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.  

Neighboring

Several members of the AHUMC staff traveled to Seattle this spring to be a part of the Inhabit Conference.  The purpose of this event is to brainstorm and hear new ideas of how to "be the church" in our local communities.  The term "neighboring" was tossed around throughout the weekend, and it is one that specially applies to the Five & Two Food Truck Ministry.  How well do you know your neighbors? What are you doing to meet your neighbors?  This is a question the church should constantly be asking herself. 

The Five & Two Food Truck ministry gives us a unique ability to take the church out into our neighborhoods ... and not just the one surrounding our beautiful church building.  It allows us to truly be neighbors in Como, on East Lancaster, in Ridglea, on Crestline, on the TCU campus, and on and on and on. 

When Jesus took five loaves and two fishes and fed the multitudes, I'm certain that neighboring took place.  People who previously did not know each other or were convinced that they previously wouldn't like each other shared a meal and discovered they were more alike than they thought. 

On Sunday, we were privileged to help our neighbors at Trinity Episcopal Church celebrate their Homecoming Sunday.  We served lunch and had fellowship with over a hundred of our brothers and sisters in Christ.  Everyone was excited about giving a donation because of the good work we are doing in building the Kingdom of God.  We're doing this Kingdom building together as we go out and participate in "neighboring." 

 Do you know your neighbors?  Do you want to share a meal with those neighbors you don't know yet?  Help us transform the world and build the Kingdom:

 http://www.fiveandtwofoodtruck.com/#/upcoming-events

National and International News!

God is Good all the time and all the time God is Good!!  The Five & Two Food Truck Ministry is busy these days and others have taken notice of the good things that this ministry is accomplishing in building the Kingdom of God.  Here are some links to some of the articles that have been written about the ministry:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/for-some-churches-food-trucks-are-a-vehicle-for-serving-the-poor/2015/08/05/14975f00-3baa-11e5-b34f-4e0a1e3a3bf9_story.html

http://digital.360westmagazine.com/publication/?i=267273#{"issue_id":267273,"page":98

http://www.fwtx.com/blogs/bon-appetit/unusual-entrant-food-truck-scene

http://www.newsnjoy.or.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=199802

We are so blessed to see this ministry succeed!  We thank God for placing this ministry on our hearts and being with us as we share the gospel of Jesus Christ with our neighbors, even around the globe! 

Family Reunion

Sometimes I can't believe my own eyes.  The dream of this congregation for the Five & Two Ministry was realized, and every time I get behind the wheel of the truck, I am humbled.  We are making a difference already!  God is working through this ministry!  People know what is coming when we roll up: good food and people who genuinely care about them.  

We have had the privilege of serving dinner to veterans at the Patriot House and women and children at the Presbyterian Night Shelter.  Dedicated cooks at AHUMC have prepared well rounded meals to serve out of the Five & Two Food Truck, and believe me, people are loving this food!  

Beyond the physical hunger needs that are being met, we are making relationships.  The Prayer Shawl ministry handed out over 50 prayer shawls to mothers and their children at our first visit.  The atmosphere each time is like a big family reunion.  Adults playing with children, folks eating together and sharing their stories, praying with one another, laughing and enjoying the simplicity of fellowship and food.  

All a very real reminder that we are all God's children and should get together for a meal more often!  

There are many more family reunions to be had all over this community.  Thanks to God, we have a church "on the road" that can go to all of them.  I hope that you share our prayer:

For food and fellowship, 

For the miracles of the 

loaves and fishes, 

For hope and grace,

For being in ministry with

our neighbors,

Lord, we give you thanks.

Affirmation

What an incredible few weeks for the Five & Two Food Truck Ministry!  We officially dedicated the truck after worship on June 7, and we had a fantastic time together in fellowship.  Fort Worth, TX Magazine was there and wrote a great article on our ministry:

An Unusual Entrant

During the last day of the Annual Conference of the Central Texas Conference of the UMC, the Five & Two Food Truck Ministry was highlighted as a special and unique ministry during the Mission Support presentation with a wonderful video:

 

Five & Two Video

We followed up with the Mayfest Wrap Party and are gearing up for our first meal at the Patriot House at the Presbyterian Night Shelter this Thursday.  July will be a busy month as we add a fellowship meal with women and children at the shelter, and hopefully become a regular presence at the Thistle Hill Food Truck Park in the hospital district.




God is moving and working in our congregation and our community, and we are blessed to be able to answer God's call with the Five & Two Food Truck Ministry.


Already, after conference and the article in Fort Worth, TX magazine, we are receiving calls about how we can partner with other churches and agencies in our community and our state to help eliminate hunger and share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with those in need. 


When Jesus arrived and saw a large crowd, he had compassion for them and healed those who were sick. That evening his disciples came and said to him, “This is an isolated place and it’s getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”
But Jesus said to them, “There’s no need to send them away. You give them something to eat.”
Matthew 14:14-16

Feeding ... Everywhere!

 

Whew!  This has been the hardest "soft opening" in the history of openings!  We are officially commissioning the Five & Two Food Truck on June 7, but when the community caught wind of what we were doing we got busy sooner than we expected. 

 

The original plan was to do the April 25^th Race for the Cure event as a trial run and use May to get everything in place to launch the ministry in June.  Obviously God had other plans.  We got invitations for May events from Mayfest and Betsy Price’s Compassionate Community effort that collaborated with Feed the Children Everywhere.

 

 

 

On May 1, Five & Two fed over 300 people at a special opening of Mayfest for FWISD special needs children.  This past weekend, we served hundreds of volunteers who were participating in the Feed the Children Everywhere event where over 300,000 meals were packed to be sent to Mexico, Africa and right here in Ft. Worth. Our next event will be feeding Como Food Pantry clients and volunteers.  June will begin with the Dedication of Five and Two on June 7, followed by an appearance at the Central Texas Annual Conference, June 8-9.

 

Beginning in June, we will begin serving dinner to 30 homeless veterans once a month at the Patriot House and in July we will begin serving dinner and ministering to over 100 women and children at the Presbyterian Night Shelter, also once a month.

There is so much excitement about this new ministry, both in the community and within our AHUMC family.  It is humbling and overwhelming to know that we are able to respond to God’s call to help “the least of these.”  This is has been a great few weeks and we are looking forward to an amazing first year of the Five & Two Food Truck Ministry!