Two years later, Serve Tour continues gospel impact in Dayton and beyond

There were a million reasons Julie couldn’t address the roofing issues in her home. Being widowed made house repairs difficult. Then there was her age and declining health. And with kids constantly scurrying around her house—two grandchildren she was raising on her own—roofing repairs felt as far out of reach as the sky.

When neighbors reported that Julie’s roof was falling apart, the city code officer knew just who to call. Since the 2022 Send Relief Serve Tour in Dayton, Ohio, Grace Point Fellowship has earned a reputation for serving the community. The officer contacted the church, and last fall, they repaired Julie’s roof, opening the door to building a relationship with her.

Eventually, Paul Bilunka, the local missions pastor at Grace Point, learned that Julie wanted to reconnect with God but believed she had committed the unpardonable sin.

“She said, ‘I’m Catholic, and when my 21-year-old son died 12 years ago, I yelled at God, and I haven’t been able to talk to him since,’” Paul recounts her words. “I told her, ‘Julie, that can be forgiven.’ We prayed right then on her doorstep, and she just started bawling. It was like a burden was lifted from her.”

We prayed right then on her doorstep, and she just started bawling. It was like a burden was lifted from her.

Julie started regularly attending Grace Point Fellowship, and on a Sunday not long ago, she was baptized, with several of her family members joining the service to celebrate.

“She has been almost like the Samaritan woman,” Paul shares. “She has been telling everyone about her story and how she found forgiveness. In fact, one person she’s impacted the most is the city code officer. But none of that could have happened without the Serve Tour and us having the resources to fix her roof.”

Now, the city code manager directs Grace Point to three or four houses a month where people in difficult circumstances need help taking care of their homes, just like Julie did. And watching a church step up to serve their community, seeking nothing in return, has touched his heart, too.

“I don’t understand why you guys do what you do,” he told Paul several months ago, to which Paul responded, “Because of the gospel.”

But helping people take care of their properties is just one of the ways that the 2022 Serve Tour came to stay in Dayton. During the Serve Tour, Grace Point Fellowship also hosted a ministry that builds beds for families in need by gathering volunteers in their church parking lot. Since then, one church member—a UPS driver from a neighboring county—has started a new chapter of the ministry for his area.

close to 1500 kids who would have been sleeping on the floor have beds,

“Now, close to 1500 kids who would have been sleeping on the floor have beds,” Paul says. “So, the Serve Tour just spawned a continuation of those ministries. Two years later, we’re still seeing the lasting effects, and it’s still going strong—which is a pretty good track record, I would say.”

Grace Point Fellowship was planted just nine years ago by Thompson Station Church in Tennessee. Since then, Grace Point Fellowship has helped start several church plants by leveraging a church residency to develop planters and send people out with them. By engaging their city, the church has grown to 750 strong.

Seeing how Serve Tour helped accelerate gospel inroads into their own community, the church decided to volunteer at the Serve Tour stop in Flint, Michigan, this past summer.

“We were so blessed by people coming to our city to help that we wanted to give back and go to another town,” shares Paul. “And we’re planning on doing it next year as well.”

The highlight for Grace Point church members who volunteered in Flint was witnessing local churches form relationships with the people in their communities, much like they were able to do two years ago.

To find out how your church can reach communities for the gospel through Serve Tour, visit our Serve Tour Page. Explore Serve Tour stops for 2025 and register today.

Article Courtesy of Send Relief