Nov Launch prep

Getting geared up a bit for our November launch. This is becoming an annual deal, which is kind of funny. The first year we did, it was totally an experiment, and I had no idea that it would generate such momentum. And... it was never my idea, I picked it up from somewhere...and never thought it would be something we ended up doing every year.

The gist is that we drive around in a school bus around the community, hop out and rake people's yards for about 10-15 minutes, get back in and drive to another house. We do this for most of the day, stopping for lunch and stuff. Last year, lunch was at my house, which was really cool, since my kids love a house full of activity. (A later post sometime - how much my kids drool about SPACE experiences and the impact we hope it makes on them.)

A few key things that I'm working on:
- Getting a school bus or two (note that there is a high fluctuation in prices from last year to this year, probably due to the cost of fuel - except I just got an exceptional quote from one place)
- Getting a list of potential yards to rake. We target people in our body at GCC, but also are open to people that are sort of connected to in one way or another. To get this list, we talk to one of the pastors and also reach out to other people at GCC that are involved in some of the service ministries, like GraceCares. Eventually, we will go and physically look at each yard and also map out a route that takes into consideration direct routes, length of time to rake, where is lunch, etc. This year, we have also invited another local youth ministry to come along with us, so they will have a few families in this mix as well. One thing I learned in detail in Brasil - natural connections. So every year, there are people on the list that don't go to GCC, but are connected to us via natural connections and relationships.
- Lunch. Have to figure out where to have lunch. This year, we are asking kids to bring their own lunch. Last year we did Subway, the year before we did pizza. Kids bringing their own lunch is a little bit easier. We will provide some kind of snacks though.
- Gathering time and token gift - part of the overall design of the experience.
- Another aspect that is different this year is to have a little bit of worship at the very end. We will see how that will work, I'm hesitant because I know it will be a long day already. Maybe we can pump the kids up with sugar snacks at the end of the day.

Previous year's posts: 2004, 2003