While most readers of this blog and most LOLI team members are familiar with the activities and stories that go along with a crusade, many are not familiar with all the preparation that goes into a crusade. This series of posts is designed to give you an insight into some of that preparation. If you read part 1 and part 2 of this series, you know what goes into the bags and where the food comes from, it’s time to share with you how we put all those bags together. It is quite a challenge to put together over 5,000 bags of food in just a few days. The process begins with converting the 50 pound bags of corn and the 100 pound bags of beans into 1 pound bags.
This is the hardest and most tedious part of the process. It usually takes two to four people at a “station” to make the process smooth.
Once the corn and beans are converted into the one pound bags, the process of putting the food bags together begins.
We then break out all the individual items onto tables and begin a make-shift assembly line of people.
Once the assembly line is complete, we end up with hundreds of bags of food that are ready for distribution.
The bags are then divided into piles of 250 to 300 for each of the four days of distribution at each site.
In total, we have 250 – 300 bags per day at each site for a total of at least 1,000 bags per site. Here in Panama, there are five sites, so we will have a total of over 5,000 bags of food that will be prepared for distribution during the crusade week. That’s a lot of food to prepare, and it is hard work preparing it. But, it is more than worth the effort in order to bless those who will receive not only a bag of food that will feed them for a few meals, but the opportunity to hear the message of the Gospel that will feed them for a lifetime.
As I indicated at the beginning of this series of posts, this is just one of the many “behind the scenes” areas involved in preparing for a LOLI crusade. I hope this peek “Behind The LOLI Curtain” has encouraged you in your support of Light of Life International.