Dude! Share The Food!

on saturdays, we usually have between 8-20 people helping out.  some bring food, some help prepare it, some take it downtown, etc.  it’s always fun to be together, and to see how things work out.

this weekend was a bit different.  almost everyone was busy with other things, so there was just 3 of us on saturday.  and it seemed that we were short on supplies, too.

but, it was a nice day.  kind of like the first day, when we sent out 50 sack lunches.  (kinda peaceful, actually….) and in the end, we got to pray with several people, and meet some needs.

whether 500 or 50, it’s all good.  some volunteers got the break they needed.  others took care of things that needed taken care of.  some served food on thursday.  one lady i know took a Thanksgiving meal to a family of 4 that needed it.  and the low-number-of-meals weekend was still perfect… . . .

to all of you that have helped out over the last couple of years, whether a little or a lot;  thanks!

eh

thomas, a small, super quiet, 50-something white man, finally let us pray with him.

(not that we’ve been begging him or pushing him.  we don’t do that.)

but, i’ve seen him downtown probably more than 20 times.  he’s not just quiet; he’s super quiet.  almost seems scared, like a dog that won’t quite come near you.  he has come near, but, even if he answers a question, it seems that his mouth moves, but nothing comes out.

well, the other day, he joined me and 2 others for a prayer under a bridge. . . . as we held hands for a prayer circle, he allowed us to touch him!!   we held one hand and one arm (since he was holding a sack-lunch in the other hand). . !!  i silently thanked God for this breakthrough!

please pray for Thomas, so that he can feel God’s love a little more each time we meet him. . .

eh

today was a great day on the streets of atlanta.

my friend, rusty, has an old bread truck that we often use to share food on those streets.  it’s kind of a “beater”; loud inside, won’t go very fast, one fold-down seat and one folding chair for the passengers…….

the first place we stopped was an area called “little 5 points”.  always an interesting crowd there.  today was no different.  we served food and gave out gloves and blankets to  the “typical” homeless types, and to the cross dresser, and to the rebel youth, and even to some people that didn’t seem to be in great need.  all types, no questions.

today was the first real cold day of the season.  drizzly rain, cold wind.  everyone talked about the cold weather, but some were deeply affected. one lady was shaking so bad, she could barely hold her hot cocoa.

as i said; it was a great day on the streets of atlanta.. .. .. if your belly is full and you’re warm and dry..

as we sat there with our bread truck crammed up against some trees, a fancy mercedes-benz pulled up.  they asked if they could park in behind us.  then they commenced to trying to parallel park that thing.  funny to watch.

finally, it was wedged in there, and after they got out, i asked ‘em to slide it back a couple more feet, just for good measure….. (couldn’t resist….)

looking back, it seems like 2 different worlds collided. the rich, nice car, whose occupants didn’t even acknowledge any of the “lesser” people.  and the people gathered around an old bread truck,  sharing hugs and warm clothes and food and hot cocoa and, most importantly, time and conversation.

reminds me of some lyrics from the U2 song;  “One love.  We get to share it.  Leaves you baby if you
Don’t care for it.”

share the love you’ve been given.  care for it, by acting on it.

choose the life of the bread truck.  put yourself face to face with the poor, the sick, or the needy.

you’ll be glad you did.  1 Tim. 6:18,19

eh

sunday was a lot of fun.

my friend, troy, came with me downtown.  he’s a cheerful guy, big, strong, and harley-lovin.

but not just troy came.

he brought 4 harley-lovin’ friends!

we all had a good time.  they are all givers, no doubt about it.

duane, elaine, woody, crystal; thanks for showing the love….

eh

due to the severe flooding all over the west side of atlanta, we weren’t able to deliver the sandwich lunches today.

so many bridges and roads were blocked, and even the main highway was blocked!

just hoping that our friends downtown have stayed safe.

anyone wanna donate some dry socks to take downtown this weekend?

eh

today we stopped at a location where we don’t usually stop.

(i think God was at work….)

i think it was He who told my friend Don to go downtown with us today.

i think it was He who told me that we should stop at this particular spot.

after we parked at the curb near a very small pie-shaped park on the west side of atlanta, i got out and approached 20-30 people hanging out.  first, i asked my standard approach question “y’all know anyone who needs a meal?”.  (this type of phrase allows people to keep their dignity; it doesn’t assume that they’re homeless, poor, or hungry.  and they have the opportunity to reply “yes! i do!” or “well, there’s a guy over there by the bridge that might need one.”)

several replied “yes! i do!” and started for the truck.

i began asking for a real nice young man that i’d met there before.  “Shane!”  “has anyone seen Shane?”

a young lady then spoke up “i’m Shane’s wife!”

as we took a few steps toward the truck, she opened up immediately, saying that she was dealing with some addictions.  then we prayed together.  then i felt like she should meet my friend Don, who is very loving and yet bold with prayers and very knowledgable in the scriptures.

the three of us talked for awhile.  she cried when talking about her baby, i teared up, and pointed out the beauty of God bringing us together.  Don asked if she would go into a program that would help her and her baby.  she said that she would, and would call him later for direction.

Don told her how valuable she was.  (i don’t think she’d heard that very much).

i told her “we’ve shared about 70 lunches here today, and it was all worth it just to speak with you.  actually, we’d gladly share 7,000 lunches, just to speak with and meet and pray with you!”

God is just SOOO cool, bringing people together, spreading His love!

LET’S KEEP ON SHARING, OK?!!!

eh

check out this story/reminder.

http://www.enochmagazine.com/articles/general/the-brandt-russo-experience

man, did we have a good time hanging out together saturday night!

great food, great people, great times!!

thanks to wil and carrie for hosting.  and thanks to chrissy and others for working it all out.

y’all are great!

eh

something cool is happening….

a couple of weeks ago, i told rick, who used to take lunches on tuesdays until his work schedule changed, to let me know if he could go downtown on any of the upcoming tuesdays.  (i know, tough sentence to translate from english to english)

so, sunday after church, he tells me “hey, i can’t go on tuesdays, but, i can go on fridays if someone will prep the meals.  i miss going”

then, minutes later, i asked lynn and karen (2 ladies who are highly involved with food prep) if they wanted to change the prep day from tuesday to friday.  they both said no, that they thought tuesday prepping and sharing should continue.  and that friday would somehow work itself out-  just like everything else works itself out.  (with God doing the working….)

then, literally as i was walking away, chris, from our “missions team” said “hey erik.  we need to talk to you for a minute!”

so, they told me that they’d like to help out, maybe on sunday.   we discussed it, and yet, somehow, they realized that there was more of a need for meals on friday…. (no idea where the thought came from)…. and they jumped right on board!

result:  in the next few weeks, they’ll be prepping meals that will be shared on friday!!!!

so, i was crazy excited!  within 20 minutes, we had an offer for a  food-to-the-streets-taker, a shot-down-idea-to-stop-food-on-tuesdays, and a whole new crew-to-prep-meals-for-friday!!!

coincidence?  no, chris reminded me “providence”.

God is soooo cool!

eh