When every volunteer you meet at Gleanings is brimming with the joy of the Lord, you know it’s a good week!
We packed up 1,230,075 servings of soup this week, thanks to amazing volunteers from Crossroads Calvary Chapel (Grass Valley, CA), HEART homeschoolers (Redwood City, CA), a full-time RV family of seven, and our dependable short and long-term volunteers. Thank you so much for taking the time to serve with us!
“For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.” Psalm 107:9
Even though the quilt room is now closed for the summer, we are excited to share our numbers for the quilt season, October 2016 through May 2017:
641 new quilts done
127 finished quilts sent from outside sources
126 children’s quilts finished
925 sent to refugees in Israel (some were made last year)
40 sent to refugees in Greece
214 adult size and 126 child size sent to Haiti
10 sent to Mexico
a few miscellaneous sent to bless individuals
144 boxed and waiting to go out
ARTISTIC SURPRISE
A few volunteers helped build and paint wooden boards for upcoming bean-bag toss tournaments for the summer staff. We were pleasantly surprised by the artistic beauty the volunteers added to the front of the boards, including murals of the peach field, ornate peach designs, and Bible verses. How amazing to watch them minister with gifts and talents we never expected, and to receive the blessing of those gifts in our community. We are looking forward to meeting our summer staff and using our new sets in just a few weeks.
VOLUNTEER HIGHLIGHT
Trent and Siobhan Walker left full-time church ministry over a year ago, packed up their five young boys and some cameras in an RV, and began a family adventure across the United States—a ministry they like to call Everyday Family Adventure, spreading the gospel via a YouTube channel.
“We are an ordinary family doing extraordinary things, through the power of God,” Trent said at Love Feast Thursday night, explaining how God called them to resign from leading a worship ministry at church, sell their home in Michigan along with all their belongings, purchase an RV, and take their kids roadschooling.
“We want our children to see the God of miracles,” Siobhan said.
Trent explained how they came to a decision to live in a RV and document their journey on YouTube: “I was the provider, I was the pastor, and I didn’t even need God. At the same time, my awesome job started to unravel, and unrest came into every place,” Trent said.
But it was not an easy transition, and Trent and Siobhan did not know what they were going to do next. Trent became overwhelmed with fear and rage, thinking, “What did I just do?”
“I got on my knees, so broken, and I wrote some music. It was a deep, concentrated pursuit of God. And God just showed up in the most spectacular way.”
Trent told his wife he would be open to the idea of an RV life, which she had already felt called to. And that was when their unconventional journey began.
“Jesus was a storyteller,” Siobhan added. “We need to be storytellers too. We need to bring stories to YouTube and the world.”
The Walkers found out about Gleanings For the Hungry from one of their YouTube subscribers. They were able to come stay here in their RV, lead worship in chapel in the mornings, serve in the soup plant all week, and share their testimony at Love Feast.
We wish them the best on their family mission and can’t wait for them to return when the Lord leads them to serve the poor with us again.
SHARE THE LOVE
Even though many people come to the microphone with hands shaking, the volunteers who share on the open mic on Friday mornings speak bold truth and tender encouragement; the full-time staff like to call it “payday.”
“He’s restored my joy [this week].”
“This great place just builds family.”
“What happens here on the base is so special to those who come.”
“The volunteers that come—we get to be fed.”
“If it weren’t for Christ, we’d never get the blessing of meeting each other.”
“I thought, ‘I’m going to bless people.’ But I’ve been blessed.”
“There’s something different here, and it’s a heart thing.”
PRAYER REQUEST and PRAISE REPORT
Solar power will save the Gleanings ministry about $100,000 annually. Praise the Lord! We need less than $40,000 to get our solar panel project completed. We have been patient to finish without any debt. Please continue to pray and give as you feel led. We know the project will be finished soon.
“Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars.” Psalm 148:3
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- Jobs for All
