Hello all, we hope you have been able to avoid the mind-melting heat we have had this week.
As hot as it was this past Tuesday, we didn’t anticipate our outreach to be very busy. We do set up in the hottest part of the day, 1pm-3pm. But man were we wrong.
This was by far the busiest outreach we have had. Several people were waiting for us when we arrived. Unfortunately there were only 5 on the team this week so I had to accept pretty quickly that it would be mostly a day of meeting the physical needs. We were able to have a couple of good conversations about Jesus but not as many as we would have liked. I have no idea how many people came through in those 2 hours. I do know that we ran out of everything except a few somens hygiene kits and a dozen or so granola bars. We gave out close to 100 bottles of water and 60 bottles of Gatorade and Sunny D, plus however much was used from the 5 gallon water cooler.
By 1:45, the 12 pizzas we started with were gone and I was on my way to get 4 more. By 2:15, those were gone too. We start each Tuesday with 30 hygiene kits for each men and women. By 2:15 all 30 of the men’s kits were gone. And we only had a few women’s kits left. Many people hung around for a while refilling their water bottles from the water cooler and talking to each other but we rarely had a free moment to talk to them other than a quick hello.
As I was buying another case of water from Dollar General, (we set up on their property), the manager mentioned that everyone was here for us. He said that Tuesdays are pretty slow for them until we get there and then they pick up a little bit. But as soon as leave, their business drops off again. He has always been encouraging, telling us how much he appreciates what we are doing for the community and how much they need us to share Jesus in SE.
That being said, we really feel blessed in what God is doing in Southeast Roanoke. It is awesome to watch this ministry grow.
As always, we greatly appreciate your prayers and support. If you feel led to join us on a (or many) Tuesday afternoon, please contact me.
Thank you and God bless you
Derek, Melissa and Alex
Buchanans in the Wild
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