Side By Side: “Meeting Needs – Building Relationships”

People working together to meet needs in our community.

The vision of Side by Side is to provide assistance to individuals who want to be used by God to gather their friends together to meet the needs of a friend or neighbor by providing funding and organizational support in volunteer service efforts.

We believe that every person has a God-given desire to make things right in the world.  Our experiences have shown that working side by side is a great way to build relationships between friends, neighbors and co-workers as the needs of others are met. In addition to the blessing received by the individuals who are served, the process of working together is a highly effective means of helping all involved think about God’s role in their lives.

Individuals who feel led to meet the need of a friend or neighbor often hesitate to move forward because they lack the funds needed to complete the project, they are overwhelmed with challenge of organizing a group of workers, or they lack the expertise needed to handle some aspect of the work. Potential team leaders may apply for financial, organizational, and professional assistance from Side By Side by filling out a simple application form.

Team leaders will be challenged to use the work project as an opportunity to build relationships and allow God to use the experience of serving together to bless the lives of those serving and being served. Side by Side will ask team leaders to intentionally gather friends from all areas of their life to be part of the team and work on the project together as equals as God uses them to meet the needs of others. Our hope is that the team will celebrate the completion of the project with a gathering and that the relationships of the team members will continue to grow long after the project is finished, ultimately leading people closer to God.

If part of the project is beyond the abilities of the team, Side By Side may also provide organizational support and volunteer experts in trades and other professions to join the team and to help complete the project.

The team leader will be asked to provide Side by Side with a brief After-Project Summary Report to help encourage our financial donors. If the team feels led to collect and donate funds to Side by Side to replenish the program’s resources, it would be greatly appreciated but is not expected.

For further information or to apply for assistance, contact Side by Side:

Rob Miller   rhmdjm@netzero.net

 “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ’This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Jesus  (Matthew 22:37-39)