got to pray for ya, remember? What do you need prayer for?

Wait, I’m getting blessed (sorts out who’s who now that the car dome light is on).

We can all use some prayer.

I’ll do a group prayer. Any special requests?

Umm, my mom, and my life, and yeah.

Mine’s umm, my parents’ health.

Yeah, my parents and my family.

Alright, so kind of a common theme here. (Asking Girl #4) You wanna get in on this?

Yeah sure, we’ll do family. 

We’ll do family, alright.

Family and, I’m going to be selfish, and just that I find happiness.

I agree with that, happiness.

Alright, I'll do this short and sweet. Lord God, I come before you with joy that we can take this random moment and just focus on you, and your goodness can be reflected in this car ride. I pray that the love and joy experienced here will spread to each one of these young girls’ families, and that you’ll fill their hearts and lives with happiness when they go home and see their families, and that happiness will spread, and it will even affect their health. I pray for your miraculous touch on the health of their loved ones. And I pray ultimately God that these young ladies, that tonight when they pray and they think about this ride, that they will feel your love, in a real and tangible way. God, just bless them, bless them I pray, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Thank you so much.

Thank you that was so nice.

Happy to serve. So we do this every Friday so let’s stay in touch.

Okay, we’ll see you Sunday hopefully!

Hopefully, that’d be so awesome.

I will pray for you. For all good things. Thank you.

That’s awesome. You’re welcome. Have a good one. (3 girls exit the car, leaving Girl #4 to be taken home).

That’s so nice.

Yeah.

I bet that doesn’t happen often does it?

It does actually.

Really!? 

Yeah, I mean, the prayer thing I probably only get to do that like once or twice a night.

That’s actually surprisingly more than I expected. I just feel like, some kids aren’t as appreciative. 

Yeah well, I mean like, if I was driving a taxi cab, I would hate it. Because if you’re doing something and people are paying you to do it, you know, they have an expectation. Like, a “you work for me” kind of a thing, and that would be absolutely miserable.

Yeah yeah.

Because like, you flip it on its head and you’re like serving them, it’s like, “What? What? No no. Ahhh.”

Yeah yeah, they’re like, “No money? This is free!?”

Yeah, so if you take like, the person in the worst mood possible, and they might even be angry or belligerent when they get in, but after it all kind of connects…

Uh huh. I was in a pretty bad mood before this, but after hearing all of that I was like, “I can’t even be angry anymore.”

Exactly.

Like, they’re all just happy to be here.

Yep. We call this the Kindness Car. With the volunteers we call it the Kindness Team, we got a Kindness Station and Kindness Baskets. I’m basically Kindnessman. I mean, like Batman has like a Batarang and a Bat Car and all of this stuff.

Yeah really! That’s amazing. That’s just so nice that people do that selflessly.

Well, it’s like the name of our church is The Redemption Movement, and I threw that word Movement in there intentionally because I believe that things like redemption and kindness can be like a movement where it spreads and grows, like the card says “Scatter Kindness.” So, the cool thing is that I started this whole thing years ago with just like, me, a friend, and a car, and it’s blown up into multiple cars, and we got that tent, and we got this giant team of like dozens of volunteers. And so it’s just like, for all of the crap going on in the world that gets you depressed, it’s like, the thing that you don’t hear about is the steady movement of kindness and love.

It’s just so necessary though. I feel like this world is just depleted of it and everyone is just so unhappy and going on with their lives. And this is just such a great thing.

I mean like, I work really hard to write about this and put it up on social media and spread the word, and ultimately that’s not because I’m trying to brag about what we’re doing.

Right.

But I know that people read it and they’re like, “Ahhh,” and their day changes. So that to me, is worth all of the work, if someone is blessed by it. (pulls up to her dorm)

Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

You’re welcome. Have a wonderful night.

Thanks. You too. Have a great night.

You too. God bless.

What’s it Mean to Be Lost? Everything to God!

An Anchor sermon preached by Kaler Carpenter of The Redemption Movement, June 4th, 2017.
Podcast on AnchorOneonta.com:

Facebook Live video:

It’s interesting to me that we live in a post-Christian world that no longer believes in sin, yet there are “cultural sins.” One big cultural sin that I want to open with by looking at: the sin of labeling others.

