This is a story that Brisbane's ABC - 612 radio ran on their morning program on Monday the 31^st May. It's about what they saw happening in our city when the Christian church moved out of it's buildings and into the community to become the hands and feet of Jesus.

‘On Saturday, the 29^th around 2000 volunteers across Brisbane united to help out householders who needed a hand in their homes. Nearly ten years ago, a group of pastors met in Brisbane to try and fulfill that oft-heard dream - to make a difference in the community.

"We wanted Brisbane to recognizing that we're all in this together and we can all make a difference if we actually pull together," explained Pastor Ben Gray, one of the original organizers of the program.

"Because we're pastors of large and small communities of diversity and culture... within this richness could we find a seed of something that we could do together as a whole church in the whole city," he said to 612's Terri Begley.

That seed became 'Yes! We Care' - now into it's 5^th year; a program of offering practical help, and support to householders struggling to keep up with the tasks at home.

"We came up with a concept and we thought, why don't we do some acts of compassion and kindness?" said Pastor Gray. "We didn't want to do parks, we don't want to do streets, we want to get to actually touching people's lives in order to make a real difference." With the support of Brisbane's Lord Mayor Campbell Newman, the program began getting in touch with families or households requiring help through existing service providers, radio stations and community groups and in the first year of Yes! We Care, the group helped 300 households with tasks around the home, like mowing lawns, spring-cleaning, cutting down trees and painting. Last Saturday, more than 2000 volunteers united for Yes! We Care day, when 600 householders were assisted (one year 1000 homes were reached).

Erica Platt was one. "They're helping me out because plants have got away from me and they're growing all over the fence line, so hopefully I'll have a nice tidy yard by the time they've finished!" she said. Erica was amazed when a group of about seven youths wielding secateurs and clippers knocked on her to offer their help. "I couldn't believe it!" she said. "I thought I was getting one man and maybe a lad or something like that." "Their blood's worth bottling - they can come again," she laughed.

Volunteer Rebecca says the clean-up groups are often met with amazement from the householders. "They actually can't believe we're walking in, in the first place - they were just amazed that there were a group of seven to eight people under the age of 30 who were willing to give their time on a Saturday morning," she observed. Not everyone in the group is involved in practical tasks though. "We make sure not everyone on the team is doing a physical thing they could be just sitting there, having a cup of tea and talking," noted Pastor Gray. "We've got wonderful stories, like one youth group going into a home, some doing the work while others played the piano and sang with an older couple."

Pastor Gray says that helping out is an uplifting experience for the volunteers. "They get energized - there's a real spirit of enjoyment about it," he said. Rebecca agreed. "When you walk away and know that you have achieved something for them - for hundreds of people ultimately throughout the day - then it's really incredibly rewarding."'

You can look at photos and hear this new news broadcast by login onto:

http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2010/05/31/2913604.htm

Take a look at our Yes! We Care website at: www.yeswecare.org <http://www.yeswecare.org>

For 2011 the next Yes! We Care campaign will be held on Saturday May 28 2011 so, if you live in the greater Brisbane region you can all be a part of this exciting weekend reaching out into our communities.