LOVE IN ACTION - PRAYnksters Giving Mob
We have discussed how we, as followers of Jesus, are called to live a life that blesses others.
L - Listen with Care
E - Eat Together
S - Serve in Love
S -
Matt wrote about Serving in Love in our last blog post which you can see here.
This week we wanted to pause to celebrate and share an example of how many of you lived this out.
Mike and Amy Verlennich came to Boise to plant a church for people who may not feel comfortable in a church setting. They started Deathproof Coffee House and Vector Performing Arts Venue as a way to fund their ministry and meet the very people they hoped to reach with the love of Christ. They hit some hurdles on construction and were delayed in opening but things finally began to grow and their dream of planting a different kind of church began to take shape. Then Covid hit. Since the coffee house and concert venue were going to be their main revenue stream while they started the new church the financial burden was too much when coffee sales dropped off and events started to get canceled indefinitely. They decided that there was no way they’d be able to open back up.
Mike and Amy have an amazing redemptive story and together have 11 children (9 still living at home)! Suddenly, they had to sell their home and have packed up the kids in an RV until they can reestablish their lives.
We wanted to let Mike and Amy know that they were not alone and their efforts were not all in vain. So we put together a giving mob. I’m sure you’ve heard of a flash mob - where a group of seemingly random people begin performing a choreographed dance usually in a public place. Well a giving mob is a group of people who come together to surprise someone with an outpouring of support and encouragement.
A few years ago I helped start a Youtube Channel called PRAYnksters and we’ve been able to surprise dozens of unsuspecting individuals with giving mobs that have raised over $100k and have been viewed by millions around the world.
While we need to be careful that our service takes place out of love and not a selfish desire for other’s to view us positively (Matt 6:2-4) we are given a platform to share Christ’s love when we serve from genuine hearts. Matt 5:16 “let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Mike and Amy were the perfect victims for a PRAYnk, so we gathered well over 100 people who surprised the Verlenniches with thousands of dollars, notes of encouragement, and a parade that will never be forgotten.
Mike and Amy said, they didn’t want to just come to Boise to till the ground but if that’s all God intended for them then it was worth it. God used their faithfulness to minister to some hard-to-reach people that may not have had a relationship with Jesus now if it weren’t for their faithfulness. But I’m confident that their story doesn’t end there!
Check out the giving mob video below. Who knows what kind of impact their story could have. Please share this video as a way of continuing the work God is doing and will continue to do through the Verlenniches even if it’s in an unsuspecting way.
Thank you for your generosity in serving others!