Celebrating 10 Years of Laundry Love

Well, good morning, everyone. We are so excited. Today’s going to be just a little bit different. We wanted to take some time to reflect on Laundry Love and really the impact it has on us individually, but corporately as a church. Considering last week my message was talking about the power behind our testimony, we realize that we testify of what God has done. Because when Jay was like, “Hey, let’s have a Sunday where we’re focusing on Laundry Love,” I’m like, “What do we talk about?” And then I was like, “Suzie, you literally taught about the power of our testimony. What do you mean, what are we talking about?”

And so we’re going to take some time to hear from the couple who have been leading Laundry Love, and from a friend who serves with them. They have been leading faithfully for the ten years of doing this. Before they were married, they — well, really him, who is very passionate, if you’ve not ever met him, about evangelism, sharing the gospel with people. I don’t like to toss the word “evangelist” around just haphazardly, but he is an evangelist if I’ve ever met one. His ability to see people — he has some crazy stories that seem just natural to him, like, “Why wouldn’t you do that?” And I’m like, “Why would you do that?”

But he has always been passionate about Jesus and the love of Jesus. And when we decided we were going to start this, he said, “Well, let me come alongside and help you.” And somewhere in the help, he has taken it on. And they have served very faithfully. They bring their children every Laundry Love. When she was pregnant and when she couldn’t, I think I helped out for a few months. But they have faithfully served. They’ve brought their kids along to come serve alongside them.

And I just think as someone who — a lot of my pivotal moments were doing ministry alongside my mom, because my mom was a single mom — I know how impactful that is. It makes the gospel real. My mom worked on Skid Row for a couple years, and one summer I went to work with her and hung out with the ladies on Skid Row, learning how to crochet, play spades, and walk to go get yarn. This is a whole different piece, but it was so impactful. And I didn’t realize it was impactful then, until I went back to Skid Row and the Lord said, “Oh, this was your training ground.”

So to see them not doing it because they’re trying to train their kids — they’re just like, “We don’t have childcare, so we’re bringing our kids with us.” That’s purely it. But to foster that place of encountering Jesus and encountering people has been very beautiful. And so I just want to say thank you, first and foremost, for serving willingly and open-handedly with your life, and trusting the Lord beyond any of your comforts sometimes, and using wisdom in that.

They love people very well. If you don’t know them, that is something that I appreciate about them: they know how to love people, and what they have is the Lord’s. And so I just so deeply love that, and I love that I get to love their kids and spoil them, however that might look. So anyways, that’s a different story.

We’re going to talk a little bit today about Laundry Love and give them some time to talk, as well as our friend who serves with them. He was a part of our church — he is still part of our church family. What am I talking about? But he also attends a church in Oregon, and has come alongside and partnered with us when we feed the police. He’s there making his chocolate chip cookies and making sure that we’re running on time on those morning shifts, and getting things where we need to get moving. You’ve been such a blessing to us. Your family’s a blessing to us. And so, yes, thank you.

Serving with nothing in return

So we thought, let’s have our children in here. Let the seeds of whatever needs to be planted be caught. Let our kids be a part and hear of what the Lord is doing. I think one of the things that we’ve lost, in my opinion, is the ability to serve one another with nothing in return.

We do have a few pictures, I think, but there are some places that I personally really wrestle through with: what do you put on social media, and why? Why is that important? We don’t ever want to serve for show, because I think in the Scripture it talks about that — serve quietly. If you want your reward, then that’s your reward, if you basically want to let everyone know. And so part of the issue then is we don’t have a ton of pictures, and we don’t talk a ton about it on our social media. We invite people on it. But this has just been a really great time.

The owners of Little Big Load have really made space for us. They have two laundromats, and as much as they are recipients of our goods — right, like we are paying for the laundry — about every other month that I see them, the owner is always like, “Let me know what you need.” And I’m like, “That’s the worst thing. I’m never going to let you know what I need. Just do it.” And we go back and forth. But we’ve had many, many volunteers here at church serve.

