since either one of us last wrote we have gone to rainbow gathering and found out about some pretty awesome opportunities........
howie and amber, the kids we were staying with in clearwater, were going to go to the rainbow gathering, and after many attempts of making money (one night we made 70 something dollars off of just a few people while busking) and some good coonversations (including a conversation with a minister, who we helped do a feeding with, about how he is going to file a religious freedom lawsuit if he gets in trouble for feeding his homeless friends in st. pete and a few conversations with a minister named bruce about Christianity and social justice and anarchy) and times of breaking bread together, we finally made the trip out towards the rainbow gathering
(breif description of gathering:
a while back people decided that the world was corrupt, and that they needed to find truth in creation, outside of what they call "babylon", so they fled to the woods and decided no governing or heirarchy was allowed. good premise, and actually simillar to what the desert fathers did in olden days to relly on God. but of course, it has its faults.)
on the way to the gathering we picked up a couple of hitch hikers, one having "horse" and "shit" tattooed on his cheeks. then we soon made it too the first of the two gatherings (generally its all at one spot, but this year it was split up). when we first got there, we got our van stuck in the mud and ended up having a whole group of drunk hippies pushing a van for us. but then we got quickly settled in over by the jesus camp and first aid area. after settling in, we went and ventured through the gathering.
lots of drunk hippies, begging for ciggerrettes and drugs, and being very agressive. the kitchen line had a sign that said "vegans and vegetarians be ware". by the third day of being there we were all ready for a change. so we went to go to the main gathering. this gathering was much bigger and much better.
after we got through "A" camp ("alchohol" or "agressive", we don't know, but we know it was a bunch drunk people tellin us were to park) we again settle pretty close to the jesus kitchen.
the second gathering was a lot easier to get along in for a few reasons ( at least for me).
first and foremost, there were more people out there being respectful of each other, and not just out there to have a good trip or to get completely wasted. there were those people out there, but there was much more people out there that were generally trying to have good experiences and find some sort of truth.
secondly, at the Jesus kitchen, the kids felt welcome and appreciative. the words "Jesus kitchen kicks down phat" was heard many times, and the food we served was so good that the neighboring kitchens would come eat our food when they had food being served at the same time.This Jesus camp was actually a kitchen, unlike the first camp which was there to minister and to give first aid. The first Jesus camp didn't have as many people staying and hanging out so it seemed as if it was just a one time stop. This is mostly due to circumstances and is not meant to be criticism of their ministry, and i feel like a hypocrite if i say anything to put down their ministry. The problem I feel was that people didn't necessarily want to hang out all that much at that camp. Alot of this is due to the reason why people had chosen to stay at that gathering and not move to the main gathering. It seemed to me that alot of the people who stayed at that gathering were more about drinking and roudiness than the main gathering. The second camp served food and had much more space and volunteers and things going on which people wanted to be a part of, and therefore people kept coming back. I regret and apologize if I make anyone feel as if their ministry isn't adequate, and I am in full support of both ministries. In fact I feel like the first camp seemed to be effective in many ways- like helping a woman who had bronchitis, and if this kitchen had not been there she might not have been helped. I feel as if we have been blessed to visit both ministries, and to see them work in their own ways, because both were effective and necessary.
after being at the gathering i realized a few things, first that the gathering is abused as a place for people to do alot of drugs and other messed up stuff
secondly, the gathering does not have any problems that the world outside of it (Babylon) doesn't have, however it is more apparent to some people because inside the gathering you dont have to hide anything
thirdly, the gathering, even with all of its rediculousness, crude jokes, and intoxication, is a fairly mutually respectful place, and much more so than an everyday babylonian scene, and they are much more likely to help each other out, whether that be health wise or other wise (even as far as ciggerrettes go)
fourthly, (is that right? fourthly?) the gathering depends on places like the Jesus kitchens, and a few really dedicated and awesome people
and finally, the gathering has alot of confused and hurt people trying to mend their problems and find some better understanding of truth through community and life outside of the
corrupt world we live in, not a bunch of criminals
it seems that the rainbow gathering could teach the church a lot, and that the church really needs to make an effort to welcome these people into their communities
Towards the end of our time there we had to say goodbye to Howie and Amber, but before we did they told us that we ought to go and talk to this guy he knows in new smyrna about getting a school bus that is converted into a r.v.
we decided that weld think about it and then ended up getting a hundred dollars donated towards getting a bus. so now we have to figure out if thats what we need to be doing. it looks as if it is since we know that through the people we know, we can get this bus for less that half its worth, and we might be able to raise the money, and we already have money donated to do that, and we could serve alot more people if that happens.
But we know we must be intensional about the things we do and not try to do this without God's ok. So now we have to figure out what we are going to do.
We now also have two mice named Cinnamon and Pau d'arco and cinnamon is probably pregnant.
