With the roses there come thorns

This has been a week of introspection for me - some sadness, some reflection. Gotta look at the other side once in a while.

We lost a dear friend a couple of weeks ago - Steven Hibler was a guy with boundless energy and a heart for the kids. And he had a way of getting under my skin. So when he unexpectedly went to be with the Lord, I had some issues I had not settled with Steven. As so often happens, I didn't stop to think how much I really loved the guy until it was too late to share it with him. My bad. See you soon, Steven! We love what you did while you were here, and will pick up where you left off.

Debra and I went to eastern Tijuana last Sunday to help celebrate the founding of a new church. It was a real blessing - we met some new friends, and got to put the loving on some precious kids in a poor - poor - poor neighborhood. This church is a plant by another church nearby, in a somewhat more affluent, but still hurting, neighborhood. Heart warming to be able to help in our own small way - food we had earlier collected in the U.S. was being used for a pre-service dinner. Then back to work; one of my co-workers remarks something like 'why don't they just get off their lazy backsides and help themselves?' Of course, I want to shout at her and thereby persuade her that she would benefit so much by just putting aside her perceptions and reaching out to help - but I didn't. Probably the best thing is to smile and walk away. I'm happy that we had the experience of seeing 'them' getting off their backsides and planting a church.
 

We are often told by friends that they would like to help, but are afraid to cross the border because of the violence. There has been violence at the Texas/Mexico border, but no (that's right, NO) reports of violence or threats against missionairies in Baja. Meantime, 12/23/10 a man shot to death at the San Antonio de Padua church in L.A. while police watched, 12/20/10 a man found shot to death in a church parking lot in Visalia, 11/27/10 two shot leaving a church in Santa Ana, 11/16/10 a man shot to death on the steps of a church in Oakland. That's just SoCal, and just the past couple of months. I feel much safer among my hermanos y hermanas in Mexico than in many neighborhoods here. And there is plenty to be done on this side of the border - packing parties, raising awareness of the Hilarious Givers mission of spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ by sharing our abundance. Donating. Making introductions. All necessary, and all without risk.

 

So, there is plenty of evil around us, and even within us. But there is hope. And love. All there for the asking - just have faith and reach out, and there it is.

 

God is good!

 

 

Starting off the new year right

Saturday was our first food distribution of 2011, and the first general distribution from our new facility. We had earlier facilitated 180 cases of high-nutritional-density "Manna Packs" to Club Dust, who serves working poor families living along the railroad tracks just east of Tijuana. That was a fairly simple exercise for Hilarious Givers; the food had been obtained by People Helping People, and Club Dust picked it all up at once. Piece of cake. But Saturday was different.

We missed a month in December; during Christmas season many churches get involved in outreaches of their own, and we were occupied with moving into our new digs. So we were apprehensive over what success we would have in our first distribution from our new facility. We shouldn't have been; things went smoothly, two new missions were added to our list of supported programs, and kids are being fed.

The numbers: 14 missions and feeding programs supplied, 1,428 kids being fed, roughly 2 1/2 tons of food distributed. But the numbers are only an imperfect measure.  Better to think of the lives touched, the children who are being fed; not just rice and vegetable soup, but fed spiritually. Kids learn of a loving God, who cares about their needs and meets those needs through the kindness of strangers.

What a blessing to be called to serve these little images of God!

Hilarious Givers: Packing Party Musings

Hilarious Givers: Packing Party Musings: "We had our first packing party at our new warehouse on Saturday. For the first time, we could open our doors to families who came ..."

Packing Party Musings

We had our first packing party at our new warehouse on Saturday. For the first time, we could open our doors to families who came to volunteer - not just the teen and near-teen sons who come with their dads to learn about serving and giving, but actual families. So besides the youngsters moving bags of vegetable soup mix from 300 pound drums to 50 pound sacks, there was a young mother herding her toddler around the office. Instead of just the guys who came to hurry through the task to get on with their Saturday routine, the ladies came and had a chance to fellowship with other hilarious givers.

What makes this important? I think it shows a certain maturing of our mission. No one would have even thought of bringing the little ones before. But now, nobody thinks a second thought about it. Kids are watching, and parents are building memories of Mom and Dad stepping up to help the less fortunate among us.

So, we prepared loads for something like 20 missions and feeding programs for this month, probably about 6,000 pounds of nutrition for needy kids. And we helped prepare our own kids for a future of service in His name. Not bad for a couple of hours on a Saturday morning!

