Good Works, Inc.

Weekend or Weeklong Groups September through May

Theology:
We believe that sharing a meal together is a context for experiencing the kingdom of God, especially when our meals go across cultural, economic and social boundaries. There are some specific ways that we ask you to help us experience the kingdom of God over meals during your Work Retreat with Good Works. This is an extension of our hospitality paradigm. We do not want this to be a burden to you, but a blessing in which you encounter Jesus.

Each of the meals that we will have together is an opportunity for us to gather together as the people of God. We do not eat separately, but intentionally together. While we ask you to provide food for these gathering in which your group will participate, the meals and preparation are a shared experience, some of which you will provide and some Good Works will provide.

What we are asking from you:
Please include the people living in the Hannah House (staff, interns and guests) in your meals. While this could be up to 10 people, it is more often around 3 to 5. We can let you know at the time of your Work Retreat how many will be in the house during your visit.

We also ask that you prepare a special lunch if you will be present on a Wednesday, Thursday or a Saturday. These are the days when our Transformation Station volunteers and other Good Works volunteers are present. We want to create a context in which these volunteers experience the broader Good Works community of hope, including the members of your group! This meal would include staff, interns, guests and all volunteers who are present.

For these we would like to contribute food from our food pantries. While this will not be adequate for a full meal preparation, it will help defray some of the cost associated with the additional people you are feeding.

We would like to have two members of your group join the Timothy House for their meals on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday if you are present. No food contribution is necessary, just your presence. These two members of your group will leave the GW property at 4:45 and stay with the house after dinner until 9:00 pm.

Some of your group members will be involved with Neighbors Helping Neighbors. It is our desire to bring the community together for lunch, but this is not always possible when you are serving farther out in the county. But you should plan to include the person you are serving in your lunch. Bring an extra lunch to share! Occasionally, if you are not too far away, you can invite the person you are serving back to Good Works for the community lunch you are providing. This also has been a wonderful blessing. It is also possible that the person you are serving may want to provide you with a lunch as a way of thanking you. Please receive this meal with gratitude. We will let you know if this will be the case.

If you are with us for Friday Night Life, please consider sponsoring this community meal. Without a Sponsoring Group who will provide, prepare and serve the meal for about 125-150 people, this gathering would not happen. If you are interested in this, please let Nick know during the application process for the Work Retreat. After this is set up, Sherilyn Weinkauf (sherilyn@good-works.net or 740/594-3339) will contact you to give you the details about sponsoring Friday Night Life. If you are not able to sponsor the meal, that is ok. We would still like for you to participate in the meal. You are then called a Participating Group. We ask that you provide a $5 per person contribution to the Sponsoring Group to cover the additional cost of food for your group to be involved.

We encourage you to do your shopping after you get here, though you may want to bring some things based on your arrival schedule. Because of the abundance of some items in our pantry, you will not need to purchase these. After you determine what food you will need, you can shop at Foodland and Seaman’s, two grocery stores that are close by. There is also a Kroger and a Walmart not too far away. On Wednesdays and Saturdays we have a large Farmer’s Market for you to purchase local fresh produce. By purchasing your food in Athens you will also be helping the local economy.

The kitchen you will use is equipped with an electric stove, a microwave, and two sinks laid out on a large u-shaped countertop.Although we have plenty of dishware for your group, handling drinking cups can be awkward. The creativity of your meal coordinator will be most helpful at this point. You will also have a refrigerator and food pantry space set aside for your group.

 

Stewardship: We Recycle! We Compost!

We want to be good stewards of God’s creation in every way possible. In an effort to reduce the disposal of reusable resources and the trash that goes to a landfill, we encourage recycling and composting. You can help us in our efforts to do this. During Orientation we will explain our recycling and composting procedures. Please do not hesitate to ask questions about this. As you prepare for this Work Retreat, there are two things you can keep in mind now:

1. Please use our dishware for meals. We discourage the use of paper and plastic products that are thrown away.
2. Each person should have a water bottle with their name on it.

We recognize that our meal requests are a lot to ask from a visiting group. Please know that this is a significant blessing and contribution to the community of Good Works. Thank you! Because of this and your presence, we believe we are experiencing the kingdom of God as we together gather for our shared meals. If you feel like we are asking too much, let us know and we can make adjustments. We don’t want these hopes or expectations to deter you from coming.