SOS was an incredible day. We had right around 200 people from our church volunteer at all of the projects! Here is the story of all that happened that day….
It started out bright and early at 7:30 with the Food Pantry Crew. We had been collecting canned food as a church for a few weeks leading up to this day. Lisa Hoyles and Ayeshia Duru did an awesome job leading this project and getting everyone involved. To bring in more food for God’s food pantry, Beth Knights and others from the group set-up shop in front of Krogers the weekend before and were able to get 4 trunk loads of donations and also more than $150. We were able to almost triple what God’s Food Pantry had, and over 100 families will be impacted by the food we brought. Here are some pics…
Then it was off to the Fix a House Project. Jeff Rice and Erik Rogers led an awesome group of volunteers to do some much needed work on the house of a grandmother who is raising her 2 and 4 year old granddaughters. It was an incredible opportunity for us to lend a hand, bring hope, and encourage a family with the love of Jesus. There was a lot of sweat, tree climbing, laughing, limb cutting and landscaping; and what a difference it made. It was so great to spend time at the house and pray with the family. They were so appreciative and wouldn’t stop thanking us. Here are some pics….
The group with the family
Brooks(white shirt) is 6'5" so that's a huge pile of stuff we cleared
Erik spent about 2 hours 25ft up in the tree. We gave him some banannas.
Erik's wife, Carrie, was trying to cut down the branch he was on. JK.
Cute Kids Serving at SOS and being like Jesus at a young age!
After that we made our way to the Jesus Loves You Picnic. The Picnics are always a blast to be at! Getting to have fun with friends, meet new people, and getting to chow down on food makes serving seem more like a party. But there is a purpose behind the fun. Over 100 people from the community were fed, many of them might not have had a meal that day otherwise. I saw people being prayed for, the gospel being shared, and invitations to join us at church happening left and right. Chad Price absolutely went beyond anything I could have ever hoped for in leading this project. His spirit was all over this picnic and made it awesome. Who would have thought that grilling hot dogs, playing music, and a bounce house could open so many doors to impact the kingdom. One family, who did not speak English, asked if we had a Spanish service. When they were told we didn’t, they still said they wanted to come because they just wanted to be around us again and feel more of the love they received from our church.
My Wife Remy taking every chance she gets to hold a baby. Is that some kind of clue?
People hanging at the Picnic
I have to give a special thanks to John and Jovana Morrison. They have painted faces at all of our picnics and do an incredible job. Many times they are painting for 4+ hours and never take a break. This is probably the number one attraction for the families and kids in the area. I don’t know how they do it, but it is awesome to see them steward their talent and be so selfless to make an impact for the kingdom. Not a single kid leaves that face painting chair without a huge smile on their face. Thank you so much John and Jovana. You have no idea what an encouragement you are to me and how thankful I am to have y’all at our church. 
Jovana, you're awesome!
John, you're cool too!
Bruno cut hair for anybody at the park who needed it. It was another awesome way to engage the people at the park. I haven’t known Bruno for all that long, but I can just feel the heart of Jesus in him and it was such a great experience to watch him minister to people with his gifts and talents. And if that wasn’t enough, his wife Rene was an outreach and ministry machine at the picnic. There wasn’t a second that I didn’t see her speed walking to welcome the next family and make sure they were taken care of. Many of the families only spoke Spanish, and although she is far from fluent, you wouldn’t have known it on that day. She said she didn’t know how to explain it, but she could understand and communicate in a way she never has before. God is pretty cool at using what little we have and making God sized things out of them. My heart overflowed with joy watching her and hearing her share what God did in, and through her that day. I truly got to witness heaven coming to earth in an incredible way through the Lopez’s.
Bruno cutting some hair.
There are those times when you look at somebody and although they still look like themselves, it is undeniable that you are getting a glimpse of Jesus. One of those times just happened to be when I turned around to see this… 
Candice Praying with new friend. Coolest Pic of SOS!
The compassion, the courage, and the heart of Jesus was displayed all day by Candace, but this moment captured it all for me. It was such a powerful moment that it almost brought me to my knees. Jesus is Good! Darryl Thrasher ended up continuing to minister to this guy and stepped out in faith when he felt God telling him to get his contact info and follow up after. We ended up taking him to lunch the Tuesday after and we’ll continue to show him the love of Jesus.
There was such a great crowd at the end of the picnic that we decided to move the location of the Back Yard Bible Club to the park where the picnic was and continue to minister to that area. Darryl and Micole Thrasher did an incredible job improvising and leading their group despite the changes. The kids loved doing all of the crafts and activities that they had planned, it was a great way to engage whole families.
Pastor Randy, Carol, and JR
Yvonne Mains and Lori Blackwell went to a battered women’s shelter called Emily’s House and ministered to the lady’s there by giving them manicures and pedicures. They also did the same thing at a nursing home in the afternoon. I was not able to be at there, but heard an incredible report of all the ways Jesus moved.
Lastly Dave Dryden Sr. had a handful of guys help some families in our church with some projects that were desperately needed. Just another way to be the love of Jesus.
I can’t thank everyone in our Church enough. It is incredible to be a part of a Church that is actively transforming the world around them with the love of Jesus. Stay Tuned for more.
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