Relationships That Change Lives
Deuteronomy 14:29 (paraphrased) – "Keep in reserve a portion for the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates; they are to come and eat and be satisfied, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do."
I really didn’t know what this scripture meant when God gave it to me over a year ago. Then I had the opportunity to go to Haiti with my good friend Kim Gould, both the hardest and best thing I’ve ever done. Haiti was a life-changing place for me, it where I met a great man of God, Emory Wilson. He and his wife Mary are doing amazing, mighty work in Haiti with very limited resources. They have a small school that often serves as a medical clinic and a feeding program in a village called Jubilee Blanc. They have opened their hearts and home to serve the people that God has placed before them. The poverty and suffering there is like none I have ever seen. Each day there was only enough rice to serve 150 children, and each day we had to turn away hundreds that had been waiting outside all day in the hot sun. Heartbreaking! Kim and I came home knowing we couldn’t do everything but we just couldn’t do nothing!
God has opened the door for us to partner with a humanitarian organization called Kids Against Hunger. They have developed a low cost nutritious meal packet that not only saves off starvation but reverses some of the disease processes secondary to the malnutrition. We have become the first food packaging satellite in Arizona. On April 16th, we will be packing 28,000 meals for Haiti, while keeping a portion back for our local food banks here. The great thing about this is that it is volunteer-driven. As I have gone out into the Verde Valley to talk about KAH, seeking those who would partner with us, I know that God went before me opening doors, and has allowed us to form great relationships already with so many people. I rarely heard NO! I certainly had no polished presentation or professional looking literature to hand out. I bumbled and fumbled, and even shed a few tears, and “in spite” of my inadequacies our community opened their hearts and asked how they could help.
As a result, our volunteer list for the actual 8 hours of packing food (from 8am-4pm at Verde Baptist gym) is full, but I encourage you just to drop by anytime during the day to see what we are all about. You will have the blessing of meeting Emory and Mary, here from Haiti, who will be speaking at our kick off at 10:00 a.m. We plan on doing this for years to come, so if you are interested in being involved in future events or sponsoring your own, please come, you will have the opportunity to sign up and form relationships that will change your own life. I promise! We are looking forward to meeting you there. Please make sure you look me up, and expect a hug in return.
Trust me you will not want to miss this!!
In Him,
Karen Freeman
1 Chronicles 16:9 "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong on behalf of those who heart is loyal to Him."
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| Kim Gould |
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| Karen Freeman |
