Friday night we met for a prayer and pep rally, over 1,000 volunteers attended. Saturday we hit Swope Park before the sun came up. The first guest was in line at 4:30am, Why? She told the volunteer she was greeted by, "I need help and I'm hoping to find it here today."
Our outreach director Darwin Boston took the stage where over 2,000 volunteers were gathered. He began to read off the areas where help was needed. I watched my new group of interns wondering what they would volunteer for. The first announcement was, "We need help in the shoe tent, you'll wash the feet of the guests and then put their brand new pair of shoes on them!" I have to admit I was surprised when half a dozen of my girls squealed in glee at this opportunity. Here's a cool story from one in that group, — Convoy of Hope .
Next a handful volunteered to bag and distribute a few thousand bags of groceries. A couple went to work in the Salon tent, where you could get your hair cut, nails done, or a much needed massage, all services were done by professionals of course! The interns went to meet and greet guests and pass out the gift bags of salon items that had been donated! A few interns chose to be gophers, security, and a ton of them chose to spend their day in the prayer tent praying with any guest that desired prayer. I watched a few of the interns hang in the volunteer rally and pass up opportunities to work in the medical tent, the dental tent, the breast cancer foundation tent, the kids area, the food tent, one finally went to the family portrait tent, and one even went to be part of the beautification team (trash-picker-upper!) Then there were two, so I approached the slackers and said, "What are you waiting for?" They said, "We want to work in the "When-I-Grow-Up" tent!" Inquisitively I looked at them and said, "Tha what tent?!" (I kind of thought they had made that up!)
Next a handful volunteered to bag and distribute a few thousand bags of groceries. A couple went to work in the Salon tent, where you could get your hair cut, nails done, or a much needed massage, all services were done by professionals of course! The interns went to meet and greet guests and pass out the gift bags of salon items that had been donated! A few interns chose to be gophers, security, and a ton of them chose to spend their day in the prayer tent praying with any guest that desired prayer. I watched a few of the interns hang in the volunteer rally and pass up opportunities to work in the medical tent, the dental tent, the breast cancer foundation tent, the kids area, the food tent, one finally went to the family portrait tent, and one even went to be part of the beautification team (trash-picker-upper!) Then there were two, so I approached the slackers and said, "What are you waiting for?" They said, "We want to work in the "When-I-Grow-Up" tent!" Inquisitively I looked at them and said, "Tha what tent?!" (I kind of thought they had made that up!)
The "When I Grow Up" tent is new & stinking cool! The kids come up with mom and dad and are asked, "what do you want to be when you grow up?" and everything from Dr., Lawyer, to flying Ninja comes up! Their very first resume' is created and then they are ushered into the costume tent where they can dress up as a Dr., ninja, UPS man, businessman, a fire fighter, etc., their photo is taken and then mom and dad get the printed out copy and resume to put up at home! It's so cool!
People were going home with all kinds of loot, new shoes, new hair cuts, cool shower heads, light bulbs, resumes, jobs, hot dogs, snow cones, Paul Mitchell products, & I don't even know what else, but I was half tempted to turn my volunteer shirt inside out and go through the line! I had to be mobile in case an intern fell and broke their leg or something dumb like that so, I checked out the entertainment stage & chatted with the guests.
Everyone was having a great time, well almost everyone. Two little 7 year old boys sat down in front of me & crossed their arms grumpily. I tapped one on the shoulder and said, "Are you having a good time?" He replied, "No! I'm ready to go home!" I countered with, "Did you go to the kid's zone? There are bounce houses, pony rides, & all kinds of cool stuff!" He scowled, "My grandmama said she don't wanna take us!" Embarrassed I said, "Oh, I'm sorry." I finally got up the nerve to ask grandmama if I could take the boys over to the kid's zone! She didn't hesitate to send them away with me! So for the next two hours, I had Nate & Jayvon, and stood in every hot line there was in the kid's zone! Nate even took his first pony ride! (Inner City KC doesn't have much of a cowboy scene so he was pretty excited!) At one point as we were crossing from one ride to the next, he put his hand on my back and looked up at me with the biggest smile. Needless to say, my day was made!
What happens when the church acts like the church? Little kids smile & grandmama gets a much need break, 4,696 people receive prayer for their many needs. 50 people accept Christ for the first time, 600 families get a family portrait for free, 500 people get free hair cuts, 478 women receive breast exams and education, 700 people get to go home with brand new shoes, 200 get free manicures and massages, 109 get resumes, 450 get new jobs! A guy who gets released from prison in the morning, gets some new outfits, one specifically for his job interviews, a resume, a new haircut, and some much needed prayer. Most of all, over 10,000 people get renewed HOPE!
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