And so it has just been a great place. We have people here from our church because of Laundry Love, because they saw that Laundry Love sign and they were looking for a church. We had a fire once at the laundromat. We called 911. One of the dryers caught on fire twice — oh, two fires at the laundromat — because apparently those dryer sheets are actually supposed to do something, is what I’ve learned. I still don’t use them at home, but they help reduce the static, and no static, no sparks, no fire. But we actually had two fires there.

It has just been a great time. We’ve had families who’ve been with us for about five years, and then they all of a sudden just disappear, and then a new family will come. And really the goal is to just serve people. And I always say, “Oh, you’re not going to actually do people’s laundry.” And I don’t know how many times there’s someone who comes in who’s just like, “Hey, can you help me get this in?” And I’m like, “I’m comfortable if you’re comfortable.” Like, I’m going to be transferring your stuff; I don’t know what’s in here. But to be able just to serve and love people, hear people’s stories, for people to be seen and valued.

We do very light registration. They come up, they tell us how many people are in their family and how many loads of laundry. That’s purely for numbers, for us to kind of have a gauge and help keep us on track. We have always discussed: should we put a limit? Do we limit people’s laundry? And very rarely have we been taken advantage of. There are some people — that’s just life and reality. But we have decided always just to pay for someone’s laundry, no matter the cost, no matter if it goes beyond what our limit is. To just freely give and provide. And we have always seen that we’ve always had enough every month for laundry.

So this has been one of our main outreaches that we’ve done, and we’ve had people come alongside throughout all of it. I’m missing all the pictures here. It’s going to be on repeat? Okay. I feel like I’m having FOMO not watching — like, “Oh, what’s happening behind me?”

Ten years of a feet-washing ministry

Suzie kind of just jumped right into it. If you’ve been here, you probably know what Laundry Love is, but I’m sorry if you don’t know what Laundry Love is. It’s a ministry that we’ve been doing — we’re celebrating ten years now. It’s where the second Wednesday of every month, we meet at the Little Big Load on Todd Drive and we pay for people’s laundry. But we also pray for them, and we just look at them. We have conversation. Sometimes we’ll take care of their kids a little bit, right, and do coloring sheets together with the kids while the parents are trying to get stuff done.

And how many of you know ten years doesn’t just happen on accident, right? It is a decision. And not one Laundry Love was ever missed. And that includes COVID; that includes everything — inconveniences, people being out of town. It’s never been missed. And it is probably, in my opinion, the best sermon that this church has preached: to go out into the community and to love and serve others. I just believe it’s such a powerful and precious ministry.

And so ten years is a big deal. This is an awesome thing, and it had to be chosen. It had to be started. It wasn’t just something we did on a whim. It was something that we were praying about. I think we had just become the senior pastors of the church not too long before, and we started not too long after that.

It’s just been such a privilege. And I would even say some of the most beautiful moments of ministry don’t happen on the platform. I think the platform in the church gets celebrated a lot. It’s what gets the attention. But I think the most beautiful moments, where I know the Lord was present and He was moving and ministering, are in moments like those, where you’re just out with people and you’re loving them the way Jesus loves them. As Suzie had mentioned, we just underestimate how powerful that is.

And they may not ever come to the church, and some people would say, “Then why are we doing it? If it’s not producing numbers, then why are we doing this?” We do it because Jesus modeled it. We do it because that’s what Jesus did. And He said, if you call Me Lord and Teacher, and I’m doing this, then you should do this too. And I think the church has wrestled with what it looks like to wash feet. I think that this ministry is a feet-washing ministry, where we are meeting people where they’re at.

Sometimes it’s in a need. Sometimes they just happen to be there, right? And they’re like, “Y’all are paying for my laundry?” They weren’t coming necessarily for that, but we still have that conversation. We still look them in the eye. We still pray with them. We love them, and we let them know who they are. And of course, we invite them to church, but most of them don’t have transportation.

Suzie said we don’t have a lot of pictures. There’s a reason: a lot of them are trying to keep a low profile, and that’s for various reasons. They’re not criminals. But they see people taking pictures and they’re like, “Why is my picture being taken?” We want to respect their privacy. And so this is really a ministry that we decided a long time ago is not for our promotion. This is not for any other reason than to honor the Lord and worship the Lord by serving other people. And that’s really the heart of the ministry.

