Reaching Hearts, Building Friendships

This summer is busy for Seattle club outreach! We recently added a second club team in north Seattle, who are visiting two clubs twice per month, while the south Seattle team continues twice per month at their regular spots. 

Outreach is beautiful and exciting - but if I’m being completely honest, sometimes it’s slow. We don’t see God show off every single time, even though we trust he’s at work. Recently, we had three nights in a row of back to back to back outreach - Friday night up north, and two nights of seeing different people at our south clubs - and each night, God showed off! Here’s just a peek.

Open Home Church helped us prepare with cookies and cards and prayer, and at Friday night’s first club, we quickly realized we would need more cookies to share with everyone; it was super busy because of a special competition they were hosting. The Southern hospitality I was raised on says “food = love” so I handed out the cookies I had and headed to the store. When I returned awhile later, I had picked up a simple bouquet for a young woman wearing a birthday sash - she quickly gave me a big hug, seeming a bit teary. She said it was the only gift she’d been given that day. A simple touch of love from the Father! 

On Saturday, I looped down to one of our south clubs to connect with some folks who no longer work on our regular visit day. To be welcomed at the club as family is something I’m still adjusting to…and honored by. The bartender called me over and said she couldn’t wait to get together, the manager greeted me warmly and shared about his life, and another staffer who wasn’t even working that night showed up at the club just to say hi because he knew I was stopping by.

It’s important for people to understand that these friendships and relationships are real. We don’t just see these folks at the club and forget them. They are not a box to check or a project. We check in on them, pray for them, text with them, and sometimes get dinner or coffee together - and for some, that kind of sincere care is rare and therefore uniquely appreciated. It’s unlikely friendship that we believe honors God and reveals his love for the people he’s made in his image. 

This particular weekend, all of them mentioned connecting outside the club, and we are so excited to see them. We see so clearly the way God is using us to encourage these friends. Please pray that God would continue leading us in how to love them well.

But God wasn’t done - Sunday night, we were greeted warmly at the club which had been seeming more and more closed to us over the last few months and when we arrived at our second club, we got to reconnect with a friend who was eager to get dinner and later asked about Bible study. God is doing such beautiful work in her - what a joy to be part of it!

Nights like this remind us why we love doing outreach. Each smile, conversation, and shared moment is so precious. We’re genuinely grateful for these opportunities to connect and build real friendships.