God's Economy

God’s Economy

One of our regular volunteers shared with me last Saturday night how God’s numbers often just don’t add up. I laughed when she said that because I am Forever Fed’s actual “keeper of the numbers” and I know what she says is true. I’m continually marveled, amazed, and often completely flummoxed by God’s economy.

At year’s end most organizations typically look back at the last twelve months and compare the number of services they’ve provided to the number of dollars it took them to do so. Successful businesses cut programs that are more costly and less efficient and programs that operate with a greater return are grown to net an increase in financial return.

Three and a half years into directing Forever Fed I’m coming to truly appreciate the vast difference between our worldly economy and God’s economy. The largest challenge in directing and planning for a faith based non-profit is that most of the tried and true business applications simply don’t apply. I’ve decided this is because God’s economy looks nothing like the worlds.

Some of Forever Fed’s most expensive events are the block parties. We are seeing a high yield in spiritual growth in the lives of a few individuals we serve face to face at these events which has only been achieved through years of showing up faithfully and gaining their trust. This has allowed us to not only share our faith but also teach and mentor these folks as well. This requires an investment of both time and money. Forever Fed’s leadership has often prayed and discussed the option to cut back on the more expensive events and increase the least expensive programs in hopes of reaching more people with food. The answer our leadership has received is a resounding “No”. What we do is about faith, not food. The food is simply the avenue to share our faith. So we continue down the road, doing our best, and seeking His direction, knowing He will continue to provide for the events He’s blessed and praying He’ll continue bless the events we’ve chosen to do.

Truth: In the year 2013, we did everything we did, doing our best with what we had, and our total operational spend was a little less than $38,000. This still blows my mind. I have no idea how we accomplished such a feat. We served 18,000+ prepared meals, distributed 48,732 pounds of groceries and we launched new programs and expanded our services to the organizations and neighborhoods we support for less than….$38,000. No kidding. We really did-or I should say “God did”. Hopefully now you’ll see why I’m so flummoxed by God’s economy-the numbers just don’t add up.  You can see our annual report for 2013 on our website www.foreverfed.org/aboutus

Our 2014 Leadership Challenge: How exactly do we accomplish forming a budget for 2014 in the world in which we operate on a Godly based economy? Who in the world can plan serving that many meals and distributing that much food with so few dollars? Evidently God can. Forever Fed’s Board of Directors has several very business savvy individuals with much experience who are advising,  making suggestions, and constantly raising our bar of performance standards. At our Board meeting in December we discussed 2014’s budget from both a business angle and a faith based perspective and I think every one of us left that meeting just shaking our heads at what God has done through Forever Fed in 2013. On the flip side, we were all a bit flummoxed at how we are supposed to budget for 2014. So here’s what we decided. We’d pray.

Our Decision: We THINK we know it will take us $43,000 to do what we did last year-minus the great grocery give away event. The increase realized in this year’s budget is because we increased our fleet of vehicles to include a pick-up truck which involves an increased insurance and fuel expense. A local congregation has already donated sufficient monies to fund our entire 2014 transportation expense. Wow, what a huge blessing for a mobile ministry! God is good! We are also actively working on a new agreement with another body of faith about providing us with a home kitchen free of charge. This is yet another HUGE blessing to a ministry that will prepare over 20,000 meals in 2014! Wahoo!

Yet, in our earthly based budget of dollars in and dollars out-it appears we still have a $5000 short fall for 2014. Are we worried? Not really. We’re praying. It’s all good.

Are we called to do more? Actually, yes, we are. So, while we’re praying for God to provide the additional $5000 to cover our budgeted dollars, listed below are also additional projects we believe God will bless as they expand programs we are already doing. If you can help financially, we’d love to receive your gift. You can donate online at Foreverfed.org/donations. Our mailing address is there as well if you’d rather send a check.

Can you help with prayers? Please do! When the Body of Christ prays together awesome blessings always happen, if not financial blessings, then blessings of increased discernment. God is so good. Forever Fed has always had enough to do the job God has given us to do! Always.

