Week: June 11 – June 17

by Mark Ragains | Jun 17, 2017 | Gleanings Stories

With 580,000 pounds of fresh fruit processed, and 6,273 pounds of dried fruit ready to ship, our first full week of peach production was a success, thanks to the hard work of many volunteers from Big Valley Grace Community Church (Modesto, CA), Messiah Lutheran Church (Lincoln, NE), and Pacific Christian Center (Santa Maria, CA)—not to mention the Gleanings staff and their families, Summer Staff, long-term volunteers, and backpackers from Singapore, India, Taiwan, Germany, Peru, Columbia, Japan, and China!

We accomplish great things with the generosity of so many wonderful people–food donors, volunteers, staff–and of course, with the love and strength that comes from our good, good Father in heaven!

“The joy of the Lord is your strength.”  Nehemiah 8:10

LOVE FEAST MESSAGE: God Chooses the Rejected One

“What you have experienced in your life was not meant to take you out, but it was meant to push you forward.” —Chris Scoz

Chris Scoz’s energy and insight was powerful at Gleanings for the Hungry’s “Love Feast” Friday night! Chris shared the story of David, an unlovely and unworthy shepherd boy, either forgotten or dismissed by his earthly father, yet chosen by God to be king of Israel.

David went from being a nobody, a disregarded shepherd boy who no one wanted, to a champion over Goliath, to king of God’s people, to Bible-famous King David—in the family lineage of Jesus himself.

Chris shared how he, the son of two poor, drug addicted parents from East LA gang life, was just as unlikely as David to be chosen by God to serve as a leader of God’s people. However, “God does not care where you come from. God cares about the calling he has put on your life,” Chris said.

“When no one knows you exist, God knows where you are. When God says Yes, that’s all you need,” Chris said. “ … God can do something with your life. God can do amazing things with people who you didn’t think he could do amazing things with. It doesn’t matter what your present circumstance is. God will not let you stay stuck if you go after him!”

Truth!

Thank you, Chris, for your humility and honesty, and for paving the path for so many young people to encounter Jesus, even when they are feeling overcome with burdens or discouraged by their circumstances.

“The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”  1 Samuel 16:7

SHARE THE LOVE

Today’s share time went overtime, but God was working overtime in our hearts this week. Here are some of the sweet moments from devotions:

“God has changed my life completely [this week]. I can’t even explain the peace and the calmness. I’m coming back to Gleanings.” 

“All of this week has been a big God-moment.”

“Thank you, Lord, for the air I breathe.” 

“It’s OK to be yourself.” 

“When I sing, I finally get the lyrics.”

“I felt something powerful change. It hit me Monday night.”

“When you are comfortable with who you are—man, you’ve been healed.”

“Who is my Father? My father is a good, good Father, and he’s living right up there.”

“The guy or girl to your right or your left—don’t be them. Just be you.” 

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  Romans 5:8

Week: June 4th – June 10th

by Mark Ragains | Jun 10, 2017 | Gleanings Stories

This was the first week of peach production for Summer 2017!  As with all first weeks, there were a lot of milestones along the way.  Helping lead the way was a team from the Salem, Oregon area called “Fired Up”.  They truly were “fired up” too!  Our staff and summer staff were excited too!  some notable firsts for the week include: first summer staff meeting, first truckload of fruit bins, first bin dumped into the hopper, first peaches stacked on trays, first treating stacks of fruit in the Sulfur tunnels, and the first laying the fruit out to dry!