What topics should we include?

The story of Jesus and fish and bread and sharing food. Unless your church says it's a "Divine miracle" instead of a guy convincing everyone who was carrying food to stop hoarding it and to share it out. Both are great versions. But the idea isn't to just "Store food" but to "Share it out."

Do was Jesus would do. Do you "Gray man up and when the lights go down you hunker down ready to shoot a neighbor who asks if they can charge their cell phone?" Or do you, with your electricity from a generator. Make a big pot of hot spaghetti sauce, boil some noodles, get out cards and board games, and set up a station with cell phone chargers.

Do we vet, or do we vet people who wish to volunteer?

Whatever your version of Christianity believes, there is clearly a broad spectrum, from the literal teachings of Jesus being to Turn the other cheek and presenting it to be slapped if you are slapped, to bringing ARs to church because Jesus wants you to https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/03/01/589808670/ar-15s-are-biblical-rod-of-iron-at-pennsylvania-church

• I use this extreme example as a sort of tongue in cheek way to say you likely want to vet what your church want's to teach.

• Do you want someone there wearing a MAGA hat for instance?

• What about with a stand saying how you should prep with guns?

• What about saying you should prep for only your family and not other people?

• Etc. What MESSAGE will your church condone?

• So you need to vet if only to decide on what will be allowed or not as whatever you allow is a reflection of the church. If Gary has the best information on how to process seeds for next year's harvest, but he can't talk for five minutes without calling for the blood of immigrants do you want to give that guy a microphone and say "Here is Gary representing our church." etc.

For people who have ran these, what suggestions do you have for me for my proposal and for running the event?

I have not run one, but I participated.

• Proposed planning and event schedule:

• Reach out to church group and ask people to include their name and any skills / equipment they would like to show off. (Using canning or making tomato sauce as an example) On the sheet include if they would mind speaking.

• Ask YOUNG PEOPLE specifically if they'd like to help with social media / computer graphics / setting up a slide show (on computer obviously)

• internal to the church group come up with things that you would like to present and what you wouldn't e.g. No gun will be talked about because Jesus said he who lives by sword. etc. Or Guns are a Good prep. Whatever YOUR CHURCH decides. Discuss dress code as well e.g. wearing political gear (The church that did this had a blanket rule that when you were doing church activities you couldn't wear any political gear.) If you were attending then whatever (They were happy to have you there.)

• With a list in hand of "stations" suggested by the volunteers in the beginning, e.g. bob is willing to show off tomato sauce making machine. As well as the list the church comes up with, ask for volunteers who want to be included to educate / teach.

• Do not forget things like "Oil change is a prep to keep your car running and cardio is a prep to keep your heart running." or "Vaccines cause living" or Tire changing tips for the ~~Lazy~~ Efficient (with things like knee pads in the kit or a battery operated hammer drill to take lug nuts off, etc) Don't forget "Financial prepping - how to retire" or "A bigger pantry saves you money" or "Coupons and shopping apps - how to save money and time!" or "When is the last time you went over your cable bill or cell phone bill? There are cheaper alternatives!"

• Young people are great for putting together a pamphlet with APPROVED MESSAGES. E.g. store food to share during a power outage like Jesus would do. Instead of "Bunker up and shoot through the murder holes at neighbors looking for help!!!" Include a link to the church website that has ALL THE OTHER LINKS on it. Thing like financial advice, medical, retirement, how to coupon, etc.

• 100% Vet the information you will provide to make sure it aligns with your flavor of Christianity. If you are okay with contraception, that is a GREAT prep. If not, don't include it, etc. Mostly you want to put forth preps that your version of Jesus would be okay with.

• Remember ultimately this is to help your community. If you have a lot of teen pregnancy in your area, and your church is okay with it talk about pregnancy. If you have a lot of domestic violence provide women's shelter phone numbers and information. If you have frequent power outages talk about generators how how easy and each solar power for an emergency is. Mostly though you want to talk about things like "It's easy to act like Jesus and give out water to a thirsty neighbor if you prepped and have water. It's harder if you have only 1 bottle and your family with you. So prep, and then not only are things easier, but no one is thirsty."

• Gardens are a prep

• THINKING BEFORE EMERGENCY is a prep. Marking up paper maps with a sharpie to show a route you need to take for flooding / forest fire / chemical plant fire / etc. Make it unique to your areas unique issues. These are preps your people can do. Planning for retirement. Planning for death. Planning for kids education. Etc. it's all "Thinking ahead so we have more time to come up with solutions and research their viability."

• Pantries let you save money buying in bulk, lower the number of shopping trips you make (saving gas and time) and let you buy during sales.

• Oil changes / checking tread on tires / knowing how