The Harvest912 story started in the midst of the turmoil, division and darkness of 2020 America. Tad and I, like so many others, felt the weight of darkness and hatred beat down on us relentlessly and wondered if and how we could defeat it.  Our Pastor, Joe Gerhart, had encouraged the church family to step outside of our comfort zones and to reach out with God’s love and light, to let the Holy Spirit work through us to bring that light to bear…easier said than done…what difference could we make? Then, on the afternoon of September 24, as we were driving to the store, we stopped at a red light and noticed a homeless man asking for help. We immediately wanted to help him, but neither one of us had any cash And besides, odds were he was probably a scammer, right?  I looked a bit closer just as the light changed and noticed he only had one shoe and was limping.  I told Tad and, with one of his cynical smiles, he said “Nice Touch”.  As we turned the corner, I asked “Can we just buy him some shoes and bring them back?” Without hesitation, Tad answered “Of course we can…and some socks.”  “And a jacket and some snacks”, I added. 

 

By the time we arrived at SAM’s Club we were getting excited to help. We went right to the shoe department and realized we had no idea of what shoe size to buy.  We had only seen him for 30 seconds from 50 feet away. As we stood in front of the stacks of sturdy boots, debating, Tad looked at me and said “You're not going to believe this, but a voice just told me 9 ½!” We grabbed the boots, socks, jacket, and a few other items, removed all the tags and packaging, and put everything back in the box. We headed back to the intersection, hoping he would still be there. At the light, we were several cars back, so I hopped out and walked up to him and said “Hey bud…we noticed you were in need of some shoes so we brought you some.”  He turned, looked at the box, looked me in the eyes and said “That’s the right size! God Bless you!” as if I had somehow passed a test. He immediately sat down to put them on.  The last thing we saw as we drove away was this man sitting by the side of the road with his back to the traffic, looking like a kid on Christmas morning, everything besides his new shoes and socks forgotten.

 

As we drove home, we felt the darkness begin to lift, and an indescribable sense of joy came over us. It was all we thought about and talked about for the next few days and the idea was born – reaching out in a personal way and providing the most basic necessities to people in need.  We could purchase shoes and socks and work to create an outreach within our community! 

 

Now we just needed a name. As I fell asleep a few days later, I kept thinking about being shown the right size shoe and the numbers 9 1 2 kept repeating in my mind. They were still there the next morning. I opened the bible, but being an absolute novice in this area, I simply looked over the names of the books not knowing where to start. Like a beacon, 2nd Corinthians drew me in and in Chapter 9, verses 9-12 I found the answer, and our name:

               As it is written:

               “They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endures forever.”

Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God."

2Cor 9:9-12