On a beautiful, sunny Sunday, May 20, 2012 we partnered with our friends at The Vine in Haverhill, MA to show the love of Christ to the people around the Portland St. playground.  Approximately 40 members of LUMC were able to participate and experience the spiritual and personal reward that comes from engaging in hands-on mission.   The event ran from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. but we had work crews onsite from 10:00 a.m. and followed with a time of reflection and worship at the nearby Good Shepherd UMC.  

We cleaned up the Portland St. Playground, and held a block party with children's games and a barbecue meal for all (including volunteers).  We also had some work teams help local residents with yardwork and other small odd jobs. All to show people what God's love looks like when it's lived out on the street.

The event an overwhelming success, with around 650 people in attendance at sometime during the three hours.  We grilled and served more than 250 hamburgers and 200 hot dogs, served 300 ice cream cones and 250 bags of popcorn, and provided cookies and fruit, face painting and balloons.  The children's games were also a big hit, with some of the kids exclaiming that it was the best day ever. 

Note: the slideshow below is the publicly viewable version, with no identifiable children or youth (and is missing some of the best photos!).  Registered members of this website can click here for the full slideshow.  Thanks to Pam and Brian Axtell and Sue Ahrens for the photos.

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For more about The Vine, please click here.