Finally, I’m proud to say I’ve morphed my “Director’s Attitude” in the last 30 days from one of high anxiety and worry to one of peace in knowing God’s got this, hands down.  My attitude change alone is a miracle in itself. I’ve been given a fountain of joy and I’m still laughing at the ridiculousness of God’s economy. I know the numbers just don’t add up.  My smile and laughter are fueled  by the joy experienced while watching God’s hand at work and knowing we’ll see many more miracles this year. If you are lacking in joy, I have plenty to share. You, as a community, were part of our 2013 miracle as well.  If you want to hear about the miracles we’ve seen in the last year-let’s have coffee. I’m happy to share but be careful of what you ask me and only feed me decaf coffee…because I’m just bubbling over with good news and I’ll likely talk your ears off!

2014 Funds Needed in Order of Priority

1. We need $5000 additional dollars to continue providing the services we have calendared in 2014.  As we get larger the general expense of running Forever Fed increases as well. Our total spend in 2013 was $37,863. We anticipate the cost of maintaining our services ‘as is’ to be $43,000.

2. We need $3000 to provide up to 22 additional children in high need with backpack groceries twice each month. These children attend the Paths to Shine mentoring program at Scott Mill Chapel which we already support with heavy snacks. These children live in food unstable homes.

3. We need $5,200 to provide Goshen Valley Boys Ranch with a weekly meal. Goshen Valley is a large foster home/ranch in Waleska. We’d like to ease their burden of preparing meals once a week so the house parents can have a night off from meal prep to spend more quality time with the children they mentor.

4. We need $4,800 to distribute bags containing 1# of dried beans and 2# of rice to our guests attending our Block Party Events. When eaten together, beans and rice are a complete dietary protein filled with healthy nutrients. Providing this one regular gift to our guests at our Forever Fed Block Parties would be a tremendous blessing.

5. We need $5,000 for a 2014 Great Grocery Give Away.  In 2013 the ACFB donated a semi-truck filled with USDA foods for Forever Fed to distribute in a single day. The leadership for this event wants to do it again however this year we’ll need to purchase the USDA foods at $0.16/lb.  We estimate the total cost of this event to be $5,000. For a cost of $10/family we can provide 60pounds  of USDA groceries per family which is a huge blessing. At the 2013 give away over 50% of the recipients were senior citizens. And over 80% of those families receiving groceries requested prayers from our prayer team that very day.

Transitions

Over three years ago, Forever Fed served a man the first hot meal he’d had in 6 months at our very first Forever Fed event. One of his neighbors knew he was without utilities in his house so she grabbed him and brought him to our event. When he told me his story at that event I knew, without a doubt, that this is why God had us begin Forever Fed, a mobile food ministry. We sent only one meal home with him since he had no electricity to power a refrigerator and no way to safely store food. It seemed like a small thing at the time but for him it was the beginning of restoration.

Upon his gradual return to society over the next few years one Church made sure that the power to his home was restored. Soon after, The Nehemiah Project empowering youth from several Churches, restored some windows and the front porch on his home. He began utilizing the resources in his neighborhood and attended Celebrate Recovery meetings. He even began frequenting Church services and gained a church home and the love and concern and prayerful support of a pastor. So basically, this a man who was very depressed, isolated, and alone, without power or utilities in his home, slowly rejoined his community, became a participant in life, and gained many new friends. Hallelujah! Not only did we rejoice with him, we had a success story. Out of the 40 Forever Fed events we held at his Church location since our first meeting he’s been present at 35 of them, if not more. The coolest thing was I gained a valued friend. If it weren’t for Forever Fed, our paths would have never crossed.  

And then he arrived at a crisis. He lost his home about six months ago. He was able to rent a room for a while but that ended when his money ran out. His years of barely surviving on his own rapidly spiraled downward into homelessness in a very short time. This is a classic example of how people in poverty are one step away from living on the street. In fact, most folks we serve are just like him. They don’t even have a vehicle to live in if they lose their shelter. In the non-profit world we label this demographic as pre-homeless and they are Forever Fed’s targeted audience.  Our hope is to support pre-homeless families and individuals so when they do have a crisis they’ll be able to sustain their livelihood with a little extra food and clothing or other resources through our combined support networks.

For weeks, as my friend went from couch to couch within his community we took him the groceries our support network provided for us to give-every Friday. The groceries you donated flowed through Forever Fed and allowed him to contribute to the households in which he was staying. His ultimate fall into living on the street was mostly because those he stayed with were also struggling mightily to make ends meet. Even with the extra groceries they simply couldn’t sustain one more person in their crowded and unstable homes.

