Bakersfield.com

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Instead of meeting in a church building this past Sunday, local church community Kaleo Fellowship, along with Life Journey Christian Church and a group from Yadah, went out into the community for volunteer work.

It was part of “Gone 4 Good,” a regular event in which churches partner with different organizations to serve the community. The goal is to “tangibly express and demonstrate God's love.” It is caring for those in need: the lonely, the poor, the sick, the lost, or the disabled.

This Gone 4 Good was centered on the launch of the League of Dreams baseball season. The League of Dreams is a local youth sports league created for those with disabilities. It gives every child the chance to play who might not otherwise have the opportunity to participate due to their mild to severe disabilities. The League of Dreams event was sponsored by Terrio Therapy-Fitness and supported by the Gone 4 Good churches.

The church bodies helped out by grilling and serving lunch, running carnival activities, playing games with the children, helping keep things clean and supporting the workers and families at the event. Much of the church stuck around to cheer on the children and their families during the first round of games.

Mary Leighton, who organized the event, sees serving this way: “We can hide behind the church walls or we can go out and be the church. We're not wearing the name of our church but we are wearing the name of Christ.”

The idea for Gone 4 Good was formed by Kaleo Fellowship's leadership long before the church planted its roots in Bakersfield. When they dreamed what their new church should look like, they wondered how it would look if they focused on serving others as much as Jesus did. The answer made them evaluate how church communities live out their faith together and the idea was born.

In Gone 4 Good, churches look for opportunities to serve where there is great need. In the past, they've partnered with the city and cleaned up an alley packed with garbage. They also partnered with Ricky's Retreat to help support people living with AIDS.

Caleb Mizell, a teenage church member who has served at several Gone 4 Good events, said, “It's cool to see the look on people’s faces when you give and don't expect anything back.”

For more information on Gone 4 Good, visit http://web.me.com/sbcole/G4... The new Web site at www.goneforgood.cc should be up soon.