The idea here is that, our society has become so individualistic, that it’s now totally up to the individual to define their experience and determine who they are. And therefore, any outside attempt to label a person contrary to what they feel they are, why, that’s oppressive, insensitive, and a “cultural sin.”

For those who hold to a Biblical worldview, it can be challenging to operate in such a fluid and individualistic culture. Primarily because the Bible has zero problem labeling people--(and newsflash, so was pretty much all of human history up until the postmodern era).

The Biblical worldview is extremely black and white. Consider with me just a few examples of how the Bible doesn’t throw any punches when it comes to labeling people:

You’re either saved, or unsaved.
You’re either righteous, or unrighteous.
You’re either wise, or foolish.
You’re either a Jew, or a Gentile.
You’re either a believer, or a nonbeliever.
You’re either holy, or a sinner.
You’re either found, or lost.

Now, in light of how sensitive the world is about labels, how then is a Christian supposed to hold to and communicate this black and white worldview? Especially when it comes to our Christian witness? Three quick tips:

• For starters, I think that those who hold to this Biblical worldview should be aware of how such a worldview may be misunderstood and interpreted negatively by someone who doesn’t share it or isn’t familiar with it.

• Secondly, in order to have a good Christian witness, we need to respect and try to understand worldviews that are different than our own. Empathy goes a long way.

• Thirdly, the Christian worldview should be communicated in a such way that’s both loving and doesn't compromise the truth.

Thankfully, the theology of scripture is rich enough to achieve this. To show you this, I want to look at the Biblical concept of “lost.”

Concerning “lost,” consider this: if you engage in conversation with someone that’s unfamiliar with the Bible and you say in Christianese, “Those people are lost,” they might interpret that to mean something negative or judgmental, like “those people are stupid.” After all, who gets lost today? Only people who aren’t smart enough to read a map or use GPS. (btw, I still get lost even with GPS).

But, when the Bible talks about “the lost,” it’s doing so to communicate value and hope. Jesus explains just how much a lost person means to God in a short and powerful parable.

Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. -Luke 15:8-10 (NIV)

The woman loses a silver coin, or a denarius. This is equivalent to a day’s wage. So, considering how the woman only has about 10 day’s worth of coins to her name, and that one-room houses built in first century Palestine typically didn’t have windows (thus why a lamp was needed), you get the impression that this woman wasn’t all that wealthy, like a peasant living paycheck to paycheck. Like, if she doesn’t find this coin, her family won’t eat. So there’s some super intense searching going on here.

To say that this lost coin was valuable to the woman is an understatement.

This is significant because in this parable, the woman represents God (which is significant in its own right), and the coin represents sinners--those who are lost and away from God. In context, Jesus tells this parable in response to the religious authorities who were accusing him of eating with sinners, a crime that deserved to be punished (Dt. 21:18-21).

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Then Jesus told them this parable. -Luke 15:1-3 (NIV)

Jesus responds by teaching 3 parables in a row (the lost sheep, the lost coin, the lost son) that each say the same thing: these sinners whom I eat with are lost, so they are valued by God; enough so that God uses every resource at His disposal to seek them out and find them.

The parable we read says that the woman lit the lamp, swept through the house, and looked carefully. It’s a picture of thoroughly looking under the couch cushions and sifting through the junk drawer. But the historical context actually makes this search more intense. The floors back then were essentially beat down dirt and dried reeds, and it was dark, and metal detectors weren’t invented yet. So we’re talking needle in a haystack. Perhaps the woman was using the lamp to hopefully catch a gleam of light reflecting off the silver.

This totally blows the minds of the Pharisees Jesus was addressing, because in their worldview, sinners were despised by God, tax collectors were enemies of Israel, and both groups should be avoided at all costs. Yet, here Jesus is, receiving sinners, eating with them, even, drawing near to them!

By the way Jesus conducted his meals, He was announcing to the Pharisees something new and scandalous about the Kingdom of God. However, for the Gentiles, for the sinners, for you and me, this simple action is a declaration of good news!

Social rules of dining mirrored the sectarian structures of the first century in both Jewish and Greco-Roman life. Who one ate with was a serious matter.

