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unleash hope Tag

May 13, 2026
in Volunteer Spotlight
by cefiggins
0 Comments

Volunteer Spotlight: Lance Rogers

Welcome back to the Harvester Christian Church Outreach blog! In today’s Volunteer  Spotlight, we are highlighting Lance Rogers who serves The Sparrow’s Nest.

The Sparrow’s Nest is a Christ-centered ministry that comes alongside young families to educate, equip, and empower both parents and children. Through its Children’s Center, The Sparrow’s Nest provides no- to low-cost, high-quality childcare in a safe and nurturing environment along with intentional family support. Children receive early intervention, developmental assessments, and age-appropriate therapeutic activities that support healthy development. The ministry also offers a Parent Participation program where parents engage in weekly programming that may include case management, parenting education, and connection to additional community resources based on family needs.

Overall, The Sparrow’s Nest seeks to create a safe and supportive environment where children and parents can grow and develop into the individuals God created them to be, while walking alongside families facing economic challenges with practical help and Christ-centered encouragement.

We had the opportunity to hear from Lance Rogers, President of The Sparrow’s Nest, and learn more about why this ministry holds such deep significance for him and his family.

Lance shared that he and his wife, Lisa, first felt called to serve after hearing Carissa Figgins speak at HCC about the ministry’s mission to support young mothers and families.

Lance shared that his connection to The Sparrow’s Nest is rooted in his convictions about faith, family, and the sanctity of life, formed through personal family loss and shaped by the example of his mother, who was widowed at a young age and raised two boys on her own. These experiences continue to inform his compassion and deepen his desire to support mothers and children in meaningful ways.

Serving has also impacted his relationship with Jesus. Lance shared that for many years, personal burdens were something he carried quietly, but through Christ, he has found the courage to hold onto hope and share it with others. Serving has reminded him that faith is meant to be lived out in community.

When asked what encouragement he would give to someone considering serving, Lance pointed to simple obedience, following the nudge of the Holy Spirit, stepping out in faith, and being present for those in need. He reminded us that God has already given each of us unique gifts and is faithful to use them when we make ourselves available to Him.

Through committed leadership and compassionate care, The Sparrow’s Nest continues to walk alongside young families, offering both practical help and tangible hope.

To learn more, visit: https://thesparrowsneststl.org

To get involved: https://thesparrowsneststl.org/take-action/

Two of our Good Neighbor Serve Week projects will support The Sparrow’s Nest. More information will be coming.

Please pray for The Sparrow’s Nest and the families they serve, and consider how God might be calling you to use your gifts to unleash the hope of Jesus in your community.

Blog written by Local Outreach Communications Volunteer: Christina Bollinger

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December 22, 2025
in Uncategorized, Upcoming Events
by cefiggins
0 Comments

December 2025 Newsletter

HCC Local Outreachers! Man oh man! Have you unleashed the hope of Jesus this year inside and outside the walls of Harvester! The days and weeks have been jam-packed from food pantry to school outreach to serving with our Community and Ministry partners such as Faith Haven House, The Sharing Shed, and The Sparrow’s Nest. Your financial giving allowed monthly support to those partners and more, including Bad Boyz Jail Ministry, Boys and Girls Clubs of St Charles County, Child Advocacy Center, EWR Warming & Cooling Centers, Joni & Friends, REACH St Charles, Safe Families, as well as so many individuals and families right in our own backyard. You can read more about the impact of your serving by clicking this link to read our Annual Impact Report (August 24-September 25)

Food Pantry Donation Pick Up Drivers Still Needed

Are you a college student without morning classes on Wednesdays or Thursdays? Do you have a flexible work schedule? Stay-at-home parent or recently retired? We are STILL in need of regular and substitute donation pick-up drivers for the HCC Food Pantry. You need about 2 hours a week to pick up donations using the HCC Food Pantry Van, deliver back to the pantry, unload, weigh, and sort. I know there are just FOUR new people looking for their place to serve in 2026. Email Sherry B today to talk through what this might look like for you! sbollinger@harvester.cc

