How North Valley's Easter outreach event changed a life!

2018-04-01 13.41.53

It was Easter time at North Valley.  This year was going to be different. We were on our new campus and had the space to invite more people than ever and utilize our outdoor courtyard for an Easter egg hunt after the services. The Pastor was ready to preach on the resurrection of Jesus, baptize people and celebrate communion!

Every Christ-Centered church wants to reach their community. The Easter egg hunt has been a big draw for the community. From bounce houses, face painting, and fun DJ’s, the event is always a crazy cool outreach. The volunteers and staff were really excited to pack up more than 1,000 Easter Eggs.

With each egg we set out, we prayed that God would use this fun, family-friendly event to connect people to Jesus and His church relationally. Sadly, many churches don’t really have much for kids and what works for mom or dad won’t work for the kids.

At North Valley, there was one person, in particular, who was looking for a family-friendly Easter egg hunt for her daughter. Ginece Jackson wasn’t really looking to go to church that day but realized this event could be a great fit, not only for her but her daughter as well. She saw us in a Facebook advertisement and thought, “That looks great!” Even though she would have to drive more than an hour to get here, she came.

When Ginece stepped onto the campus, she felt a sense of God’s presence and was intrigued by the volunteers, staff and the family-friendly feel.  She began to think about the possibility of being part of a church family, a place that would teach her and her daughter about Jesus and the Bible.

That day changed everything. It wasn’t the dozens of Easter eggs; it wasn’t the awesome bounce house or the face painting. It was the love of Christ, shining through the volunteers and the staff. She felt something was different here.

Ginece sensed in her heart that it was time for a change as she had been longing to try something new in her life. Even though she actually never made it to a church service that day, she saw enough at North Valley to know it was a place to belong. Over the next few months, she found herself attending every week, hungry to learn and to apply what was being taught. She couldn’t get enough. She even listened to every message ever taught by Pastor Ryan!

Ginece started attending the Growth Track classes and began to experience God’s power and His presence like never before. Today, she has placed her faith in Christ and proclaimed it through Baptism and is growing in her faith. She loves to serve within the North Valley Kids Team on a regular basis! 

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God is at work in our church. He is drawing people to Himself and is using our church as we seek to honor Him and be faithful to reach out to share and show the love of Christ.

The Christmas and Easter services serve as the greatest outreaches of our year.  It’s you, the church family, that serves on the stage, behind the scenes, in classrooms, and on the campus that makes this mission possible. 

Let’s give praise to God, and keep investing our time, talent, and treasure in our church as God’s primary mission in the North Valley! Together we are better and changing lives for the cause of Christ. Together we can reach the North Valley for Christ!