The Family of God

What a joy to share this weekend with my family! Not the one I grew up in, not the one I married, but the one that God has led me into.

Not that I dislike my birth family or my wife or kids - quite the contrary. I cherish all that, and am thankful for each of them. But Debra and I spent this weekend with our church and mission families. We laid the foundation for this year's outreach to the orphans and other needy kids in Baja. We were joined by groups from Eastlake Church, Rancho Vista Church, Momentum Church, and an Assembly of God church whose Spanish name I don't recall. Friends from Lake Elsinore and Ramona in Riverside County made the trip to help out. We started early Saturday morning and worked through Sunday evening. And now, this morning, our first shipment of food will be arriving at our new warehouse.

This is what it must have been like when our ancestors held community barn-raising parties - everyone working toward a common goal, nobody seeking the easy way, but rather searching for the difficult task to complete. It was a lot of hard work, and could not have been accomplished without the dedication and motivation of a lot of generous folks.

We're changing lives in Baja, and feeding hungry kids. Thanks, God! Good job.

Just like Christmas Eve.

When my brothers and I were kids in Washington, Christmas Eve was a delicious combination of anticipation and frustration. We were not allowed to even peek at the presents under the tree. Mom would get upset with us for shaking presents to see if they rattled. We wanted to stay up to check out the sleigh-and-reindeer thing, but Dad would shoo us off at 8:00 or so to go to bed. We wouldn't sleep, of course, but we were out of the way.

Six decades later, here I am. I woke up this morning thinking it was Saturday. Nope, it's Saturday Eve! Tomorrow morning I get together with some of my mission family to kick-start our 2011 program. We're going to descend upon the Borders Bookstore and claim a bunch of warehouse shelving, desks, office chairs, and odds and ends to take to our now-empty warehouse. Then off to the warehouse to set it all up. I scarcely can wait! And another brother has located some additional heavy-duty shelving which he will bring to the warehouse tomorrow, as well.

On Tuesday, our first load of food is scheduled in, and sometime next week we hope to move the food we have at our Pilot Freight/Miramar Transport location down. We'll have about 20 pallets ready for a packing party next weekend. 6 pallets are already designated for feeding programs in the La Mision area, and the rest will go quickly - some to Maneadero and La Zorrillo, some to Tijuana, some to Tecate. Lots of hungry kids will get fed. And so the year starts!

Debra has hired a team of exterminators to make sure no food goes to rodents - a pair of warehouse cats. All we need is a fireplace and it will be just like home. (I wonder what kind of animals we men would be if God had not given Adam his tender partner, Eve.)

As a kid, I don't remember ever being disappointed on Christmas morning, even though during some of those years finances were pretty slim. I was delighted with new clothes and school supplies. Now, the blessings are grown-up. I have never been at a place in my life where I have been more blessed than during these past few months. Side-by-side with Debra, circled by generous and helpful friends, with a family of thousands of precious kids. And directed each step of the way by a loving and caring God.

So, God, are you going to tell me what's in store for Hilarious Givers this year? Not even a peek? How 'bout I shake it to see if it rattles? No? OK - I'm off to work. I wish I knew what gifts are in store for us, but I have faith that they will be beyond my wildest expectations.

The Secret is OUT!

Prayers get answered.

On Friday I signed an agreement with the owner of the warehouse we have been using. We are going to be staying at our new warehouse for an additional 12 months!

This is a tremendous gift to our kids. It is a real encouragement to us at Hilarious Givers, and to the tireless directors, drivers and volunteers of the missions and feeding programs we serve. Instead of an hour round-trip from the border to our Miramar warehouse, the new warehouse is just five minutes from the border. We can host distributions, packing parties and other events without worrying about imposing on a busy business.

Of course, we now have responsibilities that have, until now, been carried by our generous corporate sponsors Pilot Freight and Miramar Transportation. We have the expenses of utilities, insurance, trash and the like. And when there is a delivery or pickup we can't just rely on the warehouse folks to take up the slack; we will have to arrange to take time away from our everyday activities (like earning a living - we're tentmakers here) to be at the warehouse.

All this is part of God's plan - I am absolutely confident that He will provide for our needs in carrying out His mission for us. Already we have been blessed. Our neighborhood Borders Bookstore is closing its doors. We were able to get warehouse shelving and office furniture to completely outfit our new digs for a few hundred dollars. A misfortune for the folks at Borders, but a real blessing to us and our kids.

So, keep Hilarious Givers in your prayers! It works!