School Serving Choice Survey

HCC St Charles Campus Local Outreach serves about 10 of our local schools through events and the food backpack ministry. Our primary investment is in the schools that are neighbors to the HCC St Charles Campus. These include Hackmann Rd Early Childhood, Barnwell Middle School, Becky David Elementary, and Harvest Ridge Elementary. In 2026, we want our School Outreach Crew Leaders to know exactly who they can call on to serve at the schools. We also want them to know who they are discipling and equipping to serve. We are asking anyone who has ever served with School Outreach or who is now thinking about serving with School Outreach to complete this School Serving Choice Survey. We are requesting that you choose the primary school you would like to serve at to build consistent trusting relationships, as well as a secondary school. You will still be included in the large School Outreach group and can serve anywhere you like. But for the purposes of communicating specific serving opportunities, building a serve community, and providing information, our School Outreach Crew Leaders have requested please CLICK HERE to complete the survey by January 30th.

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 here in the School Outreach Calendar. In the event RSVP there is an additional sign-up genius link to indicate what you will bring to the Fellowship. See you then!

January Serving Opportunities

Click on any date to see more details

Sunday January 4 School Outreach Volunteers Fellowship Lunch

Wednesday January 7 Pray and Prep

Sunday January 11 EWR Training

Saturday January 17 The Sharing Shed

January 18-24 HCC On Call for EWR- try this QR code to view the EWR Schedule & Plan!

 

Tuesday January 27 Broken and Beautiful Pen Pal Training (sign up coning soon)

Wednesday January 28 YAM Serves at The Sharing Shed

YAM Serve With Friends January Options

February Serving Opportunities- sign ups coming soon

Wednesday February 4 Pray & Prep

February 15-21 HCC On Call for EWR

Saturday February 21 The Sharing Shed

Wednesday February 25 YAM Serves at The Sharing Shed

YAM Serve With Friends February Options

 

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August 22, 2025
in Alleviation of Poverty, Ministry Partner, Outreach
by cefiggins
0 Comments

Ministry Spotlight: Faith Haven House

At Harvester Christian Church, we love celebrating the ways God is at work through our ministry partners. This month, we’re shining a spotlight on Faith Haven House, a place where compassion meets practical support for unhoused men in need. Faith Haven House provides safe shelter, stability, and hope, walking alongside individuals as they take steps toward rebuilding their lives. Their mission beautifully reflects Christ’s love in action, and we’re honored to partner with them to make a difference in our community.
We recently asked them to share an update on how things are progressing and wanted to share that with you. Read on then comment with your prayers for Faith Haven House in the comments.
What is one specific way Harvester Christian Church’s GIVE HOPE contributions have unleashed hope in your organization or in the community through your organization?
{As of May} we have had 2 graduates of the program so far this year. Harvester’s Give Hope Funds allow us to continue to operate by helping homeless men get off the streets to stabilize themselves and not worry where their next meal will come from, giving them a warm, dry, safe place to stay while they work to get back on their own feet.
If Harvester Christians have served at your organization, what impact have they had on the community you serve?
We have volunteers from Harvester who serve as house monitors, provide meals,  and build relationships with the men who are staying here at Faith Haven House. We were also able to partner with the Sharing Shed to help one of our graduates furnish his new place.
Please share a brief client-success or services-success story we can share with Harvester Christian Church. Specific identifying information is not needed
Our most recent grad came to us after being on the streets for several days and had not eaten for a couple of days when he first reached out. We were able to provide food and get him moved in. While here, he started attending church again for the first time in many years and is also attending Celebrate Recovery. Upon moving out, he has been spending time with family fishing, and is most excited and will tell everyone who will listen that he is extremely excited for his grandkids to be able to come stay with him at this new place. Seeing the smile on his face and the newly found confidence will make anyone’s heart smile.
What existing volunteer needs can we share with Harvester Christians?
We need volunteers who are willing to come spend time at the house and build relationships with the guys who are here. Many times, the guys just want someone to have a conversation with or someone to watch a game with on the television.
What is a future program or project that could benefit from an investment of Harvester Christian GIVE HOPE funds?
We would like to start a mentor program. Assign a volunteer to a resident and have funds available for them to go out and do things together, whether that is a game, dinner, concert, or other events that interest the guys. The estimated cost is $10,000.
What is the estimated cost of this future program or project?
How can Harvester Christians pray for Faith Haven House?
Please pray for the guys who are here and all new ones who will be coming soon. Please pray for more volunteers, and pray for the staff to continue to seek God’s wisdom in situations that arise and the strength to endure.
What is one thing Harvester Christian can do to improve how we serve your organization?
Nothing at this time. We truly appreciate the continued support of Harvester Christian Church staff and members.
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March 6, 2025
in Community Partner, Food Backpack Program, HCC, Local, Ministry Partner, Outreach, packapack, Safe Families for Children, School Outreach, Serve Teams
by cefiggins
0 Comments

