“FREE ice cream, you guys have FREE ice cream? We saw the sign out front, so we thought we’d check it out.”

“The folks at Let’s Make A Difference said you have FREE ice cream.”

“My friend told me you had FREE ice cream, so I came up.”

Good news travels fast, especially when it contains the words: FREE ice cream. Seventy-two customers showed up, hungry for a treat on a perfect summer night. The initial rush of customers caused me to text my daughter, who was on her way to help, “More whipped cream!” and still later “and more ice cream!”

Eventually I made a mad rush out for more whipped cream, ice cream and chocolate syrup. We went start to finish with customers filling the counter, the way you love to see the café operating. We would have been hurtin’ without the help of a community service volunteer.

We had some great customers, including some young kids that drew pictures of the ice cream for us. It, like the ice cream, was sweet! My hope is that we can continue to see some of these folks in the weeks to come and have the opportunity to share Christ and His word with them. One opportunity yields another.

As our numbers increase on Tuesday night, we could use more supplies: Pails of ice cream, Chocolate syrup, Whipped cream in cans, plus whatever assortment of ice cream fixings folks might want to bless us with (nut topping, sprinkles, fruit toppings, etc).

As Tim says, “Thanks for servin’ the King!”

Bill Marras

Swamped would be the right word. Although, this being Bee country, the word swarmed could be an appropriate verb. How ‘bout I just combine the two and create a new word. Let’s say the cafe was: swarmped.

Yeah that works!

So here’s how the word would be used in a sentence.

Cups Cafe has been swarmped with guests this week.

If you use Facebook regularly, then please like Cups Cafe. It’s a super fast way for me to update folks on activities and needs of the cafe and all while I’m serving. It’s like live streaming the ministry.

So I posted this on the Cups Facebook group page yesterday during the shift, “Swamped again. Out of Ramen noodles and bread. It’s almost like hungry teens and people suddenly awakened from a hibernation.”

The number of guests at the cafe this week, compared to previous weeks, has dramatically increased. Thanks for your support and prayers. Your generosity has helped us keep the doors open for the last few months allowing us to serve a great number of teens and adults.

In the middle of the swarmping on Tuesday, one teen came in asking for soup to take home so I bagged up cans of chicken noodle, mac-n-cheese, bread, and a gospel tract. It was a blessing to serve him and tell him why we do what we do. Another young man stopped by on his bike looking for a popsicle to cool him down and a wrench to straighten his back tire. He enjoyed the popsicle while I put on my mechanics hat and adjusted his tire getting him safely back on the road.

The cafe currently needs: popcorn for our machine (kernels not microwave), regular & decaf coffee, ramen noodle soup, cream cheese for bagels, cookies & brownies.

VOLUNTEERS

Keep praying for us because things are changing at Cups. We need volunteer help at the cafe and at the Medina County Fair this year. Two of our regular weekly volunteers have been blessed with employment and are no longer available to give the time they could before. And another is moving out of state. These are all wonderful changes for our dear friends, but they do impact our ability to remain consistently open. So please pray.

FAIR

Also, consider setting aside time this summer to volunteer to help at the fair. We’ve been given greater responsibility this year. If you’ve wanted to help Cups financially but don’t have the money, consider giving your time at the fair. A few hours of work will result in a financial blessing for the ministry.

I’m looking for trustworthy people who can count and handle money. So, if you’re a teacher looking for something to do that week. Please contact me. The fair is August 1-7. We’re going to need people to work as cashiers, ticket takers, and getting waivers signed. More details to come.

Don’t forget. We’re also collecting used video games for the library. Please visit our blog for a .pdf poster and contact me if you want to help.

If the rain holds off, we might be swarmped again today. Only God knows.