Serve Recap
2025
The inaugural Summer Impact team stepped into every assignment with strength, joy, and a willingness to serve wherever they were needed. “Into all the world” started right here in our own Oregon communities, with young adults who weren’t chasing recognition or reward. They carried themselves with humility and treated every need, wether big or small, as worth their full effort.
If the wider Church loved its neighbors the way we witnessed in Summer 2025, the world would look radically different.
For I was hungry and you gave me food,
I was thirsty and you gave me drink,
I was a stranger and you welcomed me,
I was naked and you clothed me,
I was sick and you visited me,
I was in prison and you came to me.’Matthew 25:34-40 (ESV)
Prison Ministry
Even in prison, there are people seeking God. We visited the state women’s prison where Christians are invited to join the women for chapel service. We worshipped together, chatted, prayed and studied the Bible with these women. Many are new Christians or genuine seekers and came with heavy burdens on their hearts: fears that their children will think they didn’t love them enough to stay out of trouble, anxieties over establishing life after prison, and fear of falling into the same patterns as of sin that brought them there.
In youth ministry it is well established and well understood that what matters isn’t fixing every problem, but what matters most is showing up, sacrificing time to see the person and show them that they matter.
This is what we do at prison ministry. It’s not glamorous. At times it's heartbreaking, but it is the time to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice so that they will know they are not forgotten.
**Please note we did not feel it was appropriate to photograph the people we were serving as a result the photos on this page do not necessarily reflect the many people we served.
Love Your Neighbor
Oftentimes need is right next door and requires nothing but a willing heart and an able body. That was the case for the needs of several widows in our community. These women needed help with things that happened over the years from a collapsed flower box to overrun flower beds. These tasks just became too much for them to be able to do on their own. It was a delight to come and be the hands and feet of Christ for them. God showed his love for us in creating the beauty of flowers and we got to show His love both in restoring order to the gardens and making environments for flowers to flourish. It’s often the small things that are the hardest for people to get help with. When a problem doesn't seem urgent enough to justify an emergency call, or gather the church together, things tend to be left as they are. As the body of Christ we are called to love one another in the small things too, not just the things that make headlines.
Food Pantry
Collecting food and stocking the local food pantry was one of the serves that had a simple sort of goodness to it. Its natural to want to see the people we are serving. We want the joy of that connection, but sometimes ministry means giving to something you will never witness the fruit of. You plant a seed and another harvests. It is the type of serve that you really understand John 4:37, one sows and another reaps. In this case we were just one link in a long chain. A local farmer opened her fruit trees to us and welcomed us to collect all that we could and bring it to the food pantry. It was a fun time working with friends, harvesting fruit and then giving that tangible resource to another who would use it to serve another. We were also invited to harvest a supply for ourselves which we used to make a delicious cherry pie. This was a light hearted serve and a great reminder that the work isn’t always difficult or the emotionally moving. It’s just good to do.
Homeless Ministry
Sunday is a day that often has less resources available for people living on the streets as for many It’s a day of rest. This is exactly why one of our community members has taken on the personal mission to make and deliver food every Sunday in the Portland area. We had the pleasure of joining his ministry. We made over a hundred sandwiches and brought them to the “bad areas” of Portland.
Part of what made this such an impactful ministry was the relationships that had been formed after months of people joining together to accomplish this mission. We got to pray with them, hear their stories and their testimonies. While we were just a small part of a long journey it was amazing to see how God is working in the hearts of all people.
From this outreach many of our students had names that stuck with them from the people they spoke to, praying for these people became personal burdens on their hearts. We may not know the full story of their lives until heaven, but we have seen enough to know this: when someone commits themselves to prayer, things shift. The impact is too real and too consistent to downplay. We are grateful to now be ones to join in petitions before God for these people we me.
Habitat for Humanity
Habitat for Humanity is a great organization that helps people experiencing poverty to attain and maintain home ownership. The process is made possible through donors, volunteers, and the families waiting in the program helping build other people’s homes as well. We joined a nearby Habitat for Humanity chapter in building new homes. This serve was great practice in skills that can be applied to serving neighbors with safe and effective tool use. Like stocking the food pantry this job was one where we were just a small part of a much larger story.
At this service we were sad to hear we were the first church associated group to have offered to help at all. Early Christians were known for being so full of the love of Christ that they took care of not only the needs of their own poor, but the needs of the poor of rival religious groups. In a time when many are troubled by housing scarcity, shouldn't we be the first ones in line to aid the cause of alleviating the pains of poverty?
Summer Camp
Summer Camp has been a part of JumpIn ministry since the very beginning. One thing that is true of every kid is— they will go through hardship. Our desire is that they will know where they can turn for hope when all seems bleak. Which means the job of a camp leader is twofold, we must show the campers who God is, and we must act for as the true church is asked to. It's easy to think of church as a building and a moment, but it’s not. It’s a people doing life together, and at camp we have the unique opportunity to be that community.
We play games together, share meals, and seek God in a community of peers and mentors without distraction of outside stress consuming every moment of thoughtful rest. This ministry is a little unique compared to the others because of the amount of time that we get to spend serving and getting to know the people we are serving. Every leader has a different experience since every camper has a different place they are coming from. Some are desperate to be seen, some need encouragement to find out they can overcome challenges, and some need to know they are loved. At camp they get a place where it is safe to fail, where their leaders listen to what is heavy on their hearts and where they have people rooting for them to succeed. It is no wonder that in this environment, many kids get the confidence to ask questions about faith, reality and God, and it is such a delight to be a part of answering those questions.
Maternity Home
For many mothers choosing life for their unborn children comes with a heavy financial burden. Maternity homes, like the one we served, provide stable housing, child care support, and community for women who have decided to choose life despite the cost. This particular maternity home is one of 150 across the nation which provides full care for the first 2 years of the child’s life. In these homes women are offered discipleship, fellowship and family. They called us to help with preparing the yard for the house they had bought and repaired for use as the maternity home. We removed rotting wooden structures, cleared broken glass, picked up trash and debris, hung lights, set tables, and powerwashed everything that needed it. We helped the mission of making a home for mothers and their children in a time of deep vulnerability. Supporting these causes is a powerful mission for the sake of millions of unborn children and their mothers nationwide. Creating hope is a job we are proud to support.