Where Does The Rainbow End?

Just in case you ever wondered where the rainbow ends:

*picture taken at the TCU Wesley Foundation

What an incredible reminder of God's promises and presence with us always.

The Power of Food

Have you ever noticed that at family get togethers or parties, the kitchen tends to be where folks bunch up?  Good food and cooking can be magnets, drawing people in and together.  

Food has power.  It doesn't have to be gourmet to be good.  Simple food is often times the most powerful, particularly if it has that little something extra:  love.
  
Sure, one can eat a quickly made sandwich over the kitchen sink and get full.  Folks can go to one of many cafeteria style soup kitchens up and down Lancaster and get full, often from a starch heavy meal that can easily be prepared for hundreds on the cheap.

But, if you can sit down and eat a meal that has been thoughtfully and lovingly prepared, full of flavor and well rounded, and share that meal with someone who genuinely cares about how you are, how much more powerful is that? 

When we serve roasted chicken, mixed steamed vegetables, and (the increasingly becoming famous!) hash brown casserole along with homemade peach cobbler to homeless veterans who have been working hard, for example, we are bringing the warmth of the family table and the love of Jesus Christ.  

We are not just serving a meal that is delicious and several cuts above what else is available, we are responding to the call of Jesus to love our neighbor.  Authentically, consistently and unconditionally.  

That's Kingdom building, and we are humbled to be a part of it.

New Year

We are already off to an amazing New Year with the Five & Two Food Truck Ministry!  Before I get into the New Year, let’s recap the end of last year.

The Five & Two Food Truck ended 2015 with an amazing Christmas party at the Presbyterian Night Shelter.  Almost 40 (!) volunteers of all ages from AHUMC helped serve a holiday meal complete with homemade cookies.  We shared the story of Christ’s birth with the children through a bracelet craft, delivered over 100 new school uniforms and a special gift for each child at the shelter. 

The following week, we followed up at the Patriot House with another great Christmas party.  Each veteran received a coffee mug filled with home baked goodies.  One of the residents told us between the delicious food, the gifts and the laughter in the kitchen that night was Christmas to him, just like when he was a little boy! 

The new year brought us new opportunities to serve as we partnered with the Central Texas conference to help with the tornado relief efforts in Ellis County.  On two cold days in January, over 20 volunteers provided hot coffee and lunch to over 300 volunteers, first responders and victims in Glen Heights.  What a blessing to be able to serve in such a capacity. 

We were able to share the leftovers with 100 of our homeless friends in Unity park for a spontaneous lunch.  One woman let us know that God especially blessed us that day because “You guys could have chosen to be anywhere else today, but you decided to have lunch with your friends who are poor.”   

Blessed indeed!  As we continue to listen to God’s call and respond to be the hands and feet of Christ in our community and beyond, it is an amazing reminder that God Is Good All The Time!

Thanks be to God....

In this week of Thanksgiving, we are thankful for the opportunity to serve God in such a wonderful and  unique way with the Five & Two Food Truck.  December will be a special month for our ministry as we will help our friends at the Presbyterian Night Shelter celebrate Christmas.  We are in the middle of a tremendously successful campaign to gather new school uniforms for the children at the shelter.  

In our time with the mothers, children and support staff, we discovered that most of the children at the shelter only have one or two changes of school clothes.  Many of them come in under emergency status and may not have any proper clothes to go to school.  This drive will fill a great need at the shelter.  Something as simple as a fresh set of school clothes can give dignity and confidence to young people facing uncertainty and fear.

That is one of the greatest parts of the Five & Two Food Truck, it is truly a vehicle for ministry.  Sure, we serve great food to those in need, but more importantly we get to know those with whom we are in ministry.  In doing so, we are able to discover their needs and make lasting relationships.  

We are so thankful to be be actively making disciples for the transformation of the world.  I pray that you are able to reflect on what you are thankful for this week.  

Blessings and Happy Thanksgiving.

