Broken Arrow, OK
i feel like a lot of these blog posts lately have been a combination. of what i learned on the event and in staff or partner meetings that i have been a part of. which i think is a beautiful thing. to be placed in an environment where i am constantly learning.
well this is another one of those. ◡̈
on the event, when asked, more volunteers had been to Tacos4Life than had packed with us before. now this is not groundbreaking information, Tacos is much bigger up in OK and AR, so this tracks. but what an amazing opportunity to show the volunteers just what their impact was.
to show this idea of the: "work on this side of the box"
^^ this idea was shared by our COO in our recent meeting reflecting on our company-wide goals for the last fiscal year. that we, as MobilePack have the gift of leading a large portion of the work on this side. && yes, it can be easy to either get stuck in the logistical details and regular frustrations on the volunteer event side of things, but it can be equally as easy to get stuck on the other side.
to get entrapped by the overwhelming feeling of hopelessness when you see the brokenness of the world. when you watch the videos and hear the stories of the kiddos that need the food, it hurts your heart. pair that with all of the wars breaking out, what seems to be never-ending conflict? it can get very dark.
YET
if you look at the impact of the packing we do on this side, on volunteers, && focus on the reality that we get to live out this idea of being "hope extended". well, that changes everything.
while on the event, which was a first-time one, i got the privilege of seeing seeds planted and fires sparked. one of our development advisors, Heather, and i also got to go on a site visit with our Tacos host to another Broken Arrow church who is interested in doing an event in the fall. they have a great space and were excited about the idea of hosting, and when they showed up at the event to see what one looked like in action, you could see the excitement in their faces of the possibility. truly amazing to go through that process and conversation with them starting with no real knowledge of what we did, to being on fire for partnering with us and Tacos.
a quote i heard during this event was: “the world is so divided, you don’t want your family divided too”. this prompted me to discuss the unity of the body of Christ with the host and how these type of events and FMSC as an organization gets the opportunity to practice daily.
what i learned
the idea of "holy boldness"
first-time event joy is something so tangible
curiosity may be my favorite character trait in a human
how i grew
what a gift it is to travel and meet different parts of the body and serve alongside one another as the hands && feet of Jesus!
favorite parts
live commentary by an old married couple next to me in a movie theater
brown gravy
This Is Us being a form of bonding
whole room singing along to I Want It That Way
running into Pastor Larry at Tacos4Life
STATS
volunteers: 360
boxes packed: 468
meals packed: 101,088
kids fed daily meal for a year: 276
to First Methodist,
thank you for trusting us with your first event, to be so willing and ready with open hands, not truly knowing what to expect. you live out so physically what a life with Jesus should look like through that. thankful for your postures of joy and surrender, of servanthood exemplified, of being a team player. thank you for your friendship and your vulnerability. may we meet again.
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