But this year, I wanted to spend some time telling you a story about the families behind BBQ and Bowties and how they will be using 100% of their profits.
First, The BBQ and The Roberts Family. Meet Sam, Zach and Evan, who are the three boys of David and Angie.
David has been busy preparing all the sauces that will be for sale at the Marketplace.
On a much more serious note, while David has been busy preparing sauces, Angie...his wife...has also been very busy. Keeping us all in the loop on what is happening in Sierra Leone with the Ebola crisis.
You see....they are connected to this very real virus, in a very real way.
This is Malikie, who just turned 5...big boy! And sweet baby Abigail. And they live in Sierra Leone in the capital city of Freetown. The Roberts family sponsors these two through an organization called The Raining Season and they love them as if they were their own.
Malikie and Abigail live in an orphanage in Freetown called The Covering. The Covering is currently on lock down due to the Ebola crisis. They have had to stockpile food and supplies for the next six months and have changed their staff rotation schedules to minimize traffic flow in and out of the orphanage. So this means a few things: 1. They had to (and still are) having to raise a significant amount of funds to stockpile supplies. 2. Regular skyping sessions with these sweeties had to be put on hold due to lack of staff. 3. Extraordinary strength and grit is being required of the staff in Sierra Leone working a month on at a time (away from their families), and of the team in Nashville (where TRS is headquartered) who are laboring endlessly to raise funds and awareness about the realities of this crisis.
You see, The Roberts are what TRS calls a "forever family" with these two. Not only do they get to send money to cover some of their basic needs, gifts to them on their birthdays, etc.... they also get to Skype with them once a week. Or they did.
Ebola is currently changing a lot of things. And Angie has made it her mission to use the voice God has given her to fight for those babies in any way she can. She and David both had birthdays a few weeks ago, she called me and said "I have a GREAT idea for my birthday! Everyone can give to TRS!". I love it. She unashamedly asked everyone to give her a birthday present and give to www.helpstopeblola.com . I love this so much. Because when you have children that feel like yours on the other side of the world....you will do whatever is within your power to make sure they are cared for. I get this.
TRS has already been called on to see how they can be of help to the hundreds of children orphaned by Ebola. Please join them in prayer.
So when you purchase your bottle of BBQ sauce and you grill up some chicken....brush that sauce on knowing that your money helped provide supplies for this. And as you see your bottle sitting in the fridge....stop and
Oswald Chambers said, "Prayer is not preparation for the greater work, prayer is the greater work". Don't let us think for one minute ANYTHING is too big. What I know is that by praying fervently for something, God does an amazing thing. He molds MY heart and shows me very specific ways to care for the hurting.
Second, The Bowties and The Smith family. Meet Ronnie and Allie and their sweet girls, Parker, Chloe and Lilly.
So, funny story. Last year, David made most of the bowties. Then as the marketplace got closer, he commissioned Allie to help him finish. Allie is another one of those people that can just do things. And if she doesn't know how to do something, she just figures it out. Where do these people come from?! Anyway, this year David approached Allie and said that he would "sell" her the rights to the Bowtie side of BBQ and Bowties for a batch of Ronnie's homemade muffins. Seriously guys. Do I have the best friends or what? Ronnie has been secretly plotting for years to be Jackson's one and only Muffin Man. Banker by day.....Muffin Man by night.....adding to our waistlines one muffin top at a time. So, Allie agreed and she has spent her summer sewing up bowties.
And THESE are bow ties for little guys.....
Totally adorable right?!?!
Well, the Smith family is also connected to The Covering in Sierra Leone. They sponsor these sweet boys...
The top picture is of Alford. Parker, the Smith's oldest daughter, made a special connection with Alford on a trip to Sierra Leone last summer. And she asked her mom if SHE could sponsor him. Parker is 14. So she babysits weekly and uses that money to sponsor Alford.
Santigie is the beautiful boy in the next picture. He has stolen the Smiths heart and they also love him like he is their own. They sponsor him also through TRS.
So as one can imagine, the news of Ebola reaching Freetown, has had both of these families on their knees, praying for this virus to not come into The Covering. So far, there has not been any cases there. Praise the Lord!
The news of Ebola seems so overwhelming. Thousands of people have died, hundreds of children have lost parents. When I hear of these things, my stomach drops and my heart aches. And I can also feel paralyzed. It seems so helpless. But these families.....they have not been paralyzed. They have worked tirelessly to learn everything they can about Ebola, where it is, how it spreads and what is going on with the government in Sierra Leone. They have shared stories of pure, gut wrenching heart ache of momma's not being able to hold their sick babies, but also stories of extreme hope. Stories of people working around the clock, on the ground to help each other. A lot of times risking their lives. I heard a song lyric as I was driving just today that said...
"The darker the night, the brighter the light of Your everlasting love."
We hold to that truth.
So help these families join the fight. Come to their booth at the Marketplace this weekend. Buy some sauce or a Bowtie or just give. Every penny they raise will be going to a campaign started by TRS called Help Stop Ebola. Let us take up this burden with them and help fight for these sweet children, their staff and the beautiful people who are battling this awful virus Every. Single. Day.
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