Is Your Small Group Ready To Serve?

With winter finally melting away and Daylight Savings time just around the corner many of us are also coming back to life! I have heard that many small groups have been on hold since the holidays with the onslaught of rough weather and long weeks of illness. Is your small group coming back to life? Are they starting to talk about how they can serve their community? Here are a few ideas to get them going!

1. The HCC Food Backpack Ministry serves about 100-120 local students every week. Your small group can help these children who experience food insecurity by hosting a food drive. This is an easy way to get neighbors involved near your host home as well. Collect canned ravioli, individual mac n cheese, nut-free snacks such as granola bars, beef jerky, and healthy fruit snacks. Plan a special time to pray over these students and families hit with hard times.

2. In the same vein, on average the HCC Food Pantry provides groceries for 130 clients. Could your small group consider hosting a canned food drive to help keep the pantry shelves stocked?

3. Does your small group enjoy being outdoors? Could they consider weeding and mulching at one of our local schools on a weeknight? Would they enjoy helping to keep the Journey Trails free of weeds and trash?

4. Does your small group have the gift of hospitality? Could they consider hosting one of our teacher appreciation breakfasts or lunches? Could they stock and deliver our WOOT WOOT cart, a snack and drink cart, to one of our local school partners?

5. Does your small group love shopping? Could they consider collecting 24 packed backpacks this summer for Pack A Pack? Could they purchase children’s socks and underwear for HCC Back To School events?

6. Is your small group packed with Prayer Warriors? Could they consider joining our monthly School Outreach Pray and Prep where we pray over local schools, administrators, teachers, and students?

7. Does your small group like to plan and host parties and fun events? Could they consider helping to organize community breakfasts or dinners for our community and ministry partners to come to HCC to be encouraged? Or help plan a teacher appreciation dinner?

8. Does your small group love children? Could they consider becoming a Family Friend or a Host Family with Safe Families for Children?

9. Does your small group have a heart for individuals living with disabilities? Could they consider connecting with our ministry partner Joni & Friends and serving at summer camps or family retreats this summer?

10. Does your small group’s heartbreak for our unhoused neighbors? Could they consider serving at a cooling center this summer or a warming center in the winter?

BONUS option: Does your small group want to serve but is not sure where to start? Consider inviting Carissa Figgins, our local Outreach Pastor to visit your small group and learn more about how your small group can lead others to find and follow Jesus!

Make sure each of your small group members subscribes to this blog and is following the HCC Outreach- St Charles Campus Facebook page to stay up to date on serving opportunities and more!

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January 30, 2025
in Church, Food Backpack Program, HCC, Jesus, Local, Outreach, Safe Families for Children, School Outreach, Serve Teams, The Sharing Shed
by cefiggins
0 Comments

Local Outreach Updates:
God was glorified when HCC hosted the (EWR) Warming Center on January 19-25. We were activated four nights and provided a total of 115 beds to our unhoused neighbors. I couldn’t believe it when I saw three of them on Sunday morning in services and chatting with Warming Center volunteers! We will start planning to provide a cooling center this summer when the temperatures are not safe for humans to be outside for extended periods of time. Let me know if you would like to be a part of that planning.