Yet Jesus uses the table to flip insider and outsider boundaries. For the Jews of Jesus’ day, meals bound participants to one another by covenants established between religion, persons and states. Jesus’ meal practices contested, transformed, and reinterpreted social mores. Jesus cultivated community at the table, modeling other-worldly availability. Jesus reclined at table with doubters, cowards, and betrayers, and called them friends.

Jesus used the table to express God’s friendship with religious outliers. Jesus’ choice of table guests represents God’s coming world, a foreshadowing of the feast at the kingdom of God (Rev. 19:19). -Church as Movement

In fact, when Jesus comes on the scene and announces that He is the Son of God, what does He say the very purpose of His mission is? Luke 19:10, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

By Jesus incorporating seeking the lost into the mission of the Kingdom of God, now all those who are followers of Christ are given the same mandate “to seek and save the lost.” This means valuing lost enough to befriend them, and to seek them out with the same sense of fervor as the poor woman looking for her lost coin. This is the driving motive for Christians being called as missionaries to their communities.

Compare this to the old covenant. In fact, this idea of sinners being lost is totally foreign to the Jews, which is why you’ve probably never met a Jewish missionary.

No Pharisee had ever dreamed of a God like that. A great Jewish scholar has admitted that this is the one absolutely new thing which Jesus taught men about God---that he actually searched for men. The Jew might have agreed that if a man came crawling home to God in self-abasement and prayed for pity he might find it; but he would never have conceived of a God who went out to search for sinners. We believe in the seeking love of God, because we see that love incarnate in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who came to seek and to save that which was lost. -William Barclay 

According to Jesus, God’s heart for the lost is clearly seen in Luke 15:

• When the woman found her lost coin, she rejoiced and threw a party.
• When the Shepherd found his lost sheep, he rejoiced and threw a party.
• And when the prodigal son returned, the father rejoiced and threw a banger of a party.

In v. 10 it says “There is joy in the presence of the angels of God.” So you get this idea of Heaven erupting into a big party. Why? Because Heaven and the angels are reflecting the heart of God. William Barclay further explains: 

The joy of God and all of the angels, when ONE SINNER comes home, is like the joy of a home when a coin which has stood between them and starvation has been lost and is found.

Christians, this reality should drive our mission. If our worship, prayer, and preaching is to please God, then we should work even more so to take seriously the very thing that gets God to experience unbridled joy and turn Heaven into a party--finding and saving the lost!

What’s this look like to take the mandate of seeking and saving the lost seriously?

For starters, it means actually being intentional about stepping outside of your comfort zone by inviting and sharing a table with sinners, just like Jesus did. I for one take this mandate very literally and actually spend my Friday nights, literally driving my car around Oneonta’s streets seeking the lost.

Secondly, it means taking seriously every relationship we have with the lost by trying to find ways to bring the Good News of the Gospel into it--in a credible and loving way. For example, remember how I opened by sharing advice on how to talk to postmoderns? Friends, I think about this all the time and I am constantly looking for ways to improve how I share the Gospel.

And this may sound crazy, but I even go so far as to review video footage of conversations I’ve had with the lost so I can go back and improve my Christian witness. Plus, The Redemption Movement has meetings where we review these videos together so we can all learn how to better share the Gospel. It’s quite fun actually.

Now, as crazy as that sounds, consider how much football players review tapes, study playbooks, and train their bodies like crazy. To fans, this devotion is admired. And here’s the thing, all of that crazy training for sports and mountains of money spent on it; it’s all for a game. Played for a trophy that will rust, for a championship that people will forget about, and in an expensive stadium that will eventually get demolished for a better one.

Paul in the Bible pretty much says the exact same thing in 1 Corinthians by referring to the mission of God as race--a race that all Christians are running!

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. -1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (NIV)

I want to close by premiering a new #OneotaRides video from giving a ride last month. In it, I explain what lost means to a student.

I want to show you this video to motivate your own sense of mission, and, like a football player watches tape in preparation for the big game, it’s my hope that this somehow equips and motivates you and Anchor for the mission of sharing the Gospel with the lost.

Before I play the video, let me give you some background. This is a ride given to a young man who stopped by our Kindness Station tent last month for the Senior Bar Crawl and he was very happy to meet us and introduce himself. He mentioned that we’ve provided safe rides home to his girlfriend all throughout the past school year, and how he was very thankful we were looking out for her.