A bridge to the Father

Thank you. About a month ago, Jay asked us if we wanted to share. I was all about it. Not until this morning did I start to get emotional like this. Eight thousand guests. Fifteen thousand loads of laundry. Thank you, guys.

Before we really get into it, I just want to invite every person that has either prayed for us, has given to Laundry Love, or has come and served at one of our events — can you guys just stand real quick? You guys have prayed for us. Come on, I know you have. Can we just give everyone a round of applause right now? You guys did fifteen thousand loads of laundry. You guys impacted eight thousand guests. That’s you guys as well.

Like Jay said, a lot of times the people on the stage, front and center, the people running the event, they’re usually the ones that get the biggest hurrah. But this morning, even just as I was praying, I gave the Lord the crowns that we’ve received here on earth and gave them back to Him, because really this ministry is unto the Lord. It’s in honor of Him. It’s all glory to Him. And that’s why we’re here: out of obedience to what God has asked us to do. But each one of you has partnered with us. And so thank you for being part of fifteen thousand loads. I’m going to be honest, I think that number is a little low. I’m terrible at getting accurate representation. But that’s a lot of loads. So thank you for your part in that.

The Lord reminded me, just as I was preparing to share today — I actually watched a reel about adoption. This doctor had a child dropped off at her office for open-heart surgery, an eight-hour procedure. I’m sure it happens more often than I realize. But long story short, the doctor ended up adopting the child, and the child had five or six siblings. She partnered with her family; she partnered with other people in the hospital to get all of them adopted. And again, I was kind of procrastinating while getting ready for this, taking a break I probably shouldn’t have been taking. And I watched this video, and she goes, “We didn’t realize when I got my doctorate that I would be a voice for the voiceless.”

And the Lord spoke to me in that moment and literally said, “You are a voice for the voiceless for His kingdom.” And this is a commission that we have chosen: to go out and be a voice, to be a bridge to connect the community to the Father. And so again, each one of you that stood up and have been a part of this ministry, you are a bridge. And thank you for connecting our community to the Father.

Beloved, let us love one another

When I was thinking about Laundry Love, the first thought that came in my head is: it’s a place to love people. And when you’re filled with the love of the Father, loving others is just a natural response to that. And I was reminded of a scripture I heard when I was younger that I’m going to read. I’ll just read it and go from there. It’s 1 John 4:7–11. It says,

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

Now, as a teenager, I was just all over this. I was like, “Oh my gosh, it’s just so much love. Love from God, love for other people. People love me. This is just great.” Just feeling that overwhelming blessing from the Lord. And I realize as I go on through life, even when I feel out of touch with the love of the Father, just loving others can get me right back into that love cycle. And Laundry Love has been a great place to show up and to love people.

There have been different seasons of Laundry Love where it’s really easy to just show up. I think about before we were married, or before we had kids — it’s just like, “Yeah, I’m here. I’m with my friends. We’re serving people. This is great.” And as the kids got added on, or just whatever, sometimes it’s hard to show up and to do those things, and it’s not as easy and light as it once was. But God meets you there so much more faithfully, and it’s just been cool to experience that as we have shown up.

Some months I get there and it feels like you’re just go, go, going the whole time, doing the logistical things, and you’ve got to find that time to just connect with people and pray for them. And then other times it’s a lot slower, and you can just slow down and get into good conversation. I remember the first two years, there were a ton of kids there, and that was all I did: I would just sit at the table and color with the kids and talk to them and listen to them, and that was just such a beautiful time.

But Laundry Love, it’s a place. It’s a place to pray for people. We get to show up and show our community who Jesus is, without any strings attached. And it’s an opportunity to honor God with our whole lives. And so I’ve just been so blessed to walk through this and to bless our community.

