leadership network, operation blessing, nike, nfl, ryan nece and healing place church

handing out new nike shoes


a happy "customer"


ryan nece sizing a little girls' new shoes


two volunteers who won the "look what the humidity has done to my hair" award


standing there sweating next to tim dammon


dave and kathy from operation blessing giving instructions to the team

a few days ago i got to be part of something really cool. tim dammon from leadership network came in to talk about healthcare ministry (visited dr. cheri for a while in the mobile medical clinic). the first day he was here, we threw a red "SERVE" t-shirt on him and put him to work at an outreach up at the renaissance fema trailer park. this vp executive-level dude worked with us, sweated with us, loved on people with us, got muddy and rained on, loaded, unloaded, picked up trash - the works. he even stunk like the rest of us (maybe a little more texas-flavored, though). what a testament to him and to the organization he represents!

the event was really cool. ryan nece from the tampa bay buccaneers had gathered a bunch of nike gear to give out (shoes, jackets, sweats, shirts - all really nice stuff). over 500 people we served, and ryan was another real-deal guy - in there loving on people - not hanging out under a banner with his name all over it offering to let people touch him - none of that ora at all. he's legit as far as i'm concerned.

operation blessing was there putting all the system together. again, david and kathy and the rest of the team they had here - all of them the real thing. i love those people.

and of course, our own hpc redshirts were there doing what we do best - sweating, loving, serving. melvin, jp, johnny, alliece, and way more redshirt folks than i could possibly name - a superb team. check out alliece's report on the event and some of the "aftermath" - really cool.

operation blessing took about 20 of us to dinner afterwards (boutin's cajun restaurant) - a great connection time and celebrating what God had put together.

i'm SOOO glad i get to be part of this. i got to see a corporate executive, an nfl athlete, a sleek crew from virginia and a bunch of cajun grunts all work together in the heat and humidity to bless a lot of people in Jesus' name.

ohh - one more pic you've gotta see... jp and ryan nece. check it out here.