Solution! That’s right, instead of “Houston, we have
a problem”, thanks to you, we can now confidently say “Houston, we have (had) a
solution!” Thank you so much to all the wonderful Good to Go Gang that answered
our emergency email asking for donations to help those negatively affected by
the hurricane that hit Houston around Labor Day this year. The generous,
immediate response helped in ways we can’t fully explain, so we reached out to
pastor Donny Garner for an update.
Donny is one of our favorite motorcoach
drivers, and we have enjoyed sharing with him the activities of their church in
Pearidge, Arkansas. Here are the words from Pastor Garner:
Hello All! First off I hope and pray that this
letter finds you well and blessed! My family and I enjoyed a great
thanksgiving holiday, hope you did as well. In the wake of Hurricane
Harvey we just wanted to share testimony of what God did with, within, and
through the folks at River of Faith Church.
We began gathering items and packing semi trailers Tuesday
morning August 29, 2017, just a few days
after Hurricane Harvey "CRAWLED" through Houston and surrounding
cities. When the packing was finished on Saturday morning the trailers
were hooked up and on their way to Victoria, TX to be parked at a local church
where we had arranged to set up and cook and serve meals. It was a long night of driving three 18 wheelers,
plus a truck pulling a 40 ft. gooseneck trailer full of equipment, two trucks with
camper trailers , a Tahoe with a cooking trailer. Fifteen people landed in the parking lot of the church
and were sent away with the explanation of "We don't need you." Needless
to say...God had other plans! Our team parked the rigs and began driving
around and asking God what we were supposed to do. It was now about 1:30 in the
afternoon and nearing 24 hours from the time the team had left Arkansas.
When I returned home from Church that morning I just
sat down in my chair to gather my thoughts and I remembered a contact that I'd
been introduced to by my friend Edwin Brewer earlier in the year. His
name was Pastor Don Nordin at CT Church in Houston. I immediately made a
call and asked if we could serve them in any way. The pastor was so
excited. They had a team cooking for a
few days but they had to return home because of work schedules following the
dinner meal that evening. Pastor Don and his staff were asking God to send
someone to help feed the people. So I called the team and they headed to Houston
to set up.
When we arrived we had enough food to feed
approximately 300,000 meals (that's a lot of food!) My wife, Lora, myself
and others drove the church van back and forth rotating people between jobs.
God used a small group of folks from our tiny church here in Arkansas to feed those 300,000 meals. A couple
of our guys, John and Jonathan, stayed to "manage" the operation the
entire time. Our team was in Houston to help and hopefully change some
folks lives. While I do believe that happened...our lives were
unmistakably changed! Our team returned home in totality during the first
week of October. Our time in Houston was almost unexplainable. There
were miracles, signs, and wonders and many, many lives touched! God is
All Knowing and He has a big plan for all of us - it's amazing to see what He
can do when we just trust and get involved in His plans! To the travelers
I have come to know in the Grand Lake area, thank you so much, we are so
grateful for everyone who made this mission possible! We received
multiple gifts of food, financial support and people putting their lives on
hold to give their time.
Oh, one more thing, our trailers came home with more
in them than when they left! God is The God of Multiplication!
God Bless you and remember - His plan includes You!
Pastor Donny Garner
So
another thing for which I, Patti Beth, am thankful is YOU and your kind people.
Our travel family does so much more than travel. During this Christmas season
please know that there are many gifts that touch so many. Thank you.