Stories from the laundromat

So we’re going to invite a couple of people up. I have just three quick stories. First off, one of our pastors is going to come up and share her story. She has been, I’m just going to say it, our most faithful person to show up to Laundry Love. Many times I text her the day of and say, “Hey, it’s just me,” or, “It’s just the two of us. Can you come?” And she goes, “When should I be ready?” She has been our Spanish interpreter. If you haven’t been to one of our events, probably about 75 percent of our guests and our friends are Spanish-speaking. And I look at them and I say, “Hola,” and then she takes it from there. So, hey, by the way, if you speak Spanish, we could use your help. So let me know.

It’s hard to remember; I have so many testimonies, so many people. But this one story, the Lord reminded me of why we do what we do at Laundry Love. It was during the Christmas season, and we are used wherever we’re needed, and the kids were coloring — if you notice up in the picture, there are kids that color. And I went to help with the kids coloring for Christmas. There was a little boy about five, Spanish-speaking, and I asked him, “Do you want to color?” And he said, “Okay.”

And I sat with him, and the story was about the three wise men. And I asked him, “Do you know who these are?” And he didn’t. So as he colored, I told him the story about the three wise men in Spanish. And it was hard, because I couldn’t remember all the words, but the Lord brought them back to my remembrance. When he turned the page over, it had Jesus in the manger. And I asked him, “Do you know who this is?” And he didn’t. Can you imagine a five-year-old not knowing Jesus? It’s hard to believe.

And you may not think it’s a lot that we do, but I introduced him to Jesus, and he was so excited about why we celebrate Christmas. So Laundry Love is more than numbers. We don’t count the numbers. We count the people that Jesus loves and introduces us to. And honestly, when we go, they all know us and we know them. And all of us, in our different ways, have planted the seed about Jesus, because that’s what Laundry Love is: sharing the love of Christ with the people that don’t know Him yet. Amen. That’s my testimony.

I like that she brought up the coloring pages, because we really try to be intentional with everything. We print off scripture coloring pages, and the amount of stories that I’ve heard — first off, this is what it’s about: sitting with the children and just being available to have those kinds of conversations. Those are the seeds. That child was five years old. We might never see them again, but the Lord is the one who’s in charge of the increase. And if we are obedient to plant the seed, hey, it’s up to Him. So thank you.

All right, our worship leader is coming up next. She has been serving at Laundry Love since the beginning as well, and I kind of put her on the spot this morning, but she’d also like to share with us.

So Laundry Love is amazing. I think you guys are kind of getting the picture of how awesome it is. There are a lot of stories, and I think you’re also gathering that over the years, things kind of blend together. But I’m going to go with the most recent memory I have. It ties together, I promise. In the early days of Laundry Love, there was a couple of sisters that would come — we call them the sisters — and we would talk with them, and their kids were there. I think you’re also getting the picture that children are important in this story too, so I’ll mention that later. But we would just chat and hang out and do laundry together, and you forge friendships through that.

Well, they ended up moving, both of them, to different places, so they weren’t really coming to Laundry Love anymore. And then my husband and I moved, and who was down the street but one of the sisters? And I was just like, how good is God that He made a connection like that, of all the places that we could have moved to? We were down the street. There was one occasion where I had my kids and we were at the park just a block away from our house, and they just come up, both sisters with all their kids. And I was like, “Oh my gosh, it’s been a long time. How have you been?” And it was just an awesome opportunity for God to stir things up again in them and in me.

Now, flash forward to a couple weeks ago. I’m at a park — it’s close to my house, but I’ve moved; I no longer live next to one of the sisters, and I haven’t really seen her in a while. I’m playing with my sister-in-law and her daughter, and who comes up but the other sister? I haven’t seen her in at least maybe three years. And I’m like, “Oh my gosh, how are you?” And she’s asking about Laundry Love. That was a core memory for her and their family. It was just a testimony that it was meaningful time for them, and it brought things full circle.

And in addition to that, God also used that time to bless me. One of our kids has been having a hard time, and we’re trying to figure things out. And in our conversation, one of the sisters goes, “We went through the same thing with our daughter. But great news — it did end. She’s good.” And I didn’t know how badly I needed to hear that in that moment, that our journey is going to come to an end. And I was like, “God, You’re so good that You just bring things full circle.” We are there to be ministers to them, but He uses it vice versa. It’s not just so we can bless others. He blesses us through the process too. Both those occurrences happened outside of Laundry Love, but because of Laundry Love, because I got to experience that.