On Thursday December 12^th he finally ran out of couches to sleep on. He called to tell me he was sitting on the steps of his church with his suitcase and his dog and had nowhere else to go.

I was at the food bank picking up supplies when he called. We prayed together on the phone for guidance, my voice quavered a bit and he quickly told me, “Susan please don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”  When our conversation finished I was boo hooing like a baby in the food bank parking lot. Even though we all saw it coming, his arrival at the bottom was still a painful ordeal and everyone involved was heartbroken. At the time of that call I felt like we had all failed him.

But did we fail? In hindsight, we did not. The truth is, the community supported him to the best of our ability and we gave what we had trying to keep him sheltered and fed for 3 years. When you stand back and look at the big picture, there is a great beauty in that marriage of our communities and their resources. The Faith Community intersected with his immediate community and together we were and still are successful. Had we not intersected, he’d have been homeless years ago.

I’d like to point out, this isn’t a Susan or Bob thing, it’s an entire faith community thing. We were only one of many who have loved and supported this man over the years.

Is our job done? No. Our job transitioned into a different type of support. I’m sure you know- transitions are often painful. When he tapped out the resources in his immediate community it became the job of our expanded community to step in and help in new ways.

Amazingly, through the generosity of many others (and thanks to Facebook and text messages) we were able to round up some tents and heavy duty sleeping bags to keep him warm and safe. We’ve provided extra warm clothing, several hugs, warm food, and heartfelt encouragement. Not once in the last few days did anyone point out how he ended up where he is. Trust me, he already knows. We just loved him for who he was unconditionally. Most importantly, we were there when he crashed and we’ve done everything we could to set him up for success in his new situation. This is a win.

Last night was his first night sleeping alone outdoors. While my heart is heavy and I’m trying as hard as I can NOT to be angry that our county doesn’t have a single emergency shelter for people like him, I will not give up on this man nor will I abandon him as a lost cause. I can only imagine what his quiet evening alone in a tent with only his dog was like. Hours alone in a tent, no TV or radio to interrupt his thoughts, his first night living on the street and not knowing what the next hour would bring—it’s the perfect setting for a heart to heart conversation with your maker.  Everyone’s pit looks different.

Why didn’t we just take him into our home until we could find housing for him? Trust me. Many people have traveled down that thought path repeatedly over the last 24 hours. Ultimately, we all arrived at the same conclusion. We didn’t bring him home because we know God has a purpose for his life. We didn’t bring him home because God works and molds hearts through our painful transitional experiences. We didn’t bring him home because when you rescue people from the consequences of their actions everyone loses and valuable lessons never get learned. We didn’t bring him home or buy him more hotel stays because none of those options were sustainable long term.

Our success lies in the fact that The Body of Christ’s network of support once again provided for his physical needs to survive. Not only that, they went above and beyond what was expected in loving their neighbor. One very busy businessman took time out of his day on Friday to assemble tents for shelter. Another caring person who knew we were worried stopped by and check on him last night after he left work and took him a flashlight and a prayer. I am always amazed when witnessing the Body of Christ coming together in a large way. I don’t know why it amazes me. I see it all the time.

Most of all, I know that the relationship we’ve fostered for the past three+ years  with this man prompted him to call us when he was in a crisis. When his network of support was spent, our network kicked in with abundant blessings. YOU kicked in and shared YOUR abundant blessings with him. And guess what…if there had been a shelter available to him, he would have been “the shelter people’s problem” and there would be less opportunity for us to show our love. This is not a failure on anyone’s behalf, it’s a success any way you view it. Ironically, as Forever Fed continues to intersect with the lives of those in need, that degree of separation that allows us to “let someone else worry about that” is consistently removed. Loving your neighbors face to face means investing in their lives and loving them when they hit bottom.

It’s an awesome thing to see God’s plan for our combined communities to unfold before your very eyes. It was all due to the transition of one man’s arrival to homelessness.

This is what loving your neighbors looks and feels like. It’s wonderful, it’s painful, it’s time consuming, it glorifies God.

Watching the Body of Christ in action and witnessing the fruit of 3+ years of hard labor bringing communities together is perhaps the best Christmas present Bob and I have ever received. This is not a time to be sad it’s a time to rejoice. God wins again and we got to see it happen!

