Praising God for another successful Blessing Bag Outreach!! 2020 has been a year that has seen so many things done differently, and this outreach was no exception, but God was faithful to allow it to not only happen, but every man in the unit to be blessed! It was a long hard day with only Susan and Bob allowed inside, but she shared with us that it was a great day despite several challenges!!
Twenty of the men were chosen to help out, and they worked very hard to make sure all the bags got filled and distributed! Bob and Susan arrived at the unit at noon on Friday, and the guys jumped in and got the truck unloaded, and they quickly got everything organized and were able to start bagging by 1 p.m. By 4:00, they had 900 bags done and had to put away everything for another gathering that was happening in the chapel.
With Chaplain Robinson having to be at Mountain View to get blessing bags done there, Susan was challenged with completely overseeing this entire event at Hughes by herself with the men that were helping. God was faithful though, and allowed them to have a great time together and everything ran smoothly! They got an early start on Saturday at 6:00 a.m. with only 8 men, but praise God, the remaining guys arrived later in the morning, and by 11:00 they had all but 200 bags knocked out! That’s some fast bagging!! They stopped for lunch with the guys, which they all enjoyed!! Delicious burgers from the Knife & Cork in Gatesville!! Bacon and goat cheeseburgers and mushroom and Swiss cheeseburgers…the guys were practically swooning over them! One of the men said it had been 28 years since he had tasted bacon!!
What a treat it is to be able to bless these guys with some wonderful food for a change, especially when they have worked so hard to help make this event happen! After lunch, they loaded the bags in all the bins and delivered them. They were out and headed home by 6 p.m.A few months ago, with all that has been canceled this year, we weren’t even sure this outreach would be happening, but God is so good and so faithful, and He knew our heart’s desire was to bless the men of Hughes and He made sure that it happened!! We are so very grateful that even though it was different than normal, that these men were given a chance to see God’s love and goodness delivered right to their bunks!
The men that helped out with all of this just couldn’t stop talking about the artistry on the bags and the fact that some of their fellow brothers (from the outside) helped to decorate them! Our brother Tap and his sweet family were some of the people that helped make the bags extra special this year!! We want to thank everyone who spent time helping to make these bags fun and festive!! Thank you so much for all the prayers said for this event! Our prayer is that long after this event has passed, that these men will still be experiencing the overwhelming love that God has for them and their hearts will be open to all that He wants to do in their lives!
