What an event Rockharbor! We got to partner with an incredible organization that is doing life-changing, Kingdom work all across the globe. This was our 4th time hosting a MobilePack event with Feed My Starving Children. We absolutely love these events!
Feed My Starving Children is an incredible organization that works to provide meals for starving and malnourished children around the world. They strive to see starving children made whole in body and spirit.
We set a goal on the number of meals we wanted to pack and send off to children in need of food and through the support of our over 900 volunteers we were able to wildly surpass that goal! Praise God!
It's sad to hear that with the amount of food that’s available to most of us here in the Treasure Valley, that there are still children around the world that are starving and malnourished. The number we learned was that 1 in 9 around the world are starving and malnourished. FMSC’s goal is to host as many of these events as possible and see that number for from 1 to 0 starving around the globe.
We’re grateful that, as a church, we can come alongside an organization like FMSC and host an event to help make an impact on that number.
The first night of the event was on a Friday, and we set that night aside for 6th-12th grade only. Luke and Jordan were present and brought some amazing energy to the session. Music was playing, the kids were singing, cheering, and packing. The energy was electric!
At the end of the session the goal of 30,000 meals packed was smashed! These kids packed 40,824 meals! Effectively feeding 111 kids for an ENTIRE year!
This set the tone for the weekend. We knew at that point we were going to need more rice, beans, vegetables, and vitamins as raw materials to pack more meals. We’re glad FMSC brought extra raw materials, because we were going to need it!
“He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry.” Psalm 146:7
During the event, our Local Outreach Director, Josh Castaneda, shared a powerful message to set the tone for each session.
He recounted the story of a pastor who was buying a meal for a man who didn’t have food for that day. They went to a fast-food restaurant and the man picked a meal from the menu, the pastor paid and also bought a gift card so the man could buy more meals throughout the week. When the man received his food and the gift card, he looked at the pastor and said, “thank you, I prayed for you today”. The pastor, caught off guard a little, said “I’m sorry do we know each other”. The man said, “I don’t know you and you don’t know me, but I prayed this morning, Lord can you provide a meal for me to eat today”.
Even though the pastor had never met that man, God answered the man’s prayer.
Reflecting on that story, many of us have never had to pray that prayer. But that prayer is the reality of thousands of people throughout the world. Psalm 146:7 says “He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry.” The Lord hears the prayers of the oppressed and of the hungry and this event was an answer to those prayers.
With 4 total sessions for the weekend, each session our goal of 30,000 meals packed per session was exceeded. Over 900 volunteers were able to exceed our 120,000 meals goal by over 35,000 meals for a total of 155,520 meals packed! In just a single weekend event we packed enough meals to feed over 426 kids for a FULL year! Amazing!
The children receiving these meals don’t know who we are, and we have no idea who they are. Here is what we do know. These children will know that they are loved, and they will feel seen. They will know that there is a God called Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides and He hears their prayers.
If you attended the event and you’re a parent, thank you for being an example to your kids for what it looks like to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Or if you’re part of a community group, we pray that this was an impactful event for the bond of your community group. And, Rockharbor family, thank you for your support for this event, it not only affects the world, but it has an impact on the Kingdom of Heaven!
