Flood strives to establish meaningful relationships with families and individuals in crisis so as to empower them to overcome their present, disadvantaged circumstances and receive Jesus Christ as their Savior.
The vision of Flood is to ensure that those people who are hurting and are unlikely to have positive relationships or attend church within inner-city Bakersfield hear the message of salvation, grace and eternal life through Jesus Christ. Our desire is for those we serve to experience both the freedom that comes with salvation, and an improvement in their life circumstances.
Inspired by the scriptures in John 9, Jesus Healing the Blind Man and John 4, the Woman at the Well, Bless First and Five Lives are two themes which are foundational in the Flood ministry approach. In John 9, Jesus chose to bless the blind man first by healing him. Later, through a relationship and conversation with Jesus, the formerly blind man believed that Jesus was the Son of Man. Flood chooses to follow this pattern of striving to meet physical needs first, then building a relationship so as to guide an individual's spiritual journey. Five Lives is an intentional approach for all volunteers to learn the names of five people, to pray for them and then to reconnect with them. Much like the Woman at the Well, when a person is known, the person is given a strong sense of self-worth.
Flood is a ministry for families and individuals experiencing homelessness, recovery home residents, residential motel dwellers and those entrenched in generational poverty that provides them the opportunity to experience hope and encouragement. Flood is dedicated to spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ through worship, Bible instruction, fellowship and volunteerism. This ministry meets the needs of and strives to build individual relationships with all who attend, and provides a vehicle for Bakersfield churches to serve the needs of those hurting and hungry with the purpose of facilitating connection to a local church. Flood is a ministry with six phases:
The ministry is dedicated to spreading the Good News and Love of Jesus Christ through worship, Bible instruction, fellowship and volunteerism. Flood meets individual physical needs, strives to build personal relationships with all who attend, and provides a vehicle for Bakersfield churches to serve, with the purpose of improving life circumstances in order to promote self-worth and greater self-sufficiency.
Our Saturday Night Outreach utilizes a creative approach to attract those in need within inner city Bakersfield. The evening is composed of energetic music with a positive and uplifting message. Immediately following the service, a wonderful hot meal is served to all. In addition, groceries are distributed to those individuals who have need. Transportation is provided for many individuals who are not within a comfortable walking distance to our gathering.
We distribute thousands of food packs annually and serve thousands of meals each year while personally building relationships with hundreds of people.
In its continuing effort to empower positive change in life circumstances, Flood has identified housing stability as a critical component to life transformation. Flood assists with placement, advocacy and navigation of housing resources. Flood also provides supportive services for housing participants including long-term support.
All programs of Flood are marked by involvement of local churches and volunteers. At the Saturday Night Outreach volunteers are providing the music, teaching, preparing a hot meal, and act as prayer counselors, greeters, security, van drivers and chaperones, distributing food packs and facilitating kids' activities. Between outreaches, volunteers participate in home visits, HOME teams, serve as mentors and other opportunities to become involved in the lives of our outreach and housing guests.
Flood was born out of a Saturday night alternative worship service at Jesus Shack called Celebration. A small group from the Bridge Bible Church began attending once monthly in October of 2006, and assumed leadership in December 2006, transforming the 45 minute worship time of seven attendees into a one hour worship, teaching and prayer time followed by a hot meal and grocery distribution now serving approximately 300 people. The group moved the ministry from simply an alternative worship service to individual relationship building and meeting unsolicited needs of the deeply impoverished. Over time, Flood leadership witnessed the importance of housing being not just one component of stability and overcoming disadvantaged circumstances, but indeed the most critical driver.
Thus, housing is now an early focus of intervention. Throughout its history, Flood has ignited an understanding and personal adoption of this foundational verse for each volunteer:
"We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God, but our lives as well because you had become so dear to us." - I Thessalonians 2:8
Flood is passionate about helping those in need, providing the love message of Jesus Christ, and partnering with the resource holders in the community to meet those needs. Flood's doors are open to all who come.
"If anyone is thirsty let him come to me and drink. Rivers of living water will flow from the heart of those who believe." - John 7:37-38
This approach led to exponential growth and numerous mid-week volunteer opportunities, including Bible Study, Life Recovery support, medical and substance abuse intervention, job teaching, sourcing rental housing and providing links to the resource community.
In 2008 a separate 501(c)(3) corporation was created to allow Flood Bakersfield to continue to provide quality outreach through the current growth and beyond.
