The Women’s Ministries Department reached out to Captain Tammy Whitney, corps officer at the Monroe, MI Corps to ask if she could share with the Central Territory and Internet world about what her Women’s Ministries programs are doing to connect and reach out. Read what she shared with us below for inspiration!

The key to the Monroe Campus of Hope’s effective Women’s outreach programs: The KISS method, Keep It Simple Silly! Every program is planned with the intention of reaching out to women who are living in our shelter, The Harbor Light, and women in our community. We intentionally keep the activities simple. This gives the ladies a chance to unwind and just be with each other.
Some of our most successful outreach events have centered around food.  There is something about sharing a meal that creates an open and warm environment. Jesus often used meals as a way to reach out to others; He ate with sinners and tax collector’s at Levi’s house (Mark 2:13-17), He fed the 5,000 with a simple meal of bread and fish (Matthew 14:13-21), after the resurrection, when He appeared to his disciples he ate with them (Luke 24:40-49).
Here are a couple of ideas:
Celebrate the pig and have a bacon party!
We have had several themed parties but the most popular by far, was the bacon party.  Each woman was asked to bring one or two bacon dishes.  We had an incredible variety of sweet and savory bacony treats.  Some of the popular dishes were bacon fried cabbage, bacon apple puffs, and barbeque bacon wrapped shrimp.  The group unanimously agreed that bacon jelly beans gave both bacon and jelly beans a bad name.  This is a great outreach because who doesn’t like bacon?
Baked Potato/Desert Bar AKA The Carb Bar!
One of the ministry passions of The Monroe Campus of Hope is reaching out to our friends walking the road to recovery at The Harbor Light. One of the things that the ladies missed most while they were working toward recovery was a home cooked meal. So the women of The Campus of Hope leaped into action and put together a baked potato and desert bar. There were more than 10 topping for the baked potatoes and at least a dozen different types of deserts.  More important than the food was the fellowship that happened around the table. The ladies were able to make connections with each other.  The Harbor Light ladies felt special and loved and the Campus of Hope ladies made new friends. Outreach doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. It’s all about creating a space for women to be together and be themselves and to know that they are loved and supported by other women and ultimately by God. Remember, Keep It Simple Silly!