An invasion of good will makes its way to the greater Charlotte area this week. Led by Pastor Jeremy Hide of Mis-sion Church in Locust, five churches are joining ranks to perform practical acts of ser-vice for the community. Appro-priately named The Big Serve, Pastor Hide said of the pro-gram, “We are getting people from their seats to the streets in a collaboration of kindness.” The four other churches invol-ved are Lakeview Baptist in Albemarle, W. Albemarle Bap-tist Church, Red Cross Bap-tist in Oakboro, Loves Grove in Stanfield. This coordinated effort began four years ago, star-ting with the Summit Church in Kenersville. When Pas-tor Hide heard about the pro-gram, he was inspired to join in the cause. During that time, he has seen “hope infused in thousands.” Among the many offerings is a car care service for single mothers by Frog Pond Per-formance, Whitley Automo-tive, and Crisco Automotive. The single moms can bring their cars in for complimen-tary oil changes, new winds-hield wipers, batteries, and tire rotations. They will even be treated to a car wash, and the cars are returned with a bag of groceries in the front seat. Moms just need to call for an appointment. Pastor Hide told how this generous kindness has often brought tears to the eyes of these young women overwhelmed by this courtesy. Another service project benefits the schools. Pastor Hide said that when money is tight, the esthetics of the school may suffer. In the past, The Big Serve has gone to tar-geted schools to pull weeds, mulch, and mow the grounds, as well as tackle projects within the building. This year’s pro-ject will be to provide needed general maintenance at North Stanley High School, inclu-ding painting and installing cabinets. The Pastor is a firm believer that this type of impro-vement can boost the morale of the teachers and staff, and that enthusiasm will undoub-tedly be handed down to the students in the ripple effect. In addition, another Big Serve project is to provide meals to police officers in the community, and to write letters to appreciation to local heroes (think firefighters, pri-son guards, for example) and include gift certificates with
