February 26 Newsletter
Unleashing the Hope of Jesus in
St. Charles County
Devotional: Love That Moves
“Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” — 1 John 3:18
February is often centered around love. Cards. Candy. Flowers. But Scripture reminds us that love is not simply something we feel — it’s something we do. Jesus didn’t just speak about compassion. He lived the fullest meaning of compassion: TO SUFFER WITH. He moved toward people. He touched the untouchable. He fed the hungry. He welcomed the outsider. He made love visible.
As a church, that is our calling too. When you move dusty furniture on a cold Saturday morning, you are making Jesus’ love visible. When you deliver packed food backpacks to school staff who may be too busy to even acknowledge you, you are making Jesus’ love visible. When you serve overnight at the Warming Center with folks who may not experience the same reality as you, you are making Jesus’ love visible. When you organize what seems like the same school supplies for the 50th time, you are making Jesus’ love visible. When we act and live and serve as one saved by the blood of Jesus, we make the love of Christ tangible for the world to see. You are putting hands and feet to the gospel.
This month, ask yourself:
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Where is God inviting me to move toward someone and suffer with them?
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What would it look like for my love to be visible?
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Who needs to experience hope through action?
Love is more than a feeling. It’s a response to the love we’ve already received in Christ. Let’s be people whose love moves.
Prayers
Please join us in praying for:
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Our unhoused neighbors to find safety and security and a compassionate community.
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The ministry partners who serve families facing food insecurity
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School staff and administrators navigating mid-year challenges
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Volunteers who faithfully show up and serve behind the scenes
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New leaders emerging within our outreach crews
Prayer:
Father, thank You for loving us first. Give us eyes to see needs around us and the courage to respond. Strengthen our ministry and community partners. Protect the vulnerable. Raise up compassionate leaders within our church. May everything we do unleash the hope of Jesus in our community. Amen.
📅 Upcoming Serving Opportunities
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Date
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Event/Program
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Leaders
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Ministry
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3/1
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Warming Center Celebration/Reflection Lunch
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Mike Coumerilgh
Michael True
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Emergency Weather Response
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3/2
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LO/GS Gathering #1- Safety Focus
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Brendon & Carissa
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All Local Outreach & Guest Services
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3/5
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Monthly Pray & Prep
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Katy Pursell
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School Outreach
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3/7
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Operation Restoring Calm Exercise
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Leader Needed
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Natural Disaster Response Team
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3/21
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Sharing Shed
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Lisa Rogers
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Alleviation of Poverty
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3/24
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City Life Serve Day in Food Pantry & Food Backpack Ministry
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Carissa Figgins
Susan Nash
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Food Pantry and Food Backpack Ministry
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Ongoing
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Food Pantry
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Jane & Steward Topper
Denise & Ken Sabo
Linda Beeler
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Food Pantry
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Ongoing
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Food Backpacking
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Shelly Swart
Susan Nash
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Food Backpack Ministry
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Ongoing
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Broken & Beautiful Ministry Pen Pals
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Leader Needed
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Mental Health Support
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3/25
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YAM Sharing Shed
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Stephanie Lake
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Alleviation of Poverty
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4/1
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Monthly Pray & Prep
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Katy Pursell
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School Outreach
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4/7
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Election Polling Place
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Leader Needed
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Local Outreach
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4/18
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Sharing Shed
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Lisa Rogers
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Alleviation of Poverty
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4/24-4/20
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Carissa on Vacation
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4/27
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Extra Pray & Prep
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Katy Pursell
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School Outreach
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4/30
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LO/GS Gathering #2- Discipleship Focus
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Brendon & Carissa
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All Local Outreach & Guest Services
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SAVE THE DATE!
Good Neighbor Serve Week is July 12-18th!
Look for more information this spring!
Mark your calendar now!
🌟 Volunteer Spotlight
Do you have a serving story to share? When we highlight your story, it isn’t about drawing attention to you — it’s about honoring God and helping others see how they might step into serving too. If you’d be willing to share how God is working through your local outreach involvement, we’d love to connect with you.
New to Local Outreach?
Not sure where to start?
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Pray about where God may be leading you.
- Click here to take the SHAPE assessment and familiarize yourself with your spiritual gifts.
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Explore current serving opportunities.
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Try one opportunity and see how God works through it.
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Consider stepping into leadership if you sense God nudging you.
There is a place for you.
💬 Final Encouragement
Serving our neighbors isn’t a one-time event that we check off when we are done. It’s a rhythm of life that honors what Jesus did for all of us. It’s choosing compassion when it’s inconvenient. It’s showing up consistently. It’s believing small acts can create eternal impact. Thank you for being a church that doesn’t just gather — but goes.
Together, we are unleashing the hope of Jesus in St. Charles County.
With gratitude,
HCC St Charles – Local Outreach Team
Our School Outreach Crew Leaders invite any School Outreach Volunteer who has ever served at a single school outreach event, Pack A Pack, Good Neighbor Market, food backpack ministry, are invited to the School Outreach Volunteers Fellowship Lunch on January 4 for the very purpose of getting to know each other and building a serving community. You can find the event to RSVP 
My name is Mike Coumerilh. My family found HCC in the summer of 2021 while Nikomas and the rest of the leadership were laying out the vision for us to encounter Jesus, become like Jesus, and unleash the hope of Jesus – something that resonates with us so much. Hearing this from the leaders confirmed to us that we belong right here, right now. And while we have plugged ourselves into multiple places here at HCC, I most recently volunteered to help with EWR, the Emergency Weather Response Team when Harvester was a warming center this winter for our unhoused neighbors. I believe we need to have a love of the Word (theologically sound preaching), a love for the Church (serve the local body), and a love for the world (reach and evangelize the lost). HCC clearly and intentionally makes room for each one of these. My focus for these last few years has been to do more to love the world. And volunteering for EWR does exactly that. Even though HCC has offered to be a ‘host’ church these last three years for EWR to shelter the homeless overnight, it had yet to be cold enough during our week to activate. This year was different. We activated four of the seven nights, including the first three consecutive! For my part, I volunteered to be available to stay overnight to ensure things went smoothly, to provide some sense of consistency each night, and hope the peace was kept. Given that I also have a full-time day job to report to each day, it was nothing short of supernatural to be able to go those more than 72 hours with less than 6 hours of sleep in total and still function at a normal level! There were some difficult moments, for sure. But God has promised to provide for ALL our needs (Philippians 4:19), especially where we are weak and lacking – and He truly did during that week. I may not have formal training in conflict resolution, but in Mark 13:11 Jesus instructs us in a slightly different context to “not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit” (ESV). I experienced exactly that multiple times throughout the week. There were also so many enjoyable and lighthearted moments all week long! The feeling you get when those whom you have been serving are walking out the door, pause to turn around, look you in the eyes and thank you with a gratitude from deep within their heart is incomparable! THAT is a warming center I want to be a part of!
Literally. For about a week before we activated, I hadn’t shaved (but even that wasn’t THAT significant, LOL). And while I was there, I tried to avoid wearing anything that made me look like I never wear the same shirt twice. I dressed down and left my clean clothes at home. If I’m going to have a chance to listen to someone’s story or talk with someone about the LORD, I don’t want them to be distracted with thinking about the “good life” I must be living!