Our Safe Families/Foster/Adopt Serving Group is really coming together. This group is made up of HCC families who already serve as Host Families with Bethany Christian Safe Families or who are Foster/Adoptive Families. The group also includes Family Friends who may provide physical needs such as formula or clothing but they can also help provide meals, transportation, or babysitting to our HCC families.

Food Pantry and Food Backpack Volunteers are just beasts! They have continued to serve in ridiculous weather situations. Talk about discipleship at the cost of comfort. Thank you so much for your dedication and commitment!

 

FOR THE ONE VISON NIGHTS: We’re just over two weeks away from launching our FOR THE ONE Campaign, and we want to make sure you’re in the loop about this!! This campaign is all about boldly reaching the lost in our region through our third campus in O’Fallon and updates at our Troy Campus. To help everyone catch the vision and understand how we can all be part of it, we’re hosting three identical Vision Nights in February:

  • Tuesday, February 11th @ 6:30 PM (STC)
  • Wednesday, February 12th @ 6:30 PM (Troy)
  • Sunday, February 23rd @ 6:30 PM (STC)

Childcare will be provided for all three nights, and you only need to attend one. Please take a moment to sign up for the Vision Night that works best for you by clicking the link.

 Upcoming Service Opportunities

School Outreach Monthly Pray & Prep
Monday 2/3/25 6:30 p.m.- 8:00 p.m. HCC St Charles Campus Annex Door 10
Join us each month to pray for our local schools, teachers, staff, families, and children. We also use this time to assemble simple appreciation gifts and write thank you notes to local school staff. Click  to RSVP here


The Sharing Shed
Saturday 2/15/25 9:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. 923 East Terra Ln. O’Fallon, MO 63366
Our HCC Sharing Shed crew serves every 3rd Saturday of each month from 9 a.m.-11 a.m. Volunteers are needed to receive donations, clean them. and occasionally help deliver the items or serve as personal shoppers to Sharing Shed Clients. Volunteers are especially needed who can lift and deliver heavy household items. Sign up Here

LO/GS Spring Training
Thursday 3/13/25 6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m. Mission Cafe
This training is for anyone serving in Local Outreach, Food Pantry, or Guest Services. We will be focusing on safety. SCAAD will be here to demonstrate basic lifesaver CPR. We will have a brief training from our Security Team on what to do in the event of an emergency. We will also have tips and tricks on how to de-escalate and manage difficult conversations. RSVP here

Safe Families Training #1 & #2
Safe Families Core Training Monday 3/24/25 6:00 p.m.-8:30 p.m. Mission Cafe
Host Family Training Monday 3/31/25 6:00 p.m.-8:30 p.m. Mission Cafe

Bethany Christian- Safe Families is hosting two in-person trainings at HCC on March 24th and March 31st from 6-8:30 p.m. in the Mission Cafe.
For anyone wanting to serve as a Family Friend either for Safe Families or to support HCC families, you need to complete Safe Families Core Training on March 24th. Click this link to sign up for Core Training. For anyone wanting to serve as a Host Family for Safe Families, you will need to complete the Core Training on March 24th and the Host Family training on March 31st. Click the previous link to sign up for Core Training. In addition click this link to sign up for Host Family Training.
The Sexual Abuse Prevention Training for Family Friends and Host Families will need to be completed online. Email Madison Witte to enroll in the Sexual Abuse Prevention Training.  Feel free to email Madison Witte from Safe Families, mwitte@bethany.org, for any additional information about what Safe Families is, what a Host Family does, or the critical importance of a Family Friend.

