Week: July 4th- 9th

by Souper | Jul 8, 2016 | Summer Staff

American, Canadian, Swiss, British, Latvian, Ukrainian, Kazakh, Chinese, Brazilian, German/Norwegian- all these nationalities have been represented here at Gleanings this week.

First thought that came to my mind was the tower of Babel. I was wondering how this week will turn out.

In the Bible the story goes like this: Then God gave them different languages, so they wouldn’t understand each other, because their hearts were selfish and sought their own fame and power.

This week it was so opposite here. I have to tell you, it was wonderful. It wasn’t chaotic, it was peaceful. It felt like FAMILY. God loves people so He sent all these nationalities to be here, work together, and accomplish great things. The purpose was not to seek our own fame and glory, or to prove our differences, beliefs and rights, but we worked together, loved, helped and encouraged each other, and did it all to give God the glory.

As a result, another Thursday summer record was broken by processing 200,000 Lbs. of fresh fruit, that is 200 bins of peaches processed in one day.

All I have to say, God is GOOD and He works in wondrous ways. This week have been a proof of it. Yes, He is GOOD!

Week: June 27th – July 2nd

by Souper | Jul 1, 2016 | Summer Staff

This week we have gone BIG!

We’ve had the most people here so far.

We shipped 3 containers. One went to Convoy of Hope and two were sent to South Africa.

The team from Village Church, Burbank finished up the rock gardens in RV sites.

And…tan-tan-ta-daaa…on Thursday the teams broke this summer’s record by processing the most peaches. They did approximately 190,000 lbs. of fresh fruit in a day. That’s 190 bins of fresh fruit!

You say WHAT!!! We say, WE’RE BLOWN AWAY!!!

This week we also heard the same question asked over and over again. Why are you doing this? And the answer is simple. Because love looks like something and this is how love looked this week.

Week: June 20th-25th

by Souper | Jun 27, 2016 | Summer Staff

Every weekly post I write is mostly about what I saw, what I heard or what I felt the week was for the teams. So this week I thought I should switch things up a bit and I asked the teams to give me a little report about this week, how it really was from their view point.

This week we had two big teams. Escalade Youth Group from Fullerton with group total of 25 people and a Gateway Bible Church from Scotts Valley with a group of 44 people.

Gateway youth leader Nate shares:

“We are so glad to be back serving at Gleanings. For many of our students, this is the first time doing anything like this. We are learning that our perspective changes everything when we see that we’re here to serve others and not ourselves. We are also learning that it’s not about us; it’s about Jesus. This brings amazing joy and purpose to everything we put our hands to. To God be the glory!”

Escalade youth shares:

“One of the greatest joys of coming to Gleanings is meeting new people and hearing their testimonies. I enjoyed hearing Henrijs testimony and how God saved him.” -Kyle

“The high for me is being able to make these dried peaches with my own two hands. Knowing that it will help people out of starvation and help them become closer to God.” -Isabella

“The top highlight for me is being a part of the worship team and just being in worship. I enjoyed cup-up at the plant. I got to talk with fellow members at the belt and got to talk with people next to me. I also enjoyed free time after we finished the day’s work. I love hanging out and talking with people in the evening.” -Ethan

In Acts 3:6 Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you.” This week they walked it out. They gave their time, their hands, their hearts, and God’s love was shared. They reminded us that it’s not about us, it’s all about Jesus!

Week: June 13th-18th

by Souper | Jun 17, 2016 | Summer Staff

Blessing is our theme this Summer and I cant’s think of a better word about the teams who are here this week. Over and over again they have expressed that this year it’s been especially important for them to come and bless the Gleanings staff and ministry so we would continue prosper in all we do. And they truly have done that.

Working with peaches, washing buckets, cleaning and fixing trays has been their main job. In parallel with that, they replaced broken door knobs, unloaded a truckload of barrels, and completed many landscaping projects. One of the biggest projects was to transform the brown grass in a number of RV sites to beautiful rock gardens.

We love to make time for the teams that come – but this week it seemed like the teams were the ones reaching out to the staff and our kids.  It’s been a great week.

I think Jesus is smiling and saying:” Well done, my good and faithful servant!”

Week: June 6th – 11th

by Souper | Jun 10, 2016 | Summer Staff

As soon as the yellow bus entered Gleanings gates, I knew the week would be awesome, because yellow bus means one thing – Fired Up is here! And they mean business!  They work hard, they play hard and they worship hard.  They are kids with a heart for God and a heart to serve and honor each other.

It’s been only a week since this team arrived, but looking back at the work done, it’s seems like a whole month has gone by. Major clean-ups have been done; most of the property has been weeded, playground flooring restructured, buckets washed, soup plant deep cleaned and of course the peach plant began running.

You can smell peaches and sulfur in the air together, with a smell of great joy and accomplishment. But above all else, I smell Jesus this week. I smell him in this team, as they continue to be kind towards each other and spiritually beautiful in spite of the heat and hard work.

Gleanings has been blessed by them!

Thank you!