Another thing I just wanted to point out too is God uses children to get to the families, but also, more importantly, the fathers. When you have an opportunity to minister to families, you’re looking at the whole picture. And I truly believe if you can minister to the father of a family, that does wonders. But the next best thing, I think, is the kids, because as a parent there’s something so special about watching our kids walk in faith. It really does create a tenderness in us. And I imagine that in a family who doesn’t know the Lord, when the children are experiencing the goodness of God, that softens the parents’ hearts. There have been so many children at Laundry Love over the years. So if you have a heart for children, that’s a great place for you to go and to minister. But yeah, that was just my most recent experience.

A place to practice ministry

Thank you for sharing. The biggest reason we do Laundry Love is really to create opportunity for the church body to minister, to practice ministry with other believers. Most of us here have full-time jobs, and I assume, and I’m hoping on your behalf, that we have opportunity to share our relationship with the Lord with our coworkers and things like that. And for me at least, those are the most intimidating — like, “I don’t know if I should do this.” There’s a lot of risk involved.

Laundry Love is a really great opportunity to just practice. Okay, what can I say? What should I not say? And there are other believers that are praying for you literally as it’s happening. The amount of times where I’m like, “Hey, I’m going to go pray for this person,” and everyone else locks in and they’re praying in the Spirit, they’re watching, or praying with me directly. We’re with you in those times, and the Holy Spirit’s with you, guiding. So if you are someone that is really wanting to grow in your faith and grow in how to share your story with the Lord, this is a really great opportunity for you.

Last story. Our friend who serves with us is coming up again. Like Pastor Suzie said, he has been part of our church for about ten years, and we have been running Laundry Love together, hand in hand. He’ll come and help me prep and things like that, for probably four or five years. So you can take it over.

Okay. Well, unfortunately, going last, everybody already said everything. No, I’m just kidding. But everything everybody said is a lot of things that I wanted to say too. Following up on what was just said about how we can always use more help: ten years ago I was here, and they started talking about Laundry Love, and I kept saying, “Oh, that would be neat. But I don’t know if I want to do that. I don’t know if I can do that.” And for about three or four months I kept talking myself out of it. And then eventually I went, and it was very, very rewarding. It still is rewarding.

It’s something I talk about with everybody. I was just talking to a friend today, walking into the meeting, about how rewarding Laundry Love is. I think it’s more rewarding to me spiritually than what I feel like I’m doing for other people. So I encourage anybody that has any kind of inkling to come. It’s very, very rewarding.

Everybody has stories; there are tons of stories. But I know there were times when I brought my Bible and was sharing Bible verses with some of the people, and that’s way, way out of my comfort zone. But it was like that’s what I was supposed to be doing. There was also a story — like Jay was saying, about showing the love of God that Jesus shares — there was a single mom with her kids, and she said, “I didn’t know if I was going to come tonight, because I had enough money to buy food or I had enough money to do laundry. And I decided to come and do laundry.” And then, since we were doing that for her, she was able to get food. You’re just doing so much for people that way and showing the love of God. So I just appreciate the opportunity that you guys do this, that we can be part of it. And again, I encourage you all to come.

The amount of people that have come and said something to the extent of, “I didn’t even bring my laundry tonight, because I did it last week, but I just came because I knew you would pray for me.” Or the amount of people that come and say, “Hey, I’m homeless. I need some help.” And the real success stories that we have seen, that we have prayed for and interceded for, with people that come and say, “I’m literally living in my car right now,” or, “I’m living in my tent.” I just got a text from someone two weeks ago: “I got an apartment.” This person was living on a couch — literally flipped the couch over, living under a couch in our neighborhood here. And this person texted me — this has been probably a four- or five-year process — and said they got an apartment.

And so this is what it’s about. Doing laundry is an opportunity to come in and say, “Hey, the Lord loves you. The Lord sees you, and we love you too.” And so thank you for being a part of this. Thank you for celebrating ten years with us.

