Festival of Shelters

Tonight I will be participating in a Festival of Shelters at Cherith Brook. The Festival is based on the traditional Jewish festival of Sukkot.

From CB:

The Festival of Shelters comes to us from Leviticus 23:42 where the People of God are instructed to build simple shelters and to live in them for seven days remembering a lifetime of days spent homeless, wandering the wilderness, in search of food and water, hoping for a promised place. The Festival also became a harvest celebration where the people remembered what it was like to be hungry and thirsty and to show gratitude for God’s provision of food.

WHY DO WE DO IT?
Our Festival of Shelters is intended to be a challenge to resist and celebration of rejoicing:
· We who have plenty are reminded that we have all experienced need and, that it is God who provides our needs;
· We are challenged to move away from greed and pride of wealth and accumulation;
· And to remember and that the stranger, the wanderer, the homeless and the hungry are specially loved and cared for by God.

We'll start with a celebration and blessing of the homeless tonight, and then I will head out with a small group of people to spend the night on the streets with some of our homeless friends in the Old NE. I did NOT take off work on Monday, so I will also be seeing what it's like to go to work after a night on the streets. I am excited about this eye opening experience. I'll let you know how it goes.