Editor's note: This transcript has been edited for clarity.
Every week, Seventh-day Adventist churches across the Inland Northwest are stepping in to help neighbors with car repairs, home fixes and other needs. It's part of a ministry called Serve One More, which has raised nearly $2 million over the past three years to fund local service projects. NWPB's senior correspondent Anna King sat down with FāVS news editor Tracy Simmons.
TRANSCRIPT:
Anna King: Tracy, it's great to have you back here. Tell us about Serve One More. What is this ministry, and how did you come across the story?
Tracy Simmons: Hi, Anna. Thank you for having me again. Serve One More is a ministry that was started by the Upper Columbia Conference of the Seventh-day Adventists, and the idea is pretty simple.
They wanted to get local congregations to identify the real needs in their community, and then go meet those needs, whether that's car or home repairs or something else. And there's no pressure to join the church. To the second part of your question, as a religion reporter trying to cover the whole region, I read a lot of newsletters, and I came across this one in the Upper Columbia Conferences, and it caught my eye for two reasons.
One, this is a really tangible, hands-on way that churches are showing up for their neighbors and I thought that was pretty cool. And secondly, it's an uplifting, positive story, and I think people need something right now that's not so doom and gloom.
King: This program has raised $1.7 million over three years by taking donations and offerings from churches.
What kinds of projects has that money funded?
Simmons: Well, some examples that I think are really interesting: Over in Orofino, Idaho, volunteers came together to seal a roof, replace siding on a house and then put in a new floor so that a family could move into a mobile home. Also in Idaho, in Spirit Lake, they helped a couple who was living off-grid by installing solar panels and a water cistern.
And then the one that I think is really cool is over in Walla Walla. A mechanic in one of the congregations noticed that car repairs are often the first thing that goes when money's tight. And he said, "If your car goes, then your job goes." And so the church came together to find tools and even a trailer, and now they're running regular oil change events, and then they're taking care of bigger repairs, too, on occasion.
I think it's really interesting how they got that money, if we can talk about that for a second. The money came through a conference-wide offering campaign, so they invited churches, schools, and camp ministries all to give. So it wasn't necessarily individuals giving, but organizations giving.
King: One detail that stood out was the oil change event in Walla Walla.
Most of the drivers weren't church members. What does that tell you about how this ministry approaches service?
Simmons: Yeah, that detail jumped out to me, too. So the event that my reporter specifically talked about included 34 cars who were lined up and most of the drivers were not connected to the church at all.
And I think that tells you that this isn't about recruitment. It's not a, you know, a bait-and-switch where you get an oil change and then a pamphlet. The director of the program, his name is Richie Brower, he told us that the point is to live out their faith the way they think Jesus would want them to be a good neighbor, full stop.
One of the volunteers we talked to even said explicitly, "There are no strings attached. You do not have to believe in our church to get help." And honestly, I think that's part of why it works. I think people are pretty good at sensing maybe when there's a hidden agenda. So when there isn't one, it opens the door to a real relationship.
King: Does the conference have a rough idea of how many people it's helped through Serve One More?
Simmons: Um, not really, honestly. They don't have an official number of people they've helped because it's really not that kind of thing, that's easy to tally up across all the dozens of different projects. So some of these projects are individuals who are getting help, families, like I mentioned with the mobile home or maybe the 34 cars getting oil changes.
But another thing they did, for example, was a youth event where they packaged beans to feed 900 families in a single push. And so I think that's why there's no single cumulative count, but it's clear that it's touching a lot of lives across the region.
King: How do the church leaders involved describe their motivation for doing this work, Tracy?
Simmons: It really comes back to that practical idea of loving your neighbor across the board. Leaders kept coming back to the same thing, which is, this isn't about converting anyone. The primary purpose is not evangelism, it's just meeting needs of people in their community. But what I thought was actually pretty interesting is that several of the organizers told us that doing these projects for one another actually added a spark to their own spiritual lives as well.
King: Tracy, it's always a pleasure to have you. Thank you for coming on with us.
Simmons: Thanks, Anna.
