Asbury United Methodist Church in Cinnaminson has created The Good Neighbor Outreach program to help families and individuals with serious needs, particularly homelessness. Through events such as Bring Your Own Box or Tent, where participants sleep outside in a box or a tent, the church has raised money and awareness for individuals who face the challenges of being homeless.
Pastor John Doll and the rest of the church members created The Good Neighbor Outreach last May. The idea came after the church found itself helping multiple families that were homeless for an amount of time. Some individuals found themselves in motels barely making ends meet, and others simply did not have anywhere to go.
“I believe God is calling us to this ministry and there is an intentional path that God has set for us,” said Doll. “All of these situations involving God’s people have found our church and have confirmed that we are being called to this ministry ‘for such a time as this.’ Esther 4:14.
“In our area, there are people that I would call the chronically homeless,” Doll continued. “These people work in day labor for low-wage jobs and are on public assistance that falls very short of their housing needs. They live in local motels and face the reality of homelessness each month. Recently, there are people who come seeking assistance that have recently lost their housing and find themselves living in one of the motels here. In what I believe has been a move of God’s Holy Spirit, we have created an intentional ministry to address homelessness. We called it the BYOB ministry to sleep outside and to raise funds and awareness for homelessness.”
According to Doll, some of the circumstances the church has helped get families through include a family of seven who left their home to move to a new location, however, the new house did not have a certificate of occupancy, therefore, it left the family homeless for several weeks. Asbury and the Triboro Clergy Association assisted in providing food cards, housing in motels and transportation support.
Another example includes a lady who worked as a security guard. She lived in a local motel and needed help as her paycheck fell short of her housing needs. Asbury help provide her housing through the Triboro Emergency Fund. Doll then spoke to the Cinnaminson zoning officer about an opportunity to get her a room in a local home the town administers.
“These are situations of the lives that we have been able to positively affect,” said Doll. “We have done the Bring Your Own Box or Tent event three times. Aug. 24, 2018, January 20, and May 18. These events have been helpful, and we are seeking to expand their participation and impact.”
For those looking to get more information about The Good Neighbor Outreach and when the fourth Bring Your Own Box or Tent event will be, can contact Doll at [email protected]