There is one more thing I was going to share. I’ll make it quick. Right after Ephesians 6, where we hear about the armor of God, Paul leaves us with “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.” And so the invitation is, yes, come hang out at Laundry Love with us, but more importantly, be in supplication with us as we go out and operate in the commission that Christ has given us.

When we serve others, we meet Jesus

I really feel like this ministry is an invitation to encounter the Lord and to see the Lord. And I wanted to share this out of Matthew. I had a few scriptures, but we’ll close with this one: Matthew chapter 25. I’ll start at verse 31. This is Jesus talking to His disciples, and He’s talking about when He returns. And He says this:

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’”

And then Jesus says this, and I want us to notice this. He says, “For I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.”

And I think so often we think, “Well, I need to do good things for Jesus. I need to go out and build my credit in heaven.” We think that I can accumulate — whatever words the world will use — positive energy or karma or all these things. But really, Jesus is the only one that matters. And Jesus is saying this: listen, when you love and serve others, you’re not just doing it for Me. You are actually seeing Me. We don’t serve the poor or those that are in need for Jesus. We serve the poor, and when we do, we meet Jesus. Jesus says, how you receive them is how you receive Me.

And I just want to reiterate: so often in this generation, we celebrate the talent. We celebrate the platform. We celebrate the big names. We celebrate all these things. And I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, but I fully believe that there are people that clean restrooms, and janitors, that will have a closer place in heaven to the throne than pastors and preachers who are celebrated here on earth. Because the Lord’s not looking at people the way that the world looks at people. He’s saying, “If you love Me, then love others.” Amen.

Don’t grow weary

I just feel like this is such a powerful invitation that the Lord is giving us, and a reminder. Scripture says, do not grow weary, for in due time you will reap. And I’m always reminded of that scripture. It doesn’t say, “Don’t quit.” It doesn’t say, “Don’t stop.” It says, “Don’t grow weary,” because weariness is the killer of long-term obedience. It’s when things start creeping in, and it’s like, “I just don’t feel it.” How many of you know we live too much of our life based on what we feel? Right.

Scripture says, don’t be led by anything but be led by the Spirit of the Lord. How many know we need to be led by the Spirit of the Lord? And that will more often than not contradict what you feel. Somebody say amen. Thank you. That’s why you’re here. Now, I don’t know about you, but I saw those kids running around the stage, and I was like, we need kids running around the stage more often.

Can we stand together? I’m going to close, and let’s just lift our hands to the Lord. Let’s just give thanks.

Lord Jesus, we thank You for Your love for us. Lord, we thank You that You did not come to be served, but to serve. And Lord, knowing Your rightful place, knowing that You had been given all authority, knowing that You were going back to the Father, Lord, that You were about to die on a cross to give Your life for us — Lord, You knew all these things, and yet You still chose to get down and to wash the feet of those who followed You. Lord, may we never think too highly of ourselves to do the things that You’ve asked us to do. Lord, may we give attention to Your heart and what moved You.

Lord, You come to us in a humble way. And Lord, the only appropriate way for us to receive You is to come humbly — to lay down everything, every preference, every fear, every unmet expectation. Lord, every time we thought You should have said yes, but we didn’t see You. Lord, we don’t need to be moved by anything, but we are to have faith and trust fully in You. And Lord, we can stand on the work that You’ve already accomplished. That is our hope. Lord, when You said, “It is finished,” on the cross, that is our security. That is our hope.

And Lord, even though we feel like, “Well, You should have done this,” or, “Lord, why didn’t You move this?” or, “Why don’t I feel this?” or, “Why didn’t You answer this prayer?” — Lord, You are faithful. And Lord, I pray that we would just lay aside every ambition, that we would lay aside every weight, every concern of this world, and that we would be led by Your Spirit. And Your Spirit is love. Your Spirit is joy and peace. And so, Lord, we invite Your move. We invite Your Spirit into our lives today.

Can we say that together? Lord, I invite Your Spirit into my life. Do a work in my heart. Help me to see people. Help me to love people. Help me to serve others, as You gave everything for me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Transcribed from the message recording and lightly edited for reading.