Prayers
Pray for one specific neighbor to be curious about your faith.
Pray for God to provide an opportunity for you to share a message of hope and love.
Pray for God to raise up a HCC member to serve as the Hackmann Rd Early Childhood Crew Leader.
Pray for HCC members to form a consister serving crew at Hackmann Rd Early Childhood.
Pray for God to raise up a HCC member to serve as the Becky David Crew Leader.
Pray for the health and healing of so many of our Local Outreach and Food Pantry volunteers.
Pray Local Outreach volunteers will not slip into humanitarian tasks but will boldly unleash the hope of Jesus through justice and generosity.

Resources for you to grow in your faith and Become more and more like Jesus through service

​​​​​​​
More Ways to Stay in the Loop

  1. Like and Share posts from HCC Outreach- St Charles Campus Facebook Page
  2. Like and Share posts from HCC Food Pantry
  3. Subscribe and follow HarvesterCC Outreach Blog
  4. In the Harvester app: Log into the app. At the bottom right hand corner click “More.” On the next screen click “Groups.” Click on any group you are assigned to see the calendar, and messaging about needs, events, or serving opportunities. If you would like to be added to any group such as Food Pantry, School Outreach, EWR Warming Center, Safe Families/Foster/Adopt, Natural Disaster Food Backpack Ministry, Elections, or Sharing Shed, please email our Ministry Coordinator Jillian Hohensee at jhohensee@harvester.cc

 

 

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March 13, 2024
in Alleviation of Poverty, Local, Outreach, Serve Teams, The Sharing Shed
by cefiggins
1 Comment

More of A Blessing To Me: Guest Blog by Bernice Bundren

Several months ago I started volunteering at the Sharing Shed with our Harvester crew once a month. All I knew about this place in O’Fallon was that it provided free furniture and household items to those in need. The first day I walked in, I was quite surprised at what I saw. My thoughts were more of people rummaging through items that they might need and hopefully it would be good quality items. Was I ever wrong!
There is a room that looks more like a boutique for household items…everything someone would need to get started. Some shelves have neatly placed matching plates, bowls, and cups. A section with everything that’s needed for the bathroom and bedrooms with sheet sets and quilts separated for Twin, Queen, and King beds. There’s another section for a baby’s needs. All the donations they receive have to be sorted and cleaned. I could go on and on about the plethora of items. What I love is to see are the faces of the clients that we help when they walk into this beautifully displayed room. I believe they get a real feeling of being treated with dignity and respect when they see how much effort has been put into creating this space.
That was just the household items…then we take them into the furniture warehouse – couches, love seats, recliners, mattresses, dining and kitchen tables and chairs, bedroom sets! Again, every item has to be in good condition and cleaned before it goes on the floor warehouse. What is amazing is that all the items they receive are donated.
What I love about this time of helping is just seeing what joy it has given to so many who probably had felt things were hopeless until they walk in this door and we start packing up their U-Haul with items they picked out themselves!
One of the most heartbreaking but precious moments was when a grandmother was with her 8 or 9 yo grandson who had just lost his mom to drugs. Grandma was taking him into her home. Grandma picked out some of their needed items but all he wanted was a picture of a little angel going up to heaven. There were many tears shed over this.
Quite often, I have felt it has been more of a blessing to me just to know there is a place like The Sharing Shed that provides an amazing ministry to so many people in need.
Bernice Bundren
If you would like more information about regularly serving with The Sharing Shed Crew consider joining us at the Come & See The Sharing Shed event on Saturday, March 16 from 9-11 a.m. RSVP here. 

Bernice Bundren is a Harvester Christian. Bernice can be seen expressing her love of Christ through service at The Sharing Shed, Discover Harvester, Guest Services, School Outreach, local nursing homes, Life Group Leader, and wherever else God calls her.

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October 6, 2023
in GiveHope, HCC, Local, Natural Disaster Response, Outreach
by cefiggins
1 Comment

Are you in?

