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The church foyer was set up with numerous indoor
booths that included handcrafted jewelry, wreaths, quilts, Christmas
décor and ornaments, baby gifts, fashion accessories, “man cave”
items, baked goods, breads, jams, honey, home canned goods, homemade
candies, and handmade items from various mission fields.
While people were shopping, they could park their car at the curb by
the church’s Pekin Street entrance. For a donation, Aaron Roemer and
his father Art checked the vehicle’s tire pressure and oil, topped
off windshield washer fluid, washed the windshields and dusted and
vacuumed the vehicles’ interior.
At the H.O.T. spa, people could get their hair braided or nails
painted for a small donation.
For the second year in a row, people could
participate in a passport experience by purchasing a “passport” for
a $10 donation. This passport allowed them to visit different areas
to learn more about some countries the International Disaster
Emergency Service has helped over the years. These countries include
Guatemala, Haiti, India, Kenya, Kosovo, Myanmar, Tajikistan and
Tanzania.
At these areas, people could have their face painted. The Burmese
people in Myanmar often have gold painted cheeks for decoration. The
high SPF in the thanaka paste made from the ground bark of
sandalwood trees also helps protect them from the hot sun.
In the sanctuary was tour guide Angela Rogers, who
for many years served with her family as a missionary in Africa.
Rogers represented ministries that included COPE ministries, the
East African Christian mission and CMF Kenya and Tanzania. She
shared a Swahili language lesson to teach everyone some basic terms,
then showed everybody items from Africa.
Activities at other stations included getting Henna body art, making
colorful handmade kites and creating flowers from tissue paper.
Downstairs in the children’s ministry area, a Lego
station was set up and several children and their families enjoyed
building with Legos.
God Always Provides (G.A.P) represented the mission
International Disaster Emergency service. In this area, people of
all ages had an opportunity to serve together by packing nutritious
meals for those suffering from hunger around the world. Each sealed
packets contained rice, soy, dehydrated vegetables, and vitamins and
minerals. In just a few hours, over 2000 packets were boxed up.
In the morning, hungry shoppers enjoyed cinnamon and caramel pecan
rolls, homemade breakfast burritos, and fried potatoes.
At lunchtime, volunteers served delicious homemade vegetable soup,
pulled pork, sloppy joes, and a variety of desserts. Linda Seggelke
coordinated the volunteers who used the original homemade stock
recipe [from the early years of Harvest of Talents] to make the
soup.
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International Disaster Emergency Services Executive
Director David Stine said that what started here at Lincoln
Christian Church [in 1984] is now being done at seven churches. This
year, two churches started their own Harvest of Talents, and other
churches are talking about doing it too.
As Stine said, it leads to so many more people fed in hard places
around the world and leads to more people hearing about God. What
Stine sees happening at Harvest of Talents is a “crazy amount of
generosity” with people not only giving something they created, but
also their time, talents and financial gifts.
Planning the Harvest of Talents takes quite a bit of
time and energy. H.O.T. Co-Chairs Bethany Henry and Natalie Morris
helped ensure everything was getting done on this day and throughout
the weeks and months leading up to the event. It takes months of
work and planning and many volunteers to prepare for this event that
raises over $100,000 to feed the hungry each year. In 41 years, the
Harvest of Talents has raised over 2.8 million dollars.
At one o’clock, volunteers were busy taking down unsold items from
the booths in the foyer and setting up chairs for the H.O.T.
auction.
Before the auction began, Natalie Morris welcomed everyone to the
auction. She told people to grab a snack and drink and get ready to
shop.
Jon Gillespie, who was a preaching intern at Lincoln Christian
Church when H.O.T. began opened the auction with a prayer saying our
purpose is to love everyone. He thanked God for the many talents and
time people shared plus the tireless work of IDES sharing and
showing God’s love to those around the world. Gillespie closed the
prayer by saying it is about providing food to starving souls.
Auctioneer Mike Maske donated his time as he has for many years and
encouraged people to keep raising their bids. Several people were
bidding against one another on popular items like handmade quilts
and handcrafted charcuterie boards and tables.
One of the most unique and popular items was a
computer gaming system built from scratch with all new parts by Cody
and Elijah Blaum of Alaska. The Blaum boys are great great nephews
of H.O.T founder Pat Snyder and in her honor, the cover is etched
with the words Harvest of Talents Founders Edition. Several people
bid on the gaming system, which ended up going for $2500.
Another special group of items were donated by the Harvest team in
honor of the late Joe Schaler and his work with veterans. “Joe’s
Legacy” items included a handcrafted rolling pin made by Ed Logan
with its holder made by Barry King and a package of twelve cinnamon
rolls. For many years, Schaler helped prepare hundreds of homemade
cinnamon and pecan rolls for the Harvest of Talents.
The first fruit offerings were done by two youngsters. One was
two-year-old Esther Carter, whose picture was done with paint
markers. The other first fruit offering was a 3D printed backlit
Nativity made by fourteen-year-old William H. Smith.
Besides the numerous handmade items, many donated
gift certificates for services like a hot air balloon ride, bread
baking lessons, baseball instruction, a line dance tutorial, tattoo
time, lawncare, landscaping, hair care, massages, chiropractic care
and health coaching sessions. There were also certificates for
made-to-order cake, cheesecake and sugar cookies.
Whether you use your talents to make something to sell at Harvest of
Talents or buy the handcrafted items, you contribute to the
important work IDES does. The money raised will help feed some of
the many hungry people in the world. The far-reaching support for
this work shows people the love of Christ and will hopefully
continue for generations to come.
[Angela Reiners] |
