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.