Freedom Celebration Pictures 2006

We had such a great time! Many neighbors came out shared food, conversation and stuff! I can't believe how many needs were met today: we had people that needed baby items (cribs, swings, clothes). We had people who just moved that needed items for their new houses/apartments. We had people that just needed meals or a place to rest their feet.

Here are just a few more pictures of our day. We really want people to get excited about this...its a revolutionary idea really...if we share our excess with others we can meet everyones need! Like Ghandi said "there is enough to meet everyones need but not enough for everyones greed". With that in mind, come out and join us in 2007. We need musicians, people who can entertain kids, people to bring food to share, we need people to help set up (folding clothes in the morning is our biggest need) and we need people to just bring items to share. If you have some needs...please come on down: that is what we are here for!

Jesus takes the city and turns it into a real community

Mike saw a guy walking by that looked very tired. He told him to sit down and have something cold to drink and some food. The man graciously accepted. The man (Willy) explained that he was on his way back from dialysis around the corner and had to walk several more miles home. I told Willy that he would give him a ride home whenever he is ready. Willy and I chit-chatted a little on the way to Willy's house but as we turned on the street where he lived I realized that some previous clients of mine lived on the same block (I work with homeless families after they move into their own places coming out of the shelter). I asked Willy if he knew the family and he smiled and said "that's my brother, that's where I'm staying!". We pulled out to the house and my former client came out, he was surprised to see me. I told him how Willy and I hooked up at our Freedom Celebration. The client told me that he needed some stuff and I took him back to the Freedom Celebration. About 45 minutes later we were pulling back into the driveway of my client's house and he had a whole heap of stuff that his family had really been needing. This just goes to show how mysterious our Father works.
Rich

A Few Stories

We had so many people feel moved to bring things and the people who needed things showed up at just the right time.

A couple who had twin 3 month old girls showed up minutes after I put a baby swing in the lawn. They said that both the babies only liked to sleep in the baby swing and they only had one. Two pregnant mothers were in need of cribs and we had two. A woman from our neighborhood had lost everything left with clothing and all the dishes and pots and pans she could carry. Neighborhood kids came to hang out and eat lunch. They left with toys and clothes and then brought their parents back.

We were adamant about not accepting any money for anything. Donations were not accepted. Except for the one little old lady that would not take no for an answer. She got very upset that Amy wouldn't take her dollar, so she finally accepted it graciously. Mike ran into a homeless guy the next day and passed it on.




We are looking forward to next years event. If you would like to be involved please send us an email. The address is listed below. We would love to hear your responses also, please post your comments on this blog. Thanks!

Thank You!

Thank you so much to all of you who were involved in this years celebration! So many people were blessed by the things that you shared! This photo is from the night before the celebration. Our front porch was completely full of stuff and once we got going on the 4th, people showed up with even more stuff to share! I am so inspired to see people giving so freely. What would the world look like if we all lived this out in our day to day lives?



"There were no needy persons among them." Act 4:34

A thought on how sharing is catchy

I was looking through the pictures and a theme occurred to me. The Pictures that I am posting are amazing to me. See how quickly this love spreads! People responded very quickly by bringing stuff to share and it was really fun! We hope it inspires people all over- and maybe people will begin to share more than just stuff...

What an awesome day!

We are very excited about yesterday's success! Thank you to all who came out and hung out with us! We saw so many needs met and lives touched.

Keep looking over the next couple of weeks we are going to put together some stories and pictures to share.

Please Free to post your comments on the events or email stories to us!

Email: freedomcelebration@gmail.com

If you email us we will add you to our email list to receive updates on other events throughout the year and we will send a reminder when the freedom celebration is coming around again!

We hope that you log back on to read the stories and remember us!

Thanks again,

All of us!

Drop off begins Friday!

If you want to start bringing your items over please feel free to drop them off starting Friday, June 30th! You can call ahead if you wish but it is not necessary. Just stack it on the front porch and we will take care of it!

Thank you to all who are excited to join in this celebration with us!!

For contact information and directions click here

Freedom Celebration: Jubilee 2006

Here is your invitation:

When: July 4th, 2006

What: Freedom Celebration!

Where: 733 Lake Drive 49503 (near lake and eastern intersection)

Can you sing, play music, Dance, juggle? Do you have a favorite dish you like to share? Are you just darn good at visiting with people? Are you in need of something? PLEASE JOIN US!

So what's this all about? We are a group of people who want to live out freedom in a different way by giving away our stuff, sharing food with everyone who comes and just having a good old time together loving people. We will have lots of household items, clothes, kids stuff, and more...So come if you need stuff and/or if you want to share stuff!

*We would like to see others gather together during this celebration. If you are able to provide entertainment, good conversation, love, a dish to pass or just want to come by and see what is going on PLEASE COME! We would love to meet every neighbor in our hood!



Sidenote: if you would like to come by and bring stuff to give away we have a few requests. We are really looking to bless others with our stuff, not burden them (or us) with junk. Please don't bring broken items or items that should be thrown out-we don't have the resources to pay for a dumpster.

About us

We are a small group of families on a journey. We are exploring community and what it truly means to follow Jesus. We are learning together how to live our lives in such a way that we are aware of the sufferings around us and in other parts of the world. We are seeking to take very seriously scriptures that deals with oppression, injustice and poverty. We are falling in Love with Jesus more everyday and hope that others around us would join us in our journey.

There are so many thoughts behind the Freedom celebration that there will be posts on here from the others in the group about what it means to them personally. Stay tuned because we believe that this is an ongoing conversation and we welcome your comments and insights!

Contact Us/Directions to Celebration

Contact:
Jennifer and Rich Holshoe 301-3757, jenniferholshoe@yahoo.com
or Amy and Mike VanZoeren 458-7698 amyvzee@gmail.com

Street address:
733 lake Dr. SE
Grand Rapids 49503
beige two story with blue trim three houses from the corner of Lake dr and Eastern

Click here to view a Google Map

We are located on bus Route #6, transit info www.ridetherapid.com