Eventually, the young man requested a ride home. During the ride, we got to talking about faith and religion. He really wanted to know what our motivation was for serving others.  This inquiry led to a powerful explanation about what it means to be lost.

Our Week of Back-to-School Outreaches to Welcome SUNY Oneonta Students to the Fall 2014 Semester

The front of our flyers to students.

Welcome back SUNY Oneonta students! We've got a full week of outreach events planned to welcome you back to the City of The Hills. Here's what's on the calendar:

8-23 Help Students Move In, 11AM
8-24 Help Students Move In, afternoon (We'll be helping both days)
8-28 Designated Driver
8-29 Friday Evening Gathering + Designated Driver
8-30 Designated Driver
8-31 Act of Kindness on Campus

8-23 Student move in day at Golding Hall

We've got three designated driving outreaches on the calender, but accomplishing all three will be dependent on finding additional volunteers, so contact us if you're interested in helping. Additionally, due to the entire first week of school looking like it will be a major party week for downtown Oneonta, we're willing to go out other days of the week for designated driving if we can find additional volunteers.  

We did a similar big push last year and reached many students. This year, we're improving on keeping in contact with the students that we reach, and we're not just promoting our church, but we're also pointing spiritually hungry students to other great churches in town, like St. James' Episcopal Church, Community Gospel Church, Main St. Baptist Church, and HillCity Church. And we're promoting two SUCO student groups as well, BASIC and Campus Ambassadors. 

We're excited to promote multiple local churches and ministries with our outreach efforts. For us, this will be the first time cross-promoting other local churches on this scale. We're happy to do it because it communities to our community the unity of the body of Christ, and the mission of Jesus will only benefit when Christians work together. 

For us, it's not all about promotion and getting our church out there (although, it's certainly part of it). Mainly, it's about reaching students with God's love during a season of their lives when they're extra receptive to the Gospel due to the newness of the school year. Here's to another great school year for Oneonta!

Designated driving on 8-28. Now with matching jackets, hats, and name badges!

  


UPDATE: Back-to-school week turned out great! CLICK HERE to read about it.   

2 Radical Acts of Kindness to Show God's Love

By Kaler Carpenter

How can a small church make a big impact? By serving their community with the passion and love of Jesus Christ. It's a simple idea that yields powerful results. On a Friday evening in August, a small group of Christians meeting in an old storefront in Oneonta's lower deck neighborhood, showed their upstate New York town just how much God cares for them with two radical acts of kindness.

A Typical Friday Evening Church Gathering

The evening started off like a typical Friday Gathering at The Redemption Movement. People trickled in as a free spaghetti and meatball dinner was served, and the weather was nice so people ate and fellowshiped outside. The group even had some fun as one member shared a custom cake made to look like the Pastor's old pickup truck used to accomplish service projects (The Big Blue Ministry Machine), which made for a fun photo op.

After the meal was cleaned up, people found their way into the meeting room and shared stories from the week's previous service projects. The last week of August is a big week for Oneonta and The Redemption Movement as SUNY Oneonta students return for the Fall Semester. The group shared their experiences of helping students move into the dorms on the previous Sunday, and providing free rides in downtown Oneonta the night before to help keep the roads safe. The church was in the middle of Welcome Week 2013, which calls for 6 service projects in 1 week to help make the returning students feel welcomed.

But with a Not-so-Typical Church Message

After sharing stories, an acoustic worship set was played and then the Pastor taught from the Bible. The lesson looked at Jesus' Great Commission to the church in Matthew 28:18-20, and related it back to The Redemption Movement's own commission of Connect --> Discover --> Impact. For this lesson, attention was given to the Impact portion. The kind of impact The Redemption Movement tries to make in their community is: "Moving people out of a self-centered lifestyle and into a new self-sacrificial life in order to impact a broken world with the Gospel."

The Gospel declares that, when a person believes and follows Jesus, they are made new and called to live like Jesus did. There is a verse in Matthew that clearly explains Jesus' motivation,  "Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave--just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mt. 20:26-28)." Just like Jesus made a big impact on the world by being a servant, so too are Christians called to make a great impact on their community through service.

How then Are Christians to Serve?

