Forced to Leave for Good Cause

    Today I had a wonderful time being told to “leave the premises.” 
    All of us have been inundated with news of the tragedy of what has happened over the past week in Haiti.  Story after story, picture after picture, interview after interview have touched our hearts, and most of us have wondered, “What can I do?”
    There are many ways in which we can help, but the Lynchburg District of the United Methodist Church sent out an invitation for whoever wanted to come, to help put together 100,000 meals for the folks of Haiti through the organization “Stop Hunger Now.”  This is a wonderful organization which puts together meals filled with dried vegetables, a chicken broth tablet, soy, and rice, as well as 21 nutrients.  These are packaged, sealed, then shipped to those in need.  If you want to learn more, click on www.stophungernow.org .
    I first heard of this event through Facebook, and we were able to deploy more than 30 people from my church to be there.   The estimate of attendees was 2200.
    We were lucky enough to get there early in the process, but when we did, there were at least 600 folks already packaging, weighing, and boxing the meals.  As we got settled into the routine, more and more people showed up.  So much so that there were TOO many workers.  Literally, the line wound around the school and out of sight.  Soon an announcement came from the leadership, “We are very thankful for your service, but we have to ask you to please allow this to be a shift, so that the next shift of workers can come in and do there part.”  We’d been there less than an hour, and already over 20,000 meals were completed.
    It’s funny, it’s not too often that one feels good about being kicked out of a place, but today I did.  When we left the building, there was a line longer than a football field filled with people ready to do something to make a difference for the people of Haiti.  They were anxious and a bit impatient, while those who had been inside doing our part were filled with joy and amazement that God had brought so many together so that others could eat.

    So often on the news or in the workplace we hear about how folks will NOT respond, or how there is just not enough time in the day, and yet today thousands of people showed up at a high school in Forest, VA, and hundreds of thousands will be fed because of our efforts. 
    I was thinking, maybe it would make more sense for us to focus on how we CAN make a difference, rather than all the ways it seems we can’t.  Maybe we should be more cognizant of the positives of human nature, rather than the negatives.  Maybe, with God’s help, we could actually change lives, if we were but willing to take a step, take the time, and gather together to make a difference in the world.