Gleaning, by Josh Droke

In the Old Testament, farmers were instructed to “not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the LORD your God.'" (Leviticus 23:22)  The poor and needy would come along and harvest some food for themselves in a process called gleaning. It’s a concept that more and more service groups are trying to bring back in modern day America.

In today’s world, it looks a little different, though. We are now a global society, and most of the poorest and hungriest people in the world live nowhere near an American farmer or orchardist. So organizations gather together groups of people willing to give of their time to harvest, dry, and ship this food around the world. This summer, the East Hills Youth are going to be some 
of those people.

July 12th-20th, a number of youth and a couple of adults will be headed down to the high temperatures and plentiful peaches of central California for a week of picking fruit so that others can eat. These young people are willing to give up a week of their summer and work exceedingly hard, just to give of themselves (and we’re planning on having a good time while we’re at it).

Thanks to your generous support, we are much of the way fundraised for this trip already. However, there is still about $600 left to go, and we have the easiest of ways for you to help: Just give us the stuff lying around your house, garage, shed, and yard that you don’t want anymore. We will put it into our garage sale on Saturday, June 28 here at the church and all the proceeds will go to helping kids do good service work like this. In the same way that the orchardist will give of his excess peaches, you can give of your excess stuff to help us get down there!

Please be praying for our group as we prepare to go. Be praying for good attitudes, team unity, character, and perseverance. Most of all, please pray that the food we pick will change the lives of those who receive it, and the act of service will change those of us who pick it.

Thank you for all of your support of the East Hill’s amazing youth!  Be blessed.