This week I met with St. Charles County Regional Emergency Management to determine the best way Harvester Christian Church can serve our neighbors in the event of a natural disaster or any widespread emergency situation. As our Natural Disaster Response Team starts to gel, the humble heart of each person is so evident. They all want to help but they want to make sure what we do is actually helpful and we don’t get in the way. Natural disasters have so many moving parts. I know we have all felt some level of feeling overwhelmed and not knowing where to even begin to help. I received very helpful information and feedback today to shape our next steps and best utilize our church family’s gifts and talents. 
Are you curious about how to help our neighbors after something like a tornado or flood?
Take a few moments and click here==> to complete this brief survey to let us know how you might be able to help. It does not sign you up to serve on any team. It is simply used to determine how our church family might serve our community.
The staff also gave me a tour of Dispatch. My heart broke with how many calls they received per minute. No one was calling to say they were having the best day ever. As with everywhere else, there is a shortage of dispatchers. Even with that volume of calls, and the lack of personnel, every dispatcher was calm, cool, collected and so understanding. They quickly connected to our incredible police, firefighters, or EMTs all over St. Charles County. As I reflect on my day I think it was truly a sacred ground of people doing their very best to unleash hope in our county. It also made me think of many of you. People who love so deeply that they can diffuse difficult situations and move to action quickly and efficiently. Perhaps you or someone you know would like to learn more about Dispatch positions available with St. Charles County. You can find out more about that opportunity here==>https://www.sccmo.org/2077/Jobs
One of my greatest desires is for our city to know we are Christians by our love. I want our community to experience unprecedented hope because as a church family, we can be counted on to show up in the really really dark times to our neighbors. I pray God blesses us with the opportunity to constantly and consistently serve our neighbors so they might find and follow Jesus.
Are you in?
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September 14, 2023
in Alleviation of Poverty, Food Backpack Program, GiveHope, HCC, Local, Outreach, School Outreach
by cefiggins
0 Comments

People Are Hungry

Food Insecurity is a hard word to describe in our presumed affluent St. Charles County culture. Food insecurity is when you don’t have enough money to buy the healthy foods you need, or if you have to skip meals because you don’t have enough money to buy more food. The reality is St. Charles County actually has the third largest percentage of people facing food insecurity in The St. Louis Area Foodbank service area. Food insecurity can be caused by many things – an accident, an unexpected illness of a family member, underemployment, or simply having children not in school during holidays, spring breaks, or the summertime.

HCC Food Backpack Ministry is another aspect of our School Outreach to meet the physical needs of our neighbors. Each week our dedicated teams of volunteers pack nondescript food backpacks to meet the physical needs of about 100 local school children in 8 different schools across St. Charles County.

“Our program sends a bag of food home with a student each week.  The bag is designed to feed the student for the weekend with simple meals and snacks.  We don’t have any qualifications to participate in this program.  The program is mostly utilized by the “Free and Reduced Meals” families.  Free and Reduced Meals is a federally funded program that provides breakfast and lunch at school for students based on financial need.  Our program has the unique ability to also help students during short-term events that don’t require a family to apply for Free and Reduced meals.  All of the students participating are selected by the counselors in the schools we serve.”

-Shelly Swart, HCC Food Backpack Crew Leader

Here are a few ways you can support this ministry.

Pray. Yep, you guessed it. I think prayer is kind of a big thing. Prayer is constantly needed to help increase all of our faith in God. Prayer is needed for all of us to understand that we can trust God in hard situations like these. Pray about how God might want you to serve in this program or how He wants you to continue serving in this program. Pray for the children and families receiving this supplemental food so that they will see how God is providing for them. Pray for volunteers serving in this ministry that God would provide divine opportunities to unleash hope to the school, families, and children.

Collect food. Consider hosting a macaroni and cheese drive, canned ravioli drive, or protein/granola bar drive. Donate these items to the HCC Food Pantry to be used in the Food Backpack Program. This is a great way to get your neighbors involved in addressing food scarcity in our community and to raise their awareness about the needs around them as well as introduce them to some of the ways HCC serves St Charles County.

