TLC Mishref Fall Outreach

The Lighthouse Church in Mishref is having the annual fall outreach this Friday on September12th, which is one of the biggest outreach events of the year.  For those of you who are wondering,  here are some questions and answers regarding this event.

What is TLC Mishref?

TLC stands for The Lighthouse Church, which is the the officially recognized English language Protestant church in Kuwait.  It has a legacy of over 100 years in Kuwait, and officially has been given land by the Kuwaiti government to operate.  This is part of God's grace to the church, because land is only given by the government, and even Kuwaiti citizens need to apply for a house.  The Lighthouse Church is the English speaking aspect of the National Evangelical Church in Kuwait, which consists of multiple language services that happen every week.  TLC Mishref is an offsite location located in the district of Mishref, but is part of the Lighthouse.

Why do you have an annual outreach?

When I came to Kuwait over six years ago, I had a very difficult time finding a church.  My wife and I didn't know what it's name was or it's location.  I had tried to call the church, but the numbers seemed to be down and I didn't receive a response to my emails.  I remember walking around for over two hours trying to find the church, and eventually stumbled upon a service that was being held in the evening.  A wonderful woman reached out to us after the service, and explained all the different services and even gave us several rides to church going before we had a car. 

I don't anyone else to have to go through that difficult experience to go to church, which is how this outreach was born.  By removing some of the barriers to entry by making church accessible via the outreach, it will allow more people to get involved in church.  I know there are many Christians from multiple nationalities that are interested in going to a church, so we want to make TLC Mishref available for them if they are interested.

How do you distribute information about the outreach?

Most people who live in Kuwait live in apartment buildings with other people of the same profession.  For example, there might be an apartment building full of McDonalds employees or a building for all the teachers who are working at an international school. 

Making the bags of candy and having snacks

Because of this unique setup, we decided to create an invitation to church on this particular day.  The invitation is wrapped in a little bag, along with some candy, because even if you're not interested in going to church, we thought the candy would at least be a small blessing in the name of Jesus.  Who doesn't like candy?  If people are interested in going to church, they can use the information provided.

Once the bags are made, people who are already attending service at TLC Mishref will pickup the bags before the outreach and distribute them to neighbors in their buildings, coworkers, or friends who are not currently attending a service.  This year, we have created and distributed around 350 invitations and candy to multiple buildings.

What do you do on the actual day of the outreach?

At TLC Mishref, we have church on Friday at 10:30, and we will roughly keep to that schedule.  We will have worship and a sermon by pastor Mark Ingram, who is the pastor of that service.  After the service, we will have some sort of icebreaker or game to get people to get to know each other, especially new people who are at the service.  Afterwards, we will have a lunch for everyone provided by the church as a way to serve people and allow them to get to know one another on a more intimate level. 

Now What?

Come to the outreach on September 12th and bring a friend and we will all enjoy a good meal and fun!  If you are not living in Kuwait, please pray that this would be an effective outreach and that people would be able to find a Christian oasis in the desert of Kuwait.