Greetings on this cold Monday!
I hope this message finds you joyful on a Thanksgiving week.
It seems that some cold winter weather has crept into our plans. Though, the
cold and wintery weather can damper spirits, I have to admit that I somewhat
enjoy it. That is possibly due to the fact that I have been anticipating its
arrival.
I want to thank you all for the prayers, donations, and
support you contributed that enabled us to come together and complete our
mission last week. I want to especially thank the nine volunteers that came out
to allocate food and supplies to our friends and neighbors. We bestowed loads
of burritos, bottled water, candy, snacks, blankets, gloves, jackets, and love
to those who are less fortunate. Thank you to all the people who made this
possible.
As many of you know, this is a special week. This is a time
we all come together to give thanks for the blessings in our lives. We
celebrate this special holiday by sharing time with family and friends and
enjoying delicious cuisine. I personally love Thanksgiving; it is my favorite
time of the year. It is a celebration that we can actually see love through
people. It is a time when sharing and hospitality are highest priority. We observe
this holiday because we remember the tearing down of walls between two
different types of people. When the assortment of religious separatists landed
at Plymouth they suffered from exposer, disease, and hunger. The Wampanoag
Indians found them and provided food and supplies. They taught them how to survive
in the cold and wilderness. They met the colonists at the ship and offered
hospitality.
I apologize for my brief history lesson but I feel like
there is an important tradition for us to continue. Yes, let us certainly come
together and give thanks with our friends and families. But, let us also
remember the people who provided basic needs to the settlers. We can do that by
meeting people where they are at and providing basic requirements. There is no
need for us to ask questions about addictions, religious struggles, or life
problems. When the Wampanoag Indians found the separatists they didn’t ask
questions. They saw people in need and gave to them. Let us come together
Wednesday night to celebrate by finding the people in need and giving to them.
When we are done let us celebrate our new and old friendships, the blessing of
coming together to serve, and the opportunity to shower love over our great
city.
There will be a small group of brilliant students from
GHS-TV with us this week. They are coordinating a UBFM documentary for a school
project. From what I have gathered, they will be working on it for a number of
weeks. This will be the first week of them collecting footage. They will also
be doing some interviews with people who frequent Wednesday night meetings. I’m
very excited about this and I feel like the finishing product will be
magnificent.
We are still in need of supplies! We need snacks of all
types: chips, beef jerky, fruit, etc. We also need blankets, jackets, cold
weather gear, hand warmers, etc. If you have supplies to donate you may drop
them off at my house, which is also where we meet on Wednesday nights:
124 Roberta Dr.
Memphis TN 38112
If you plan on joining us this week I look forward to seeing
you and serving with you. We will meet at our normal time: my doors will be
open at 6:30 PM if you would like to arrive early for preparation. Otherwise,
we will load up at 7:30, roll out at 8:00, and will return around 10:00. If you
are unable to make it I ask that you pray for us. Pray that we are safe during
our journeys but pray that we find the people who can benefit from what we have
to offer. I also ask that you spread the word of our mission. Tell people who
we are and what we are doing.
Peace
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