Have 4th of July Plans???
What better way to celebrate the freedom that we enjoy and a day off than to use it to love and serve some folks in need. Hugh Hollowell, leader of "Love Wins", is organizing a picnic for the homeless in Moore Square that day and he's looking for help. Check out the info below and contact Hugh if you'd like to get in on this thing.
Dear Friends,
A lot of you have wanted to know some practical ways you can help in our mission of loving the poor, homeless and destitute of Raleigh, North Carolina. Here is your chance.
At 4pm on the Fourth of July, 2008 we are going to have a cookout in Moore Square (click here for a map) in Downtown, Raleigh. There will be hot dogs, baked beans, watermelon and soft drinks and much more (we hope, anyway). If somebody could bring some guitars and such, that would be pretty cool too. We are going to be on the Person St. side of Moore Square, across the street from the Salvation Army.
Some of you just read that and thought "Awesome!" Others read that and thought "Why would we want to do that?' For the later group, I detailed some reasons why on this blog post on our humble website.
If experiencing the Kingdom of God with some really cool folks this Fourth sounds like something you would like to be a part of, we need lots of food and help to pull this off. Right now, this is a preliminary list of things we need. If you can provide any of this, give me a shout back.
Tables, probably three of the folding type you see in church basements.
A big grill. Propane would probably be best. We will probably feed about 100-150, although seriously, I have no idea. On a give Sunday, we will feed this many, so it may even be more, given that ya'll reading this letter are going to come out as well, right? I am hoping for 200.
Hot dogs. Don't get the scrawny pink hot dogs, ok? Remember that we are literally feeding Jesus here (the last half of Matthew 25, if you doubt me), so let's get the all beef jumbo franks that you would feed your family. In addition, some of the street people are from a culture that does not eat pork, so we do not want to be exclusive. Everyone can eat together in the Kingdom of God.
Hot Dog Accessories. This would be buns, mustard, ketchup, relish, etc.
Baked Beans. There will not be any where to plug in your crockpot. We will be without electricity. I would ask at least some of you to bring vegetarian beans as well, for the same reasons mentioned above.
Small bags of chips. You can get big boxes of these for not much money at Sam's, Costco and the like.
Watermelon. What is a picnic without watermelon?
Accessories: Plastic forks and spoons, paper plates, salt and pepper, serving spoons, knife to cut the watermelon, napkins, tin foil (in case folks want to take a plate home), all the plastic grocery bags you can spare (like the ones you get at Wal-Mart or Kroger when you check out), paper cups (12oz ones are best).
Cooler: I am thinking a big cooler with lemonade. It will be much cheaper than soft drinks, not to mention easier to prepare and more...picnicy.
If you cannot bring anything, bring yourself and your appetite. Of course, money is always appreciated to help defer the costs and to support our ongoing work. This is a great opportunity to show some folks who get little respect the love of God in the way of Jesus.
I really hope we can get a large turnout for this. If you can come, send me a return email with how many folks you think you will bring (husband and 3 kids, say) and which, if any, items on the list you can bring. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
By the way, if you belong to a church or other house of worship, a Sunday school class or other small group or just know other people who may be interested in coming out and having fun and food with us, PLEASE forward this email to them, would you?
Love Wins. Always.
Hugh
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