When it rains...we party!

Sept 13, 2008

Well, it was 67 weeks in the making!!! It finally rained on us downtown. And I must say... not just rained on us, but POURED on us!!! We were standing in water up to our ankles, our clothes were stuck to us, and the water was just running down our hair and into our faces. I wasn't even able to take many pictures because my camera was getting too wet. The one Ironic thing about the timing of the rain, was that this was the first week that we had our trailer and tow vehicle available to transport everything and serve lunches out of the concession window. The lunches were perfectly dry, tucked away in the trailer, and the other stuff like fruit and snacks that were in a ziplock bag were the only things that got wet, and that was of no consequence. What was really amazing to me and other was the fact that we were all out in this monsoon, and everyone acted like it was sun shining!!! We were soaked, but were laughing, drinking coffee, sitting on benches, and eating. It was quite an experience, and probably an even bigger sight. JOY poured out in the mist of the storm!!!

9-20-08

But we were all back to normal this past week with dry weather and sunshine! We were also joined by a local youth group that came to serve with us during their 30 hour famine. Approximately 20 youth came and passed out fresh fruit and apple sauce.

Survival Backpacks

We are beginning the collection of goods for our Survival Backpacks (Backpack, gloves, scarves, hats (knit), socks, ponchos, hygiene packs)

We have postcard sized fliers for this drive! Let me know if you'd like me to mail you some or if you'd like to pick some up! These can be taken into your work, school, or church (and wherever else) for creating a drive amongst your fellow workers, classmates, church family!

Thanks for the help on this! Last year we distributed more than 200 Survival Backpacks...this year the need will be greater!

don

Hygiene Help!

Hey friends...

I wanted to send out an APB (I feel so official now)...we are in need of a person(s) who would be willing to oversee our hygiene collections/distributions! As our organization grows so does our need for more volunteers to fill some of the places that were easily absorbed by a handful of people...that being said even if you are not interested in helping with hygiene but you feel a drive to become more deeply involved in FFT - PLEASE let me (Don) or Michelle know so that we can begin getting more people connected in! *419.779.6982*

Cake and Ice Cream was great last night (Friday night) thanks to all of our volunteers who are so very helpful and encourage us everyday! We love you guys - and your dedication is what makes FFT!

Thanks,
don schiewer

Community

How beautiful it is to live in community!! It is such a blessing because you know that whatever happens you always have someone to rejoice with when things go well and someone to help hold you up when the times are tough. It is an incredible thing to watch on Friday's and Saturday's as we each move closer to living within this community that is being build around us. This past week there were so many of us that took time to share our highs and lows with each other while we made the PB & J's. There were a handful of new people that touched us with their stories of how they got here and how they wanted to be part of what was being built!

Community is a circle not a vertical line. So many hands went out to pull others in this week... to play a part in it... that it was felt by most of us... and it was Awesome!

When people choose to love, choose to think about others and care for others, even those they may have never actually met, it is a beautiful thing. That is what community is all about…caring for one another and helping one another out, in spite of where each one of us is!

Jesus Himself said that we would be known by our love. What a great way to be known.

We're On Our Way...

...to having the web site up and running. Hopefully tonight! But this is the blog we're starting so we can record our Saturday Stories - the weekly record of events that Michelle puts out via email. We've got a backlog of them, but they're all in one document and it's hard to separate them by date, which is what we're going to do.

So... all this to say stay tuned because it won't be much longer that this won't be just a placeholder any more!