Thank you.

The Smell of Smoke

She walked slowly from her door to greet me at my truck, she looked physically uncomfortable. She appears to be much older than I am but she’s actually a few years younger. Poverty ages people. I was prepared to not like her.  I had seen on the online database that she was a “frequent flyer” to the food assistance network and it appeared that she has been “working the system” for a while. She had also been less than truthful when we spoke on the phone and there’s nothing that pushes my “dislike button” worse than folks who are dishonest.

The groceries I had for her had spilled in the bed of my truck. As we were trying to gather them up we were laughing together at my efforts. Being 5’4” tall is a handicap when you have an 8 foot bed on your truck. Oh to be just a few inches taller. As it turns out, laughter is a great tension reliever. I look up and thank God for the icebreaking humor even if it was at my expense. I had paperwork for her to fill out and sign and asked if we could go inside to sit and chat for a moment. She was very kind and asked me inside.

The first thing that struck me was the smell of smoke. I’ve a very sensitive nose and it took everything I had to not to go back outside just to escape the smell. Unkind thoughts of giving food to someone who claims to be in need yet whose home reeks of cigarette smoke circle in the outskirts of my critical thoughts. However, I’ve learned through the years God calls us to love and not judge and simply push those thoughts aside. As I spent a little time putting the groceries down in her kitchen lacking both a refrigerator and a stove I realized the smokey smell was different than tobacco smoke but I just couldn’t put my finger on the source.

We sat on her loveseat in her living room and I looked around. Her home was in much better shape than many I’ve visited. I commented on her good choice of picking a home with good windows and doors for winter insulation. She nodded and filled out her paperwork. As she handed back the clip board I asked her if she had a moment to chat or would she just rather I leave. Once again she was kind and polite and asked me to stay. Unfortunately I could see in her eyes she was building her protective personal walls framed with mistrust and negative past experiences. I swear I heard her secretly say, “Well here it comes, the Jesus sell”.

I said a quick prayer. Please God, let her not sweep me into her pile “do-gooder Bible thumping Jesus freaks”. Please let her hear me and know I am sincere.

We talked a bit about how she got to this point of need she was experiencing and that she had been living this lifestyle for a while. I was attentive and sympathetic. I’ve heard many stories. Her details may be different from the last story but all of the stories have a common denominator of struggles, illnesses, job loss, etc. As we talked I noticed shredded boxes close to her fireplace. I came to the conclusion the smoke I smelled was from her burning boxes and different combustibles for heat. I begin to feel the weight of the armor I’ve erected around my heart but manage to keep it securely in place for a bit longer.

She had the need of food, I had food to give. Those were the only two pertinent details God needed me to know today. I’ll do my job, offer heartfelt encouragement, make my exit, and go home. It’s my day off, I can still salvage a few hours of rest this afternoon. Maybe I’ll put up some more Christmas decorations.

Honestly, I’ll admit I work hard at making sure my “heart shields” are securely in place when I visit folks. Having been a nurse I have learned to hear people’s pain but not let it affect how I do my job.  It’s the only way I manage to not get drawn into the drama of dysfunctional lives.  But I wondered how many lectures and Bible verses she’d had thrown at her from previous agencies. I wondered what I could say that would encourage her and break a hole in the mistrustful heart she was guarding. She laughed when I told her I wasn’t there to force Jesus down her throat. I did, however, share with her the same thing I share with many. It’s a brief witness about God our creator and He doesn’t create junk, He creates beautiful masterpieces. I told her she was a beautiful and smart woman that was created for a purpose. If we ever meet again I’ll continue building on this theme to nurture the seed I planted.  

After inviting her to come and help give back to her community by helping prepare meals in the kitchen and I took my leave. On the way out I noticed a wooden chair in her yard and next to it was a saw. I looked back at her and she said she’d been sawing up her furniture and using it for heat.

It was then that a large liberty bell sized clang, clamor, bang and smashing sound rolled through my entire being as my crusty armor fell from my heart. In an instant I realized the smell in her home was from burning furniture. This woman isn’t a “frequent flyer” working the system, she’s a survivor. She doesn’t need my pity, my judgment, nor my disdain. Without my heart shield up I am exposed to feeling her pain for just a moment until I could distance myself by driving away.

