On Sunday...

Okay this was cool!

So Steve has become really connected with his church, Gateway, in Austin... he's made great friends... I've met them, they are a great group of people!

Their church did something this past Sunday, that I wish you'd see more of, more often:

The church handed out envelopes with money in them... to everyone... in the envelope was anywhere from $5 to $300, and the church members said that they could do what ever they wanted to with the money, but were asked try and make the biggest positive impact with their money as possible...

So, Steve's group (I joined in), decided to make care packages for the homeless... We went to a Thrift store and Dollar General, and bought blankets, tooth brushes, socks, hats, gloves, toilet paper, and bottled water... then we put them together in packages and went to a shelter (ARCH) on 7th and Red River in Austin to hand them out...

I had NO idea how many people there were there!!! I know I've been in that area before... but have I been that blind to the homeless people? I'm ashamed that I never noticed!

We met up, grabbed our bags and walked up the alley... before we even got halfway up the alley, all of our care packages had been given out to very grateful men and women... But there were SO many of them... most of them asked for socks ... some asked for Dr. Scholl's inserts... It made sense though... their feet are the most important part to them..

It was really moving... and we all wished that we could do more... but, that was the best thing about the experience...

I think more churches should do something similar: give money to their congregations and let them help people.... i thought it was an amazing experience and I'm so glad I was able to be a part of it.


















Here's a message that was emailed from one of the group members, Ramy:

Last Thursday, for our Last Soul Rev Meeting, I told my peeps they were getting a secret envelope on Sunday, and I challenged them not to open it until 3PM when we all met back at the church/school. That's all the info I gave them... By the way, we are probably the only church in history that gives money back to the congregation. So Sunday comes, the group holds true to their commitment and at 3PM we all meet with our closed envelopes. I tell them how proud I am of their accomplishment and then I discuss the mission: to combine our funds, divide it in 2 for 2 groups, then for the next hour to scour South Austin Dollar and Thrift stores looking for toilet paper rolls, gloves, soap, tooth paste and tooth brushes, blankets, socks, beanies, jackets, and water bottles. An hour later we met at a parking lot at Congress and Oltorff and assembled 39 care packs. Then we drove up to 7th and Red River and passed them out while mingling with some new friends. It was awesome, and one of our new friends, Derrick Clark, will be performing with the South Band for Offering this Sunday. He is a poet and we decided we were going to make music to one of his poems and play it at church. Also the team has all committed to each setting aside $20 and a Sunday Afternoon a month to repeat the mission!!!
Thank you God for using Gateway yet again...