Tell me if I'm wrong. I told Lisa that a great way to promote our church and do something meaningful was to go out and do something on our own as a service while wearing our Immanuel Lutheran Brookfield shirts. I also told her everyone should take the shirts on vacations and snap photos of themselves in front on major monuments, like Wall Drug, wearing their shirts. I'm not sure if the idea will stick, but that wouldn't be a first for me and my unique marketing ideas. Another upcoming idea we have yet to try out involves asking our church to put together a handout for anyone who asks for money when we're downtown. You know, a dollar, a a Bible verse, and maybe even an invitation.
But that's maybe where I go wrong. When I asked Jim from Wisconsin Lutheran College about what the students do that's considered outreach, he had a long list of charities and events, mostly Lutheran-based. Well, WLC, we just cleaned up your sidewalk for you because that wasn't one of the things any of your students did as a service to the community. This is where we live. Our family does not live at our church or in Mexico or on another continent. I'm fine with sending folks to other places to help those in need, but WLC students, MRMC construction workers, and everyday citizens participate in making our neighborhood messy, so we strolled around to help clean it up.
We walked from 93rd and Bluemound down to Pleasant View, up to Wisconsin, and back to 93rd. We filled one garbage bag and half-filled a recycling bag. We received two thank yous from neighbors. A group of Chinese folks might have appreciated our efforts, too, but they did not speak English. We wore our Immanuel shirts so we looked official, but it was a good thing to do regardless of the church or organization behind us. It was the kind of thing Speedway, Heppe's Service, La Fuente, Wisconsin Lutheran College, and the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center might want to do more often themselves, but it's also something our kids are excited about. Besides, it was a local business -- Passive Ninja Web Design -- that organized the neighborhood cleanup. Feel free to copy this idea with your kids all over Milwaukee or across the country. You don't have to have a big, organized day of service to do a little something to make a difference.
By the way, my battery ran out at the halfway point, so the photos are only on Bluemound.
