Olivet Church's active program of outreach to the community and the world is based upon Olivet's mission statement: "Making the Grace of God Real for People." The Outreach Committee studies, recommends for approval, and coordinates most outreach projects for the church board.
The Olivet Mission Family is the basic unit of fellowship and care giving in the congregation. Besides occasional fellowship activities, the mission families are organized to support and assist Olivet families in crisis. Each mission family has an elder who is the spiritual leader for the family. Mission Family Elders are contacted to activate response to crisis within the congregation.
The Olivet congregation and ministers strive to visit, pray for, and spiritually support those in crisis. This can only happen if we know who are our constituency who are in need. We encourage members and friends to report their concerns to the ministers and /or church secretary.
Mission Families also assist in worship services. Alternately, each Mission Family is responsible for standard monthly duties such as Communion duties, Offering Elders, Offering Deacons, Scripture reader, coffee fellowship, greeters, sanctuary duties, and nursery helper for the worship service. Mission Families also plan special activities for the congregation under the direction of standing committees.
Olivet participates in The Festival of Sharing, the third Saturday of October, each year in Sedalia, MO. The Festival is an in-gathering of clothing and supplies for disaster victims, prisoners, and poor and needy families around the world. Contributions include school kits, health kits, baby layettes, and cleaning kits. Olivet volunteers go to Sedalia on Festival Day and pack the baby layettes for shipment to areas where needed.
The Olivet Youth Mission Trips are joint efforts of the youth and the church. The congregation supports the trips with adult volunteers to accompany the groups and donations for tools, food, and travel expenses.
The 2005 trip for the CYF (now called LYHF) youth group led them to Pensacola FL. to help with the hurricane recovery. They worked with a group called Rebuild Pensacola. The groups work was divided between two houses. One was the home of an 88 year old woman whose home was flooded by Hurricane Ivan. Because three feet of water filled her house they had to rip up and repair floors as well as replace dry wall and pull down moldy ceiling panels. The other house belonged to a middle aged woman and her son. Luckily it didn't require as much work. The experience brought out hidden talents in many of the group members. While on the Mission Trip, the group had devotions and a youth led worship service every night. This allowed them to discuss their relationship with God and to praise him for the unending love he bestows every day. Besides the hard work, the group had lots of play time by going to the beach to cool down each day after work. This trip helped to show the CYF (LYHF) group and others around them the power of God. It was a true example of making the grace of God real for people.
The 2005 mission trip for the Chi Rho youth group led them to the Springfield MO. May 31 to June 4. The group worked with the Ozark Council of Churches, Summer Youth Work Camp program. The Summer Youth Work Camp provides necessary home repairs for low to moderate income seniors and for disabled person. The theme for their journey was "Flocking to God", based on their flamingo fundraiser. While on that project the youth had a chance to serve others, explore their faith through work and devotions and have fun as a group.
The Olivet Annual Garage Sale, held in the early spring, is an opportunity to clean out your closets and garage while contributing to the Olivet Building Fund. It is a one-day sale that draws lots of people who appreciate other folks' cast-offs. This is usually held the end of February.
Heifer Project International is the recipient of the quarters which are deposited into the plastic tube in the Fellowship Hall. When the tube is full, there is enough money to buy and ship a goat to an economically depressed area. There, families are trained to care for the animals and share the animal's offspring with their neighbors. For several years the YOYO's have participated in the READ to FEED program to help raise money for the Heifer Project.
Olivet participates in the annual NE Area Miracle Day of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Miracle Day projects include extensive church repairs and maintenance at different churches in the NE Area. Help can be given by way of volunteering or by donation.
The Adoption of Families for Christmas is another one of Olivet's big outreach projects. The congregation provides toys, gifts, and food for distribution to several needy families by the Voluntary Action Center.
Several Olivet members volunteer regularly with Habitat for Humanity. Through gifts from caring people, it is possible for people who never thought that they could purchase a home of their own to do just that.
The Annual Olivet Mutton and Chicken Barbecue, the single largest effort of the Olivet congregation, is held the third Saturday in June at the church. Since its modest beginning in 1958, the barbecue has grown in size and reputation so that in recent years, we have fed over 2,200 people in a four-hour period. Proceeds from the barbecue are divided equally between the Olivet Building Fund and one or more outreach projects.
Every member and many friends of Olivet serve on the several different committees needed to feed the huge number of people who look forward to the barbecue each year.
Refugee Resettlement is an ongoing project of Olivet Church. Three Bosnian families were resettled by this congregation. Olivet members and friends provide rent money, apartment furnishings, and transportation for refugee families until they are able to find work and learn to use public transportation or buy a car. The Outreach Committee coordinates this project.
Memorial Funds to honor friends and loved ones can be designated (or not) to a special project according to the wishes of families. In the recent past, these funds have been used for hymnals, landscaping, children's playground, education fund, and a remote microphone for the sanctuary.