Serve. Join one of the packing teams. Consider serving as a driver to deliver to the schools. One of the wonderful things about our School Outreach Teams is that a child or his family can interact with a Harvester Christian in so many instances. Perhaps a child who attends Becky David and sees Harvester Christians delivering coffee to her teacher. Then the next week that same child saw Harvester Christians dropping off a food backpack to supplement what was missing from her pantry that week. Perhaps this child utilized a scholarship in order to participate in HCC Basketball-Cheer and begins to hear the Good News from her coach and other caring adults in the league. All of a sudden the child has a network of support grounded in biblical motivation. All of this creates a trustworthy relationship and a bridge to the church. We have served out of love and obedience. God does everything else.

In a perfect world, a child would not have to depend on a food backpack to get them through the weekend or a school holiday. All of their needs would be met. But even in a lost and wounded world, we can unleash hope through cans of ravioli and boxes of mac n cheese.

Important upcoming dates:

Food Backpack Program resumes on September 11

HCC Basketball-Cheer Registration opens September 25th at 8 a.m.

Guest Services/Local Outreach Gathering- we want to celebrate all of our volunteers. Join us on October 27 for a little food, fellowship, and vision for the coming year!

See You At The Pole September 27 at 7 a.m.

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September 14, 2023
in HCC, HCC Basketball-Cheer, Outreach, School Outreach
by cefiggins
0 Comments

Does anyone have TOO much hope?

Basketball Cheer Season is coming up fast! We have been doing a TON of behind-the-scenes work to get ready for this next season. We are rolling out a new registration form for players and volunteer applications for coaches, referees, and all the other tons of volunteers needed to make the season run as smoothly as possible. We have been adding resources to this site to help coaches and referees feel as confident and supported as possible in their roles. We have been gathering bids on uniforms. We have been designing new banners and information signs to hang in the gym as another form of communication. By themselves, these tasks are not all terribly fun at all. But what IS fun is leaning in anticipation of what God will do using basketball and cheer to lead people to find and follow Jesus.

The energy in the Annex every Saturday from January through March is just incredible. We get to see kids of all ages learning the fundamentals of basketball and cheer. There will be so many applications later in their life from what they learn from being on a team and in the league. But the real difference will be HCC Basketball and Cheer Coaches planting seeds of faith and hope during devotional huddles during practice. The transformation will come from our volunteer leadership team continuously praying for people to find and follow Jesus. The Holy Spirit will move during devotionals and testimonies shared during halftime to parents, grandparents, and spectators. I don’t know anyone who has too much HOPE in their lives. HCC Basketball-Cheer is one way we get to unleash hope in our community.

Here are two simple ways you can unleash hope too.

Pray over registration. I know this sounds a little odd. But the relationship between the coaches, families, and players is powerful. Pray coaches are connected with families and players where a real difference can be made. Maybe it will be by the way the coach models themselves as a godly caring adult. Maybe it will be through the sharing of scripture or prayer as a source of hope.

Consider volunteering. HCC Basketball-Cheer League is run almost entirely by volunteers. Hundreds of volunteers are needed to coach, referee, share a devotional or testimony during half time, keep score, work in concessions, keep the gym safe and clean and so much more. If you have served in one or more of these ways in the past thank you so much! The league literally would not function without you.  If you would like more information, not to sign up I promise, just more information send me an email.

 

Important upcoming dates:

Food Backpack Program resumes on September 11

Registration opens September 25th at 8 a.m.

Guest Services/Local Outreach Gathering- we want to celebrate all of our volunteers. Join us on October 27 for a little food, fellowship, and vision for the coming year!

See You At The Pole September 27 at 7 a.m.

Parent Meeting Option #1 November 16

Parent Meeting Option #2 November 19

Coaches/Referee Clinic November 27

Practices begin the week of December 4

Games begin on January 6

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From the HCC Outreach Team:

Thanks so much for stopping by the Harvester Christian Church Outreach Team’s blog! We hope you find this resource helpful, insightful and encouraging as we strive to Unleash the Hope of Jesus back into our world!

This resource belongs to Harvester Christian Church in St. Charles, Mo.