Halloween

Saturday night, children all over the city dressed up in their costumes, grabbed their bags or pumpkin baskets and went door to door trick-or-treating.  At least one night each year, people of all ages actively participate in “neighboring.” 

The Five & Two Food Truck was asked to be a part of a neighborhood Halloween carnival and we were delighted to accept the invitation.  A dedicated group of volunteers served almost 300 hot dogs to little superheroes, goblins and princesses in the neighborhood just behind our church.  These are our immediate neighbors, and for one night we took our church to them instead of asking them to come to us. 

That’s the beauty of our food truck ministry.  It allows us to be neighbors anywhere in this city, which the church is called to be. 

How much of a difference could be made in our world if we treated every day like Halloween, if we went door to door to check on our neighbors, have conversations,  meet new friends and build relationships? 

Curious how to do this?  I encourage you to take some time to check out this website:  http://artofneighboring.com/  

The United Methodist Church’s mission statement is “to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”  AHUMC is able to literally take our church into the community, any community, and we do.  We are actively neighboring all over this city and by doing so, making disciples and transforming the world.

A Birthday Wish

Try to remember the last time you made a birthday wish before blowing out the candles.  What did you wish for?  A pony?  A new toy?  To be able to fly?  To win the lottery?


More than 40 youth and adults from AHUMC volunteered at the Women and Children's Unit at the Presbyterian Night Shelter tonight!  What an amazing evening as we dined together and shared in crafts, bubbles, board games and decorating pumpkins. 


I had the privilege to be a part of a small birthday celebration for a little six year old girl living at the shelter.  There was a small cake, and ice cream melting in this hot October sun.  After we sang Happy Birthday, the birthday girl quickly blew out her candle.  "Wait, wait," said her mother, "You didn't have a chance to make your wish."  "Yes, I did," she replied.  "I wished for a house." 


They all clapped and hugged her.  What a great wish. And a great reminder about what's important.


I pray that her wish comes true.  It does for so many at the Presbyterian Night Shelter.  Shortly after, I had a conversation with a young woman who had dined with us last month.  She said that she wouldn't be seeing me next month as she found a great job and has been approved for housing.  Praise God! 


We may not be able to solve homelessness in Fort Worth with one event, but we're going to be part of the solution.  We can provide a meal, an ear, a shoulder, prayer and compassion. 


Join with me to pray that this little girl gets a home, that Christ is represented by the Five & Two Food Truck, and that, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.  On earth as it is in heaven."


Amen.

Kingdom Building

What an amazing month September has been!  To date, the Five & Two Food Truck ministry has served over 3,000 meals.  We have had more than 50 volunteers from AHUMC and other congregations participate in this ministry in the last three months, and every time we roll the truck up for an event there has been a new face with a God is Good T-shirt.  The energy that this ministry gives both volunteers and those we serve is amazing.  We have achieved our goal of being a recognizable and anticipated part of the lives of our friends at the Presbyterian Night Shelter as we serve delicious meals, but also form relationships and pray together.  

We were invited to serve the lunch at the Justice For Our Neighbors national meeting in Grapevine, and were able to share our story with pastors from around the country.  As we all work together to build the Kingdom in our own special ways, it is wonderful to be able to share a meal together.

Rev. Amy Mercer and a group from Western Hills UMC in El Paso were our special guests at the Patriot House on September 17.  They are looking to start their own Food Truck Ministry, and were able to spend the day with Rev. Allen Lutes and the volunteers.  It was a wonderful day of discussing our passions for being in ministry with the poor.  What a miracle to see this idea of bringing food and faith to those in need through a food truck spreading!  

In the 9th chapter of Matthew, Jesus tells his disciples "The harvest is plenty, but he laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest"  As disciples of Jesus the Christ, we are responding to His call.  The Lord has certainly sent laborers out into his harvest with the Five & Two Food Truck Ministry.  We are Kingdom builders together, thank you for your time, your prayers, your gifts and your service with this ministry.