Local missions

Starting in our own backyard

We See A City...

Transformed by justice and righteousness.

Marked by the words we read in Isaiah 1:17, Micah 6:8, Proverbs 31:8-9, we know that as disciples we are called to do justice and care for the vulnerable, locally and globally. So when we encounter injustice in our city we are moved to both compassion and action.

We invite you to join us by volunteering to serve in any of our local outreach programs.
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Florida ranks 3rd highest in the nation for reported human trafficking cases.

(Polaris Project, 2020)

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About 1 in 3 people in Gainesville are affected by poverty. 

(Data USA)

Populations in poverty remain clustered in historically under-resourced neighborhoods, adding to a trend of geographic segregation.

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In Alachua County, students at an economic disadvantage experience a 40 point achievement gap across all subjects compared to their peers.

(Florida Department of Education)

Additionally, 5 out of 6 elementary schools in Gainesville that regularly score poorly on academic achievement are located in East Gainesville.

What we do

School Partnerships

The Greenhouse Mentoring and Tutoring Program utilizes prevention and intervention techniques to support youth in Gainesville through key school partnerships and programs that help students achieve regardless of their zip code. It also increases resources available to support sustainable community development and empowerment initiatives.

School Group at Florida Museum of Natural History - Local Missions at Greenhouse Church
Neighborhood Connection Event - Local Missions at Greenhouse Church

Neighborhood Outreach

Neighborhood partnerships seek to empower, unify and strengthen communities through weekly kids church, youth development, leadership initiatives and community development programs in under-resourced neighborhoods. Greenhouse currently partners with three neighborhood communities in Northwest, East and Southwest Gainesville.

Senior Adults Outreach

We minister weekly to homebound senior adults through Sunday worship services at Windsor Assisted Living, through Faithful Friends – a discipleship and companionship outreach at Parklands Care Center, and with bi-weekly house church services, also at Parklands Care Center. We also partner with Meals on Wheels to practically care for senior adults vulnerable to food insecurity and isolation.

Senior Adult Outreach event - Local Missions at Greenhouse Church

Homeless Community

We work with various local ministries to offer Gainesville’s homeless community dignity-laden assistance and access to a variety of social services. Join us throughout the week to work alongside SOCK Ministry to provide nutritious meals, necessary resources and prayer to the local downtown homeless community.

Foster Care & Adoption

Foster and Adoption Ministry (FAM) empowers and equips families and individuals to care for vulnerable children through foster care, family preservation, and when necessary to provide permanent homes through adoption. FAM also provides wrap-around compassionate care ministry to the church’s foster and adoptive families throughout their journey of walking alongside vulnerable children.

Meetup for Foster Care providers - Local Missions at Greenhouse Church
hands holding in hope - Local missions at Greenhouse Church

Human Trafficking

We partner with Created Gainesville to reach and restore women who have been trafficked or sexually exploited. Through outreach and rehabilitative care programs, women are given opportunities to better understand their value, beauty, and destiny in Jesus.

Correctional Facilities

Greenhouse partners with multiple ministries led by church and community leaders that proclaim the gospel and form life-changing relationships within adult and juvenile detention centers. We help provide prayer, counseling and mentoring opportunities and help inmates obtain basic needs, housing, and jobs in their transition from jail or prison.

Bible on a church pew at correctional facility - Local missions at Greenhouse Church

Resources

Poverty and Community Development

  • When Helping Hurts by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert 
  • Becoming Whole by Brian Fikkert 
  • Toxic Charity by Bob Lupton 
  • With Justice for All: A Strategy For Community Development by John Perkins
  • Welcoming Justice: God’s Movement Toward Beloved Community by Charles Marsh & Dr. John Perkins

Justice and Racial Reconciliation

  • Generous Justice by Timothy Keller 
  • Just Mercy, the book & the movie by Bryan Stevenson 
  • Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger by Ronald Sider 
  • White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
  • Be the Bridge by Latasha Morrison

Biblical Applications of Local Missions

  • Genesis 18:18-19
  • Leviticus 24:22
  • Deuteronomy 27:19
  • Isaiah 42:1-7
  • Isaiah 58-59
  • Jeremiah 22
  • Psalm 68:4-5
  • Psalm 146:7-9
  • Psalm 89:14
  • Proverbs 14:31
  • Proverbs 31:9
  • Micah 6:6-8
  • Zechariah 7:9-10
  • Matthew 9:35-38
  • Luke 4:17-18
  • Romans 1
  • James 2
Donate To Greenhouse

We are a movement of generosity. We aim to give 50% of all that we spend to missions, justice initiatives, church planting, and the poor. Join us in this generosity adventure.

Greenhouse

Throughout Scripture we read about God’s concern for people who are vulnerable or suffering – the poor, the widows and orphans, the foreigners in the land, and so on. All Christians should feel a sense of calling to where there is pain in our society.

Dr. John Perkins