What does this service look like? Christian service is sacrificial, as seen ultimately with Jesus giving his life on the cross. Even day-to-day Christian service is supposed to be sacrificial and practical, as seen in John 13 when Jesus (who is exalted over all creation) humbled himself by stripping down to his undergarments and washing the feet of his disciples. Jesus explained this act of service, "I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you (Jn. 13:14-15)."

The thing about feet washing in the first century, is that people wore sandals on dirty roads filled with animal feces. It's fair to assume that the disciples' feet were dirty, sweaty, smelly, and in need of a good wash. At the Redemption Movement, we want to impact the world for God by serving our community, and nobody amongst us had stinky feet; but, if our city had feet, then the stairwells of the Oneonta downtown parking garage would be the modern equivalent of a well-traveled foot from first century Palestine.

Radical Service Project #1: Cleaning the Parking Garage

With the 3 day weekend ahead, this pile of sawdust and urine would have sat for 3 days before a city employee could take care of it.

Motivated by Jesus' example, we wanted to serve Oneonta in a practical and humble way. So we ended our church gathering early, loaded up some cleaning supplies in the ministry machine, and headed downtown on a Friday night to deodorize the stairwells. It was the Friday before a busy Labor Day weekend, and the stairwells were in dire need of a good scrubbing just as they were when we cleaned them last July as part of a Sunday Act of Kindness.

Locals using the stairwells understand the need to hold your breath as you pass through them, primarily because some individuals often confuse stairwells for urinals. While much of the town was partying only a block away, a team of five motivated Christians quietly pulled up and scrubbed the stairwells with bleach and lavender-fragranced cleaner. Within an hour, the stairwells smelt pleasant, which means the visiting Labor Day tourist would be spared a smelly surprise.

Radical Service Project #2: Offering Free Rides

By the time the cleaning team was done it was late, around 10pm, but the night of service was not over. Everybody went back to church, only to clean up for a second service project. You see, this Friday was the first Friday night the college students were back, which means the downtown, with it's ten or so bars, was the hot spot for well over a thousand people. As part of Welcome Week 2013, The Redemption Movement committed to be right in the middle of the party zone to help keep students safe and show them God's love by offering free rides.

It's an act of kindness we have done a few times before; in fact, we did it as recently as the previous night. Only tonight was different because we were teaming up with a student Christian group from SUNY Oneonta called BASIC (Brothers and Sisters In Christ). This is the second time The Redemption Movement and BASIC teamed up for Welcome Week as both groups helped move students into their dorms on the previous Sunday.

For this act of kindness, BASIC brought their 16 passenger van and we parked it directly in front of one of the most popular bars on Main Street, The Red Jug Pub--which coincidentally, uses the image of the devil as its logo. As students took us up on our offer for free rides, we got to explain that we were doing this as an act of kindness to show God's love and answer their questions about faith. It was also a great time of sharing God's grace and meeting new people as we stood outside the van with a sign that said "FREE RIDES."

One student from BASIC was able to relate to several of the students we gave rides to because she already knew them from class, and she would explain to them her passion for the Bible during the ride home. Several students tried to offer money for tips, and they where amazed when we told them, "Keep your money, this is free because God's love is freely given."

The most dramatic impact we made that night was with a young man who was so intoxicated that he could barely walk and talk. We convinced him to get into the car (the van broke down and we had to swap vehicles), and after driving a few blocks, it became obvious that he didn't know where he was or how to get home. After incoherently giving us his address he passed out. We called the Oneonta city police to assist us in getting him home, and they were able to wake him up and determine where he lived. The police then helped us find his apartment and we walked him to his door. The young man got home safe and he was left with information about our church and God's love for him.

Welcome Week 2013 was a success. We were too exhausted to go out for a third night of designated driving as planned, but all-in-all, we feel like we made quite the impact by completing 5/6 service projects in welcoming back the students and serving the community.

You are welcome to make an impact for God with us and participate in an act of kindness every Sunday at The Redemption Movement. See Friday's Facebook post for the upcoming AoK project. You are also welcome to come on Fridays and hear about the previous Sunday's AoK, along with teachings from the Bible geared towards anybody seeking truth, starting at 6pm at 148 River St., Oneonta, NY. Contact us if you want to know more, and if you do visit our church, be sure not to wear nice clothes because you never know what radical service project we might end up doing!