Church Trades Comfort By Sleeping Outside To Save Lives

PARSIPPANY, N.J., April 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- On Saturday, May 4th, one of New Jersey's fastest-growing churches and recently ranked #43 in Outreach Magazine's list of the Top 100 Fastest-Growing Churches In America, Liquid Church, will step away from social media and modern comforts to sleep outside for a cause: To raise awareness and life-giving resources for the homeless population in New Jersey.

Homelessness has spiked in New Jersey - and today, more families, teens, and veterans are finding themselves without shelter and security. As of January 2019, nearly 10,000 people in the state experienced homelessness, which is a 9% increase since 2017 reports.¹

For each person who sleeps out overnight in Liquid's "cardboard city," during their Homeless Church event, Liquid will donate $30 to the ministry of New York City Relief in celebration of the organization's 30th Anniversary. Each $30 donation will give New York City Relief the ability to provide an individual on the street with four servings of food and drink, two hygiene kits, and one metro card.

"Serving the poor and homeless is central to our ministry of compassion at Liquid Church. As Christians, we know it's not enough to sympathize with the homeless...We must take action!" said Tim Lucas, lead pastor and founder of Liquid Church. "Several years back, I spent one night on the streets around Newark Penn Station in an attempt on my part to understand, in a small way, the challenges of being homeless. This experience expanded my heart for our friends living on the streets, and it's why today, Liquid Church is committed to serving alongside incredible organizations like New York City Relief."

Liquid Church is expecting 500 guests to attend its two outreach event locations in Parsippany and Sayreville, NJ. All who participate must register in advance. Upon check-in, participants will receive a cardboard box to set-up their sleeping space for the evening. New York City Relief will be present at the events to provide hot soup, hot cocoa and bread to participants at Relief Bus mobile care stations, which the organization uses every week at their outreaches to create an intentional space that welcomes guests and invites conversation over a hot meal. The event will conclude Sunday, May 5th at 8:00am with a breakfast and special service at Liquid Church.

"At New York City Relief we believe homelessness is a struggle, not a life sentence! That's why our goal is to mobilize thousands of volunteers to compassionately serve those struggling with homelessness by providing hope and resources that lead towards life transformation," said Juan Galloway, President & CEO of New York City Relief. "Since we were founded in 1989, we have served alongside so many churches who go the extra mile to love our brothers and sisters on the streets, and we look forward to continuing to partner with Liquid Church as they seek to catch God's heart for the homeless on May 4th."

¹ United States Interagency Council on Homelessness. (2018, January). New Jersey Homelessness Statistics. Retrieved from: www.usich.gov

For additional information on the Homeless Church event taking place in two locations; Parsippany or Sayreville,  please visit: LiquidChurch.com/HomelessChurch.

For more information on the ministry of New York City Relief, visit: NewYorkCityRelief.org

ABOUT LIQUID CHURCH:
Liquid Church is one of New Jersey's fastest-growing Christian churches. Officially launched in 2007 by Lead Pastor Tim Lucas, the church's vision and mission is to "Saturate the State with the Gospel of Jesus Christ," with six campuses in Essex, Middlesex, Morris, Somerset, and Union Counties. Each week, over 4,000 people experience Liquid Church's worship services in New Jersey and around the globe through Church Online. As part of its global outreach, Liquid provides clean drinking water to the poorest of the poor, with dozens of completed wells in several countries including El Salvador and Nicaragua – and most recently, Rwanda! Liquid Church's innovative approaches to outreach and ministry have been spotlighted by CNN, FOX News, and The Today Show. For more information, visit www.LiquidChurch.com.

ABOUT NEW YORK CITY RELIEF
For 30 years, New York City Relief, a 501(c)(3) non-profit headquartered in Elizabeth, NJ, has compassionately served the struggling and homeless by offering hope and resources that lead toward life transformation. They operate a mobile outreach and consistently go in to the same locations every week, currently serving in the NYC neighborhoods of the Bronx, Harlem, Midtown, Lower Manhattan and NJ neighborhoods of Newark and Paterson. NYC Relief mobilizes over 6,000 volunteers a year across two outreach models—the Relief Bus and the Relief Co-Op. They meet immediate needs—by offering soup, bread, hot chocolate, hygiene kits, socks & prayer—but their goal is to lead guests into a Life Care Visit to meet long-term needs by connecting them to emergency shelter, job programs, detox and drug rehabilitation. For more information, visit newyorkcityrelief.org.

Press Contact:
Brooke LeMunyon - [email protected], 732-421-8162

SOURCE www.LiquidChurch.com

Related Links

http://www.liquidchurch.com