November 29,2007 : The Produce Run

Matthew 14:15-21

15As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a remote place, and it's already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food."

16Jesus replied, "They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat."

17"We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish," they answered.

18"Bring them here to me," he said. 19And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. 20They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 21The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

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But GOD...

On Tuesday as we ran out of sandwiches half way through the run we began to discuss how we were going to provide more. A couple of the barbarians stood up and said they would make extra sandwiches and we could more than double the current meals. Little did we know God had a plan. He loves to show up and show out and on Thursday he did just that.

In some motorcycle club related e-mails one of our biker friends that works at the largest produce distributor in the city shot me a note and at the bottom asked if we could use some free produce for some needy from our Church. He stated "Just about a ton" and I figured it was just an expression when in truth it was an understatement! I got a hold of the other barbarians, we commandeered 2 trucks and a driver in the name of God and headed off to the produce place.

On the way there we stopped to get gas at Braker and saw James and Sheldon. We told them we would be right back and to round up who they could because we were bringing food back. James headed off immediately to round up folks!

What we saw when we got there about made our eyes bug out! Boxes and boxes of food that was going to be discarded because of time stamps that were about to expire. They can't ship anything that is within 4 days of expiring and they trash it! I think one of the saddest things of the day was hearing that they called other folks and it was always "To much trouble" or "Not what they wanted" so they had quit coming to get this beautiful food.

They took us where the discard pile was and we saw boxes and boxes of salad in bags, broccoli, carrots, all kinds of stuff! They had more fruit on a separate cart and we loaded 2 boxes of oranges, a box of apples, 2 boxes of lemons, 2 boxes of bananas, 6 flats of grapes, some onions, numerous boxes of salad until both trucks were loaded to capacity and headed off to give it all away!

We get back to The Edge and there are 7 folks waiting for us. We left grapes, bananas, oranges, salad, some lemons, and just told them to take what they needed. There was excitement and foraging and lots of smiles and thanks. It felt so good to be able to give until they didn't want any more. A brand new feeling! We told them this could be a regular thing and Danny said he would pass the word. I hollered out the truck window "And the word is Jesus!" He laughed, said Amen and we headed off to The Exchange.

The Exchange was just as exciting. We let them dig and take until they didn't want any more. We did learn some of the stuff we didn't get like broccoli and Brussels sprouts they would love to have! This trip was a major learning experience in many ways. No one seemed to want the apples. Sheldon had told me at The Edge he didn't have any teeth but now at The Exchange they all said our teeth are to bad. I asked if they had knives and was very promptly shown and told that all homeless have knives but the apples are still hard on the gums.. We will remember the next time and I will remind them they could be cooking them! There were hugs all around at leaving time and Mike, one of commandeered truck drivers looked a little nervous about the hugs but by the end of this trip he was seeing hearts and understanding more why we do what we do..

At the stop light up at the top of the hill at The Exchange we see Graham and 2 guys from the homeless shelter ARC. We tell them anything they want in the 2 trucks is fair game and they were quick to get stuff before the light changed. The picture of the day was Graham standing by the side of the road, a box of salad under his arm and a HUGE smile on his face saying God Bless you. We waved and headed for the Cove!

We get to the cove and it was empty. We knew kind of where their camp was but not exactly so the barbarian adventure begins! Numerous u-turns in the God bubble and much looking we finally spot something in a stand of cedars. I got out and went off hollering their names hoping not to frighten them and they would know I knew them. Bingo the dog was quick to bark and I think he would have attacked if I had kept on. Mary heard me and yelled "Who is it?" I told her and she immediately came and got me, showed us where the main trail was and invited us to come see their Christmas tree. We all got boxes of food and headed to the camp. It was nice as a camp can go. It was organized and cleaner than the places they hang out. They had a beautiful Christmas tree all decorated up! It had red bows tied on it and all the trimmings. They said Rabbit had really been blessed and had bought the decorations. (That is a whole new story that will be in next weeks bog after I verify more information) These people are so selfless and sharing. I asked if I could take a picture and Mary said no. She said it was a tramp thing, no pictures in camp. I told her I understood and I felt privileged to be there. She said she would take a picture and make sure I got one. Maybe I need to take her a disposable camera!

The last stop was Joe and Tex and we left lots of salad since that was all we had left. They were glad to get it and while we were there we checked on Joe's hands. They looked much better and he said they felt better. It is good to see the medicine is working. (Note to barbarians, remind me to look for wipes or waterless hand cleaner for these folks. They want to be clean it is just hard!)

We took the boxes of salad back to work and shared with the other workers. Lots of smiles there too.. Sad there are so many Americans so close to being homeless. Lots of very needy people and it reminds me how truly blessed I am.

It was an awesome God day.. So many wonderful things happened that it starts to blur. Mike the "Shanghaied" barbarian will never be the same. I rode home on my bike in total awe of the God we serve and he clearly is large and in charge. As I was typing this the produce dude called and we ran another load today.. It is going to be a very wonderful thing!

--Rick
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My take....

God is making it very clear that He is in control and He has all kinds of things that He wants to do. Our job is just to suit up and show up and He will do the rest!! This is the most exciting and fun adventure EVER!!

--Vicki