May 2024
Immanuel Lutheran Church and School is reaching out in a unique way to the community of Elmhurst, Illinois.
The initiative, which began two years ago, is called Encourage Elmhurst. After attending the Best Practices for Ministry Conference in Phoenix, Arizona, Pastor David Seabaugh (Senior Pastor) and
Judy Rink (Director of Discipleship and Missions) brainstormed together how best to connect with and serve the community. Knowing Elmhurst was already well-served with services for food, housing, and referrals, they settled on the idea of encouragement and prayer.
Laura Dolak, an Encourage Elmhurst participant, shared, “Encourage Elmhurst is a way for our family to practice sharing God’s love with others outside our church while connecting with members of our church and the partners our church supports.”
When asked what an Encourage Elmhurst event looks like, Judy responded, “We typically have a lunch all together where we pray and have some simple training. Then teams go out to serve in four different settings. We’ve done bingo at the senior home across the street from us, distributed hats and gloves for immigrant families, collected supplies and prayed onsite at a local crisis pregnancy center, and always have teams out in the community taking prayer requests from passersby.”
The program has a variety of opportunities available to suit different comfort levels, but participants are encouraged to push past what feels easy and simply allow God to work through them. The tasks themselves are important in service to others, of course, but Immanuel uses the time to also build connections with individuals in the community and includes an element of prayer along with each activity.
Judy added, “Each time we’ve done this (twice a year for two years), we offer our Free Encouragement and Prayer stations. It’s amazing how receptive people are to being prayed for! But we often take it a step further and pray with them on the street. Asking for prayer requests gets right to the heart of a person. It shows what they’re rejoicing about, worrying about, or grieving. In our experience, people see us praying for them as a wonderful gift that shows that we care about them. Many prayers are simple or universal, but there are also prayers for those who are suffering and in crisis. They see our Immanuel team as God’s answer that He loves them and is with them. This last time one of our teams prayed with over 50 people in an hour and a half!”
The most recent Encourage Elmhurst event tied in with the LCMS Northern Illinois District’s SHINE! event, allowing Immanuel day school and Sunday school students to also participate.
The list of activities they’ve already hosted is extensive:
- collecting diapers, taking a tour, and praying at a local crisis pregnancy center
- making gift bags and writing encouraging notes for those seeking services at the Walk-in Assistance Network – bags were delivered, volunteers took a tour, and then prayed onsite for those in crisis
- writing encouraging Christian messages with sidewalk chalk around the block of the church and school
- working with a grassroots group to distribute hats and gloves to immigrant families and later decorating flowerpots and planting flowers with those same families – making connections and praying with and for the families were the priorities
- packing shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child – encouraging members to bring friends to serve alongside them and praying for those who would receive the shoeboxes
- collecting items, putting together care packs, and making blankets for Phil’s Friends – items were delivered by the team to local residents who have cancer
- baking goodies, writing encouraging notes, and delivering them to the police and fire stations – the team also prayed with the first responders
- playing bingo and praying with the folks at the retirement home across the street from Immanuel – Immanuel students also sang for the residents during the school day
- giving out candy bouquets to local businesses and collecting prayer requests
- praying for passersby at Free Encouragement and Prayer sites around town
Pastor Seabaugh said, “An amazing thing happens when you ask someone for a prayer request.
The person’s eyes widen as they look into their soul, sifting through their hurts and cares. By God’s grace, a surprising number of people share their prayer request with us, allowing us to later ask if we can pray for them right there. Most people say yes. After the prayer, we all share a sense of joy and deep connection, bewildered by the power of the moment.”
With prayer as a primary focus, one of the goals of Encourage Elmhurst is to offer further encouragement to Immanuel’s members to practice praying out loud and sharing their faith with others amid built-in support. This is something even the most seasoned of churchgoers can feel uncomfortable doing. Members report seeing changes in their own comfort levels as they interact with others they come across in their day-to-day lives. “Listen, Pray, Care” is being promoted within the church community. Many are excited to see God at work in and through them!
Another goal is to be creative in the opportunities and formats for the various activities. There is hope to someday host Elmhurst city officials for a luncheon at Immanuel’s building and pray with and for them there. As previously mentioned, Free Encouragement and Prayer stations are available at each of the Encourage Elmhurst events and at various church and school events, such as at the annual trunk-or-treat.
An additional next step is to develop Elmhurst Encourages, an initiative in which Immanuel’s congregation would invite the town of Elmhurst to participate in serving in some Chicago communities.
These interactions have not only had a positive effect on those on the receiving end of these community-building events. Volunteers from Immanuel have experienced tremendous benefit and spiritual growth.
Dana Abbey, a first-time volunteer with the prayer team this spring, stated that she has often previously experienced what feels like awkwardness and intimidation when asked to pray out loud. She shared what happened when she met a woman in particular need of prayer for a sister who struggles with mental illness, “He (God) took over. I became a conduit for Him, and His words flowed through my mouth with confidence, communicating His comfort to her broken heart as only He can do. I remember my voice saying that when all human interventions are exhausted, that is where God begins His work. That the power of prayer is the thing that truly heals above anything else. That the love she had for her sister and family was so evident, in spite of her own hurts. That she was important to Him, and that He still cared for her and would never forsake her…I believe something truly remarkable is happening at Immanuel.”
We share in Immanuel’s excitement for this project and pray the Lord continues to bless others through their words and actions!
Encouraging personal witnessing, congregational engagement with their community, support of our NID partnerships and missions and sharing in a world mission field together.