I’m not scared to dig in the trash…
On Monday night, after a night of DoorDashing with my buddy Jeff, we found ourselves joking about horoscopes and the idea of a website predicting the future.
The next day, Joshua Jones mentioned his buddy Nic had invited him and Jeff to volunteer with Samaritan’s Purse in Western NC. This sparked a thought: “We have access to a food truck and a talent for cooking. We should go serve food.”
Within seconds, our ideas, challenges, fears, hopes, and faith swirled together.
For each challenge or fear that came up, we told each other, “I don’t know, I have no answers, but I know we are meant to take the food truck and serve.”
Then, someone would call, a Google search would yield answers, or someone would pick up the phone. Every fear and challenge disappeared. It felt as though every concern we spoke aloud was a prayer, and God answered immediately.
God showed up.
“How are we going to pay for this?” We had little money in ’Que it Forward and couldn’t fund it ourselves.
God showed up as people buying ’Que it Forward plates.
The orders printed nonstop, flooded with ’Que it Forward sales.
“Where are we going to serve?” I searched “food truck” on Facebook and found Boiling Springs Baptist Church. They had been serving 400 people a day. Josh called the church.
God showed up as a lady who answered the phone and said, “Talk to my pastor.”
She explained that power had been out for days, and while they had a food bank, supplies were running low from serving 300-400 people daily. She gave Josh the number of a gentleman to call, advising him to call in a few minutes, as he was serving lunch.
How do you lose a phone number you just wrote down?! Josh had written the number on a piece of paper and put it in his pocket. As he went to call, he realized he lost it.
God showed up as “Dale” on Josh’s caller ID.
“Tell me who you are and what you’re trying to do. We’re nothing like Asheville, but we’ve got folks out of power who lost their groceries. Our church started feeding people, but we’ll run out of food on Wednesday, and we can’t pay for what you want to do.”
“When are we going to do this? What if the people who need us need us tomorrow, or Thursday? We might have to cancel an event.”
God showed up as a kind, forgiving brewery.
Boiling Springs Baptist Church had served their last free meal on Wednesday, leaving the community with no free meal on Thursday. The kind folks at Pour 64 supported our decision to cancel our Thursday event.
On Wednesday, God had laid out the plan, and we got to work as Apostle ‘Que, Feeding His Sheep One Pig At A Time.
God showed up—this time in His own words, from His number one bestseller.
See, back on Monday before Jeff and I joked about horoscopes and a websites ability to predict the future, God had actually already gave us a heads up into our week ahead, we just didn’t realize it until Wednesday.
Earlier that Monday, during our Bible study, we read Acts 4:32-37: “There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need.” (Acts 4:34)
We found ourselves witnessing and experiencing this verse.
Thursday arrived—go time! We loaded the food truck for our two-hour journey to Boiling Springs, NC.
“But what if nobody shows up? We can’t eat all this food!”
God showed up as…
An older gentleman who hadn’t had a hot meal since Saturday
A church cafeteria worker bringing a meal to her family and neighbors
A mother of five children
A father of six, bringing a meal to his wife serving at a shelter
A boy in an Avengers shirt, taking a break from the playground for a meal
A teen in an Ice Cube shirt, agreeing Ice Cube is the greatest rapper ever
A man bringing a plate to his 98-year-old neighbor
A lady in line offering to help the person in front of her
A kind woman in a Spider-Man shirt, dining with her husband who was waiting on his Spider-Man costume to arrive
A mom and dad of triplet boys
A community gathering at Boiling Springs Baptist Church
Todd ,who stayed behind with Austin while we set out on this mission
Jeff, who prepped slaw, the truck, and helped serve all 322 people
God showed up as, a person at the Meat & Greet window, receiving a BBQ dinner that had already been paid for.
Thursday night, after we left Boiling Springs Baptist Church, we stopped at the KFC/Taco Bell next door.
God showed up again—as a KFC/Taco Bell employee who helped us find our lost order and stopped me from digging through the trash for the receipt, saying, “Ma’am, you don’t have to do that.”
I replied, “I’ve been on a food truck for four hours—I’m not scared to dig in the trash for a receipt if needed.”
He blessed us with his response: “Yeah, I know who you are. The whole town knows—the food truck giving free meals.”
Now, here I am on Friday morning, sharing the same sentiment as that employee—but about Jesus.
Jesus says, “Stop digging through your trash—you don’t have to do that.” And I reply, “Yeah, I know who You are. The whole town knows. You’re the Son of God, who died for my sins, offering redemption and salvation.”
Amen.
