Funny How Things Work....

Over the summer, Jamey and I had some time to read and think (this can be dangerous!) as we prepared for this school year. Jamey gives most of the talks at our weekly meetings for SLO Crusade, and he likes to work his way through a book or section of the Bible (for example, he has taught through the book of Romans - one of my favorites). It's a funny thing how, once you read or hear something, it keeps recurring until it seems to be a theme in your life. For years, my friend Jill and I would tell students that the secret to life is: "Read the Bible and do what it says" - they thought we were just being simple. We actually weren't. Our students have wanted for years to do something to aid orphans overseas. We read a book this summer called Radical by David Platt (a pastor in Alabama, whose church provided foster homes for all of the children on the waiting list in that county - taking care of hundreds of 'orphans') and he then spoke at our staff conference in Colorado. The theme of the book is basically: what if we actually do what the Bible says? (This is easier said than done, of course. I don't know about you, but I've read the Bible, and there is some crazy-sounding stuff in there!) Jamey decided that this year, he would teach through the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus' famous sermon in Matthew 5. This is one of the crazy sections. Still, we wanted to do some kind of project so that our students could tangibly help those in the most need. For a few years, we have been in touch with an organization called Feed My Starving Children, which provides meals for orphans and those in greatest need. Our kids were part of a group of children that packaged thousands of meals for overseas orphanages one summer. What we have here at Cal Poly is the manpower - a thousand people, more or less. What we don't have is the funding. A meal for an orphan costs about 23 cents (not bad!) but to get all of the supplies transported up to SLO and then back to LA, well, that takes more. Then Jamey got a call from a businessman in Paso Robles (just north of us). This man had some money to donate, but not the manpower. He was able to provide the money for 100,000 meals (each meal is a bag containing rice, soy protein, and other nutrients that can be cooked by simply adding boiling water to provide a porridge-like meal for 4 people). Our students still think bigger. They take the verse " God is able to do accomplish more than we might ask or think" seriously (that's Ephesians 3:20), so they have decided to raise money in order to make two-hundred thousand meals. 'Coincidentally', as this was being brainstormed, Jamey kept thinking to himself, "We have four cars." Sounds odd, but in our family, we have three drivers, and four cars. A surplus. And there are verses in the Bible (the book of John, for example) that say things like, "If you have two cloaks, share with the person who has none." Now, we generally like Sandy the Old Station Wagon (some of us more than others!), but Jamey got this idea in his head: that if we could sell tickets for a Surf Wagon Giveaway, we could raise a bit of money for the kits. It would be a great way to share with those who have none. And sometimes, we know that doing something impractical, even extravagant, is what God is telling us to do. So we are going to do it. We will be selling tickets at two SLO Farmers' Markets to raise money for the FMSC event, and we will be giving Sandy the Surf Wagon to one of the ticket holders. And it might seem crazy, but we have learned that when you feel like God wants you to do something, you should probably do it. It will make your heart happy.

If you would like to donate to the event, and possibly win a wonderful surf wagon, you can go to the web site "FMSC.org" and then move your cursor over the option "MobilePack" and scroll down the list to "Mobile Pack Events". You will see our event in the California section. You can then either donate or volunteer if you choose. Or you can click on the link on our slocrusade.com website. Anyone who donates at least 10 dollars is eligible to win Sandy. We are hoping that this will be covered by our local newspaper and tv station and we will keep you posted on how it goes!