I then ponder on the message God gave me when Forever Fed first began. “Be the Church without walls.”

During my afternoon of rest I calculate how many trips it would take for me to get the wood from my woodpile in my back yard up the hill to my truck. I figure about 6 trips will do it. 

John 21

Saturday, November 9^th we arrived for the 40^th time on Scott Mill Chapel’s campus to serve a meal and were humbled beyond measure and a little bit heartbroken. For the first time ever-Forever Fed ran out of food on our serving line at this location and there were 15 people still waiting for meals. We took enough food to feed 175 people and God helped us stretch that food to actually serve 202. This was the largest number of individuals we’ve ever served at this event. My husband Bob and the serving line volunteers looked into the faces of 15 folks in line and had tell them they would not be receiving meals. Those people had waited 20-30 mintues for nothing. Since each person in line usually represents a family of two to four people, the harsh reality was were probably short about thirty to sixty meals. At the end of the night we prayed and asked God to provide abundantly for those families who did not receive meals. We know, without a doubt, those families are in His hands.

Did we fail? No, absolutely not. We served 202 meals in love and we gave absolutely everything we had. We did our best and we'll let God do the rest. In my heart I know God was glorified by our service.  

Here is what was so encouraging and amazing. We’ve invested in this neighborhood in countless ways and now that investment is bearing more fruit that ever before.

Here are some small stories from that evening.

• Three young mothers came together with their children. One was the wife of an American soldier who was serving in Afghanistan.  We forget how little we pay our soldiers. Her children were cold and restless and ready to go home but she needed something that night that we had to give. A meal for her family and clothing for her kids. It was an honor to serve a military family.
• A middle aged couple experiencing strife due to the food stamp cutbacks came to the event for the first time ever. One of our volunteers helping them find clothing said, “They were so thrilled. They looked through the racks of used clothing like they were shopping at Neiman Marcus!” I actually gave this couple a ride home and they were just gushing with thankfulness for the many blessings they’d received that night and they asked, “What time is Church in the morning?”
• One of our regular guests came after he got off of work but we were out of food. I apologized profusely for running short and his reply was not disappointment but excitement. He said, “Wow! I heard y’all fed over 200 people tonight. That’s amazing! I’ll be sure to see you next Saturday at Crisler Street and I’ll try to get there in time to help you set up.” We see this all of the time. In the last three years of serving these folks they've grown from being “takers” and morphed into “givers”.   It turns out that living by example really does bear fruit. Not only that, he was concerned for my feelings and tried to make me feel better. This is the behavior of a friend. There's no more "us and them" there's just "us".
• One of our other ‘regulars’ who has been homeless off and on over the years asked if he could take a box of meals to his neighbors. We said “Of course you can!” So he packed up his meals and off he went. This man who is near and dear to our hearts wanted to give back to the very people who have helped and supported him for the last several years. Empowering others to give back and be a blessing to their nieghbors may be one of the most fruitful things we do.
• One of our new guests came to me and twirled while modeling her new coat. She’d found it amongst the clothing we distributed and she was just beaming with joy over her find. If you were the one who donated a light pink knee length women’s coat to us your donation brought great joy to one of God’s precious children. Thank you.

In the 21^st chapter of John, Jesus asks Peter, "Do you love me?" and Peter declares His love for Jesus multiple times and then Jesus tells him to "Feed my sheep, take care of my sheep, and feed my lambs." These statements by Jesus are not only for us to see to physical needs of others but spiritual needs as well. What do His lambs and sheep look like? They look like the people I described above.  

Forever Fed, Inc. a mobile ministry. We thought God was nuts when He led us to travel into needy neighborhoods and just love on people. His direction for this ministry was very clear to the leadership. He kept showing us to feed and love others and to lead by example in His name. What a crazy idea. But, through being obedient and staying our course, look what happened.

A community grew in love for each other and God was glorified.  

Thank you all so much for your support!

Susan V.

The Great Grocery Give Away!

We did it! We received, sorted, and packed groceries for 500 families and distributed them on the morning of May 25th. Thank you to everyone who helped, prayed, and took part in this wonderful event. There will be many stories to follow. For now, here are some pictures taken by Bob Tewksbury of this event.