11/26/2017
I've been waiting for the dust to settle before I updated you all on this year's Outreach.
On Thanksgiving Day, around 40 volunteers were at the park to help serve the neighborhood. Because of them, we got set up VERY quickly and just...waited.
We waited for 11 o'clock. We waited to see this massive group of people show up and say they were hungry. We waited. And waited. And waited.
While we waited, we made new friends and had amazing conversations.
I walked around that park praying that He would send the people. Telling Him that this time, the workers were plenty but the harvest was few. We waited. And waited. And waited.
We fed somewhere between 10 and 20 people. And waited for more to come. But they didn't.
I apologized to everyone because there weren't people to feed. I thought in the back of my mind that people would be upset that they had donated and volunteered just to serve a small group of people, even though we took a full truckload of food to the Rescue Mission for them to use.
After we got cleaned up, Viq and I talked about it. What went wrong? I did everything I normally do for our Outreaches. We had what I thought was just the right amount of food and volunteers. We shared the event all over so that hungry people would know about it. The one thing that was different was the location. Maybe we were in the wrong place? Maybe people just don't need a free meal? Maybe we aren't supposed to feed people and try to share the love of Jesus with them? And we waited. Waited for an answer to that question - what went wrong?
I'm still waiting for that answer. And I don't think I'll ever get it. Because...it wasn't "wrong."
See, we have had Outreaches and fed hundreds of people in a few hours. And we have had them and fed 75. But every time, including this year, we fed hungry people. Even this year.
Does it matter if we feed 20 or 200? He didn't tell me to feed the hungry people my neighborhood, but only if a certain amount of people show up. He just said to feed them. No "but only if."
I was asked if I felt disappointed. Not for myself, no. Not at all. But for our volunteers and people who donated. I wanted them all to see the masses come, to feel like what they were doing made a difference!
To the three young children who had been there at the park playing all day by themselves.
To the man who looked like Santa who admittedly wasnt hungry, but likely just needed someone to spend the day with.
To the man and the woman in the wheelchair who were quite likely homeless.
To the couple from Mount Vernon who want to start a meal in their town.
To the sweet family who moved here to start a church and didn't know where else to volunteer.
To the woman who just moved here from Cincinnati and had no family here, so she wanted to volunteer.
I hope and pray that we made a difference to all of them...all of the people we served and all of the people who worked with us and all of the people who donated.
So now we wait some more. We will wait for what seems like a long time until it's time to start planning our next outreach. We will wait and see what He is going to do with us next. Wait and see where he wants us and what he wants us to do.
So...with all that being said...THANK YOU. Thank you for your donations (please don't think they went to waste. The Rescue Got a ton of food and supplies!). Thank you for letting us borrow your coolers, tents, and tables. Thank you for praying for us. And thank you for spending your time with us, knowing you could have been spending it other places. Thank you! You made a difference to those 20ish people. I promise you that!
---Amy Thomasson
