By Justin Williams

On Saturday September 13th, The Lord provided a beautiful day for the 89th annual “Clean and Green.” Over 80 volunteers from Mars Hill West Seattle loved their neighbors by giving two hours of their time to help the City of Seattle clean up brush and debris from the Gateway to West Seattle on Fauntleroy Ave. near the “Walking on Logs” sculpture.

Brandishing orange vests and wielding shovels, rakes, and clippers, volunteers marched to the cleanup site on Fauntleroy Ave just after the West Seattle Bridge. Mars Hill volunteers then worked alongside over 100 other volunteers (including one chain gang) from throughout the city to help remove blackberry bushes and other debris from the side of the road. According to the West Seattle Blog, this year’s “Clean and Green” was the largest in history, recording upwards of 200 total volunteers.

Scripture tells us that Jesus redeemed us to “purify for himself a people zealous for good works.” (Titus 2:14) This was evident at the “Clean and Green.” Our volunteers worked so zealously clearing debris that by noon the event staff asked us to stop clearing debris because there were not enough trucks to carry it all away.

Volunteers then spent the remaining time until 3:30 working alongside their fellow men and women, helping them to load the debris into trucks provided by the city.

Not only did this event provide opportunities for MHC members to come alongside their fellow men and women as witnesses of God’s love in Christ, the event also helped us to grow in favor in the eyes of the city. Due to the success of this event, the City of Seattle expressed interest in working with MHC in the future.

Thanks everyone for your hard work, prayers, and faithfulness. Let us continue to share the love of Christ with our city so that more and more people might come to know that Jesus Christ is alive and well, ruling and reigning in heaven—and also in the hearts of all who believe.

A volunteer with Mayor Nickels, and Mars Hill Welcome Team members Mary and Kyli.