A big thank you to Faith Harvest Helpers (Olympia, WA) and Compass Church (Salinas, CA) for serving here with us this week. Thank you to our Mission Builders, backpackers, and day groups! We packed up over 410,000 servings of soup, unpacked and emptied lots of donated products, and completed 8 quilts, in addition to the 60 quilt tops and 2,500 squares cut over the past two weeks!
VOLUNTEER HIGHLIGHT
Maureen is a homeschool mom from Reedley, a town next to Dinuba, who regularly brings her two sons (ages 7 and 2) to serve at Gleanings as part of their homeschool experience.
She heard about Gleanings from her husband, CJ, who grew up in a farming family in the area. “I bring my boys every week because they look forward to coming,” Maureen says. “As a family, we have enjoyed working alongside different people towards the common goal of serving others who may not have access to what we have here in the US.”
You might think that a two-year-old boy would not want to do something like this, but Maureen has found Gleanings to be a good fit for her family. “Although it is challenging to work with a toddler, people have been gracious to us, which has allowed us to keep coming back.”
In addition to enhancing her children’s homeschool experience through service opportunities, Maureen wants to teach her children to help those who are struggling. When her large family migrated to the US from the Philippines when she was 11 years old, they struggled at times. “God provided for us during some hard years, and I feel very blessed to be able to see His hand working throughout our lives.”
But her time here at Gleanings is not just for her boys. It is for Maureen as well. “God has used our time at Gleanings to shift my focus away from the desire for self-preservation, so I can live my life for him.” Maureen and her family hope to join a DTS with YWAM this year, and we all pray for the Lord to bless and guide them in their next adventure.
A TIME OF SHARING
Every week at Gleanings, we spend our last chapel together with a time of sharing and a song of blessing.
Here are a few of the words that were spoken by volunteers this week:
“Yes, we have to walk through the hard stuff, but he promises, ‘I will renew your strength every morning.’”
“The spirit of serving, the spirit of giving, is so wonderful.”
“Walk in God’s truth all the time.”
“You realize that time is short. You realize that you need to be bold.”
RESURRECTION IS COMING, RESURRECTION IS HERE
“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die.’ ” John 11:25
JESUS, THANK YOU FOR YOUR PASSION
Holy Week. Passion Week. It is the time of year to reflect on new life, new beginnings, new hope.
And yet, as we reflected this week with Eliane as she shared in chapel, something must die in order for there to be a harvest.
“Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” John 12:24
Thank you Jesus for what you have done and continue to do for us, even in our pain, brokenness, and loss. You are the hope of Easter, the hope of our lives.
Please say a special prayer for Eliane Erickson as she approaches one year of life without her husband Randy. We know the Lord will give her the strength and joy that she needs, but we still ask for you to go to Jesus on her behalf.
