"If Mars Hill Church gave you $500 to bless your neighbors, what would you do?"
With that question, our MicroMission program began at the end of 2008. At the time, we had just sold The City and decided to reserve a portion of the proceeds for grassroots ministry efforts.
We asked our Community Groups to come up with creative ways and timely opportunities to bless non-Christians and build relationships within their neighborhoods. Group leaders would then apply for a small grant to help pay for their MicroMission.
The program has been a great success: we’ve awarded almost $200,000 to fund over 200 MicroMissions. Our seed money for MicroMissions lasted over two and a half years, and we awarded the final grant this summer.
Here are a few examples of what the church has done with the MicroMission funds:
Blankets for the homeless (Downtown Seattle)
For their MicroMission, Wes's Community Group from Mars Hill Downtown Seattle partnered with Seattle's Union Gospel Mission to provide blankets for the homeless during the past winter. One evening the group went to the UGM in Pioneer Square and waited for the facility to fill up. Then, they went to nearby parks and handed out blankets. Wes said that his group was moved by the opportunity that opened up to pray with people as they handed out blankets.
A new car for a single mom (Shoreline)
When Kendra, a single mother of two boys, lost her car, her Shoreline Community Group applied for a MicroMission grant to provide a replacement. They raised additional funds with the help of several other Community Groups and were able to buy Kendra a 2001 Honda.
Pots and pans for refugee families (Ballard)
Jeremy's Ballard Community Group used MicroMission funds to help newly immigrated families start their new lives. With $500 in MicroMission funds, the group partnered with World Relief to buy all the necessities for a working kitchen—including pots, pans, utensils, and dinnerware—for four local refugee families. Jeremy said, "It is nice to be able to give to others as God has so graciously given to us."
Bibles for campers (Bellevue)
Abbie and her Bellevue Community Group applied for MicroMission funds to purchase 800 Bibles for SAMBICA, a Christian summer camp on Lake Sammamish. The campers who received a Bible were encouraged to use it in their daily studies at camp and throughout the rest of the year. Many recipients were so grateful they carried them everywhere at camp for the rest of the week.
The initial MicroMission fund was a catalyst to mobilize our Community Groups and encourage them to carry the mission of Jesus down the street and around the block. The formal program may be ending, but the concept is as timeless as the gospel itself. And with over 500 hundred groups led by the Holy Spirit and organized around a dozen Mars Hill locations, we still have plenty of resources to love, serve, and bless our neighbors with the grace we've received through Jesus. Read more MicroMissions stories here. Go to marshill.com/community for more information about Mars Hill Community Groups.
