Having recently moved to a new location, the believers in St. John’s have been using many ways to reach out to our surrounding neighbourhood. A number of outreach activities have been tried:
Ukrainian outreach:
Many hundreds of Ukrainians have moved to St. John’s within the past two years. In order to meet some of them, we first offered them bus tours of the city. One of the believers associated with the assembly has a tour company. In the fall, we were able to schedule two bus tours and advertised them in a few Ukrainian Facebook groups. It was no problem filling the buses! After a very interesting trip to various sites, they returned to the hall for refreshments (we were still meeting in the old building). This gave us a core group which we were able to invite to subsequent events.
Our next event was a Christmas supper which started with a great meal followed by a carol sing (in English and Ukrainian), a short Christmas message, and gifts presented to each family. We had a second meal in February, featuring some Newfoundland dishes. Many came and brought friends and family, so our available contacts grew.
In the following spring, an ESL outreach for Ukrainians was started. The first location was at a technical college across from a hotel where many Ukrainians were being temporarily housed. The authorities at the college gave us a Tuesday night every week free of charge because it was for a charitable cause. Through our contacts and Facebook advertising we had no trouble filling our classes. It was called “One-on-One English” with the idea of keeping a low student-teacher ratio, so we never went over 10 per class (along with a teacher and three helpers). We held two classes each Tuesday night. Each week focused on a specific language target (common phrases, grammar, pronunciation, etc.) starting with a short English lesson followed by break-out groups of 1-3 to practice what they had just learned. This format worked well as the Ukrainians really valued both the teaching and the individual feedback they received. Many of them became regulars who attended classes for the entire semester.
Friendships were established, and help was given to find apartments, write their resumes, and help with job searches and appointments. We were able to use the classroom for two more semesters after which we moved the classes to our new building. Most of the students were working at that time, and had cars and apartments so were able to drive themselves to their classes.
In Christmas of 2023 we held a wreath-making activity. About 20 families attended and made beautiful Christmas wreaths. There were tables of crafts for children to keep busy as well. Afterwards, we enjoyed some Christmas baking and hot apple cider. They enjoyed it immensely and took home with them their own personal wreath which hopefully will be a reminder of this event for years to come.
The most important aspect of these events was friendship-making that extended beyond the event itself into practical help with their settlement into their new home. As a result, some of them came when there was a gospel series in the new hall. A Facebook group called “New Horizons” was developed for them which was another great way to maintain closeness and to make announcements of upcoming events.
Neighbourhood outreach:
Not long after settling into our new hall, we were approached by a local city councillor to use our parking lot as a gathering center for a neighbourhood cleanup event. Even a provincial MHA attended! We took this opportunity to provide water and snacks for those who attended, which led to a few more contacts being made. It was a great opportunity to show to the neighbourhood that we shared their community interests. Pictures of the event and thanks for our input were posted on their neighbourhood Facebook page.
Most recently, we had a barbeque in the parking lot of the hall along with a large clothing bank inside. This was again publicized on Facebook; one of the Facebook group administrators even made it an event for the area! In addition to the good food, we had a bouncy castle for kids, a kids activity center, basketball, and cotton candy. There was a number who came out from the community, and many went home with bags of clothing as well. It was a great time of becoming visible to the community and of “pulling together” as an assembly.
The first Wednesday in August of every year, there is a provincial holiday called “Regatta Day”. This is a day long event and involves several boat races on Quidi Vidi lake in St. John’s. Thousands of people attend the fair-like activities. Seeing this as another opportunity to make contacts, we’ve had a booth there (a small tent) for a couple of years where we distribute free cold water and give out a variety of items, including scripture balloons, texts, tracts, and Bibles. We have a Ukrainian section as well. There is also a kids’ area where there are games and activities for the children and a place for parents to sit for a while. A colouring contest last year was popular with the kids, and prizes were afterwards delivered to the homes of the “winners”. We are increasing our frontage to 25 feet this year and look forward to trying out new ideas.
During the summer months, we have our Sunday evening gospel service outside on the parking lot. A portable “open-air trailer” is used for this. A platform is presently being constructed for when the trailer is used elsewhere on the island.
We are looking into additional outreach ideas for the coming year – maybe a food bank or a kids’ day. Our new building has afforded us more opportunities to reach out to the city around us, and we look to the Lord for His blessing in reaching souls for Christ.
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