2010 Garvin Park Outreach - Thanks?

thank
–verb 1. to express gratitude, appreciation, or acknowledgment to gratitude, appreciation, or acknowledgment to

grat·i·tude
–noun the quality or feeling of being grateful or thankful


thank·ful
-Aware and appreciative of a benefit; grateful a benefit; grateful.

hum·ble
–adjective
1. not proud or arrogant; modest
2. a feeling of insignificance, inferiority, subservience, etc.
3. low in rank, importance, status, quality, etc.; lowly
4. respectful
5. low in height, level, etc.; small in size

None of these words really work for me. I don't think there is a word to describe what I want to say to everyone who was a part of the Garvin Park Outreach. So, I'm going to leave it at "thanks", which doesn't even begin to do it justice.

For those of you that weren't with us last weekend, I'd like to give a recap of what happened.

Friday night, we were supposed to have 9 people to help dish out 400 servings of potato salad and cole slaw, count all of the desserts and sodas, and get everything ready for Saturday. We had 4, and we didn't have nearly enough potato salad and cole slaw. As you probably know, I had already been feeling like maybe this Outreach wasn't supposed to happen, and that just made it worse. So, we got more salads and kept on dishing until the last little piece of cabbage was scraped from the container. There wasn't time to count stuff, so I was just taking a leap of faith that planning was correct and we had enough.

Saturday morning, our alarm went off - 90 minutes late. Fantastic. We were supposed to meet at 7:30 to load stuff up, and then be at the park at 8:00. Of course we were late, but so were the people we were supposed to meet. I got to the park with a truckful of food, and we had 2 volunteers. Two!!! I was terrified, but at that point, there was no turning back. We finished unloading the truck as more volunteers started showing up. And then more, and more. One of our volunteers, Spring Time, said to a man who had been helping us unload "Bye Gary. Are you coming back to eat later?" Up until this point, we all thought he was one of her friends. Oh no - she found him sleeping on one of the picnic tables when she got there, and he helped us unload food that was meant for him (see definition for "humble" above) Very soon after that, she went out in the park to distribute flyers. She came back with a man named Ken. Remember that name - it will be very important later. Then a man with riding a bike with no shirt showed up. He and Ken threw on gloves and helped us wipe down tables and organize food. Food that was meant for them. We got done much earlier than expected, so I told all of the volunteers to sit and rest, spend some time in prayer, and prepare our hearts for what was going to happen that day. We read and discussed Matthew 25, our reason for doing this. I read some excerpts from Eats with Sinners, a book on well, eating with sinners. We listened to Tear Down the Walls by Hillsong United. And then, we prayed. A big group of us, while homeless men were sitting on the tables just behind us. About halfway through, we hear a voice that none of us recognized. He started praying to Yahweh and Jesuwah. I honestly don't remember what he said, but I remember goosebumps and not wanting to pray after him! When we were finished, I looked up and realized it was the guy on the bike. His name is Ronnie. That name will become important too. Somewhere in the moments to come, more people started showing up, and we realized we didn't have as much food as we thought. We started making sandwiches, and realized we didn't have enough bread. We started icing down salads, and realized we didn't have enough ice. It was terrifying at best. We actually left twice to go get more food and drinks, and STILL ran out of food. Our best estimate is 342 people were served. We had 350 forks to start out with, and left with 8. Eight!! We planned on feeding 200. Apparently God had planned on more.

So, the "important" names. First, Ronnie. Viq and I really felt called to give Ronnie some kind of job to do at our house. Now, that's weird for me, because I DON'T give money to homeless people, and I certainly don't tell them where I lived. But, we decided that we had some mulch that needed laid. Ronnie said he'd be over the next morning to work on it for us. He showed up on Sunday morning earlier than he had said, and worked his tail off. I was afraid to tell him where we lived, but decided to trust the Lord with the situation. He then came back to the house on Tuesday night while Viq was at work. I was seriously trembling. But, I went out on the front porch to see what he needed. Nothing. He just came over to tell me thank you for giving him the opportunity to earn a little cash.

Now, for Ken. Ken walks with a cane, has an eye patch, and you can tell he's much older than he should be. One of our volunteers, Misty, prayed with Ken for healing in his legs. And he prayed to give his life to the Lord. At that very moment, I realized that ALL the events leading up to this had been a challenge from God. He knows my heart, but He also knows my willingness to give up when things get hard. I'm so glad I didn't. Would Ken have been saved without the Outreach? Maybe. I don't know. But I'm SO grateful that the Lord used Misty at our Outreach to bring him into the Kingdom.

One of the greatest parts of the day was that we had SO many volunteers that I was able to walk around and talk to people, making sure they had enough to eat and drink, and sitting down listening to their stories. Sometimes, that's all these people want. I looked up 4 or 5 times and noticed there was literally not a place to sit. God SERIOUSLY showed up in that shelter house! Yes, we ran out of food at the end. I never expected that. We were able to make a small donation of potato salad and cole slaw to the Rescue Mission for their evening meal, but not as much as I had planned. There were a LOT of people that came over from the pool next door. Maybe they didn't fall into the target demographic "homeless and underprivileged", but they were hungry, and we were able to feed them. There were little kids in swim gear running around with Dorito-stained orange fingertips. It was awesome.

So, thanks guys. Thanks so much for being a part of this. You JUST don't understand - we couldn't have done it without each and everyone of you. I was going to make a list - a list of items and services people donated. But honestly, there was so much that I just can't remember every single thing.

Alexa Ridgeway

Ally Duncan

Amanda McDowell

Amber Hinton

Bill Merkel

Brandon & Jessica Barnard

Brighton Cornerston Healthcare

Brit Van Laeken

Candice Jenkins

Cathy Lockridge

Chance Schultz

Christy Johnson

Cindy Rose

Damon & Teresa Hancock

David & Sande Hancock

David Kapp

Drew Shockley

Evansville Department of Parks & Recreation

Evansville Print Specialists

Evansville Rescue Mission

Fraternal Order of Eagles #4023-Emily & Family

Ginger Ware

Greek's Pizza

Heath Farmer

Jamie Wayne

Jennifer Griese

Jennifer Williams

Jeremy Secrest

John Bush & Small Group

Junior League of Henderson

Kat Isbell

Ken & Viki Thomasson

Kendra Melchior

Kimberly & Patrick Hodges

Lewis Bakeries

Lindsay Chaffee

Lisa Cresci

Mary Chesire

Matthew & Jennifer Frankic

Melinda Bachman

Misty Miles

Nathan Lengacher

Nick Phillips

Nicole Gibson

Nikky Wilson

Patti Spooner

Patty Vanoven

Rafferty's

Rob Tant

Romina York

Sara Woodard

Spring Time McCullagh

Stacy Kirchoff

Summer & Steve Aulich

Susan Fullerton

Viki Bowers

Now, for Thanksgiving. I'm honestly taking a break from "outreaching" right now. But, Thanksgiving is coming soon. And, we've got plenty of time that we can start planning now, and make it AWESOME! I'm not sure exactly where we will do it, but we are toying with the idea of Henderson. I found out last week that the resources for the homeless and underprivileged are very few there. So, it seems perfect to me. But, we'll see what the Lord has in store for us. Please pray that he will give us some ideas. Thanks again guys. I love working with all of you while being obedient to His calling!

If you have any pictures or reflections from the Outreach, please email them to thomassonoutreaches@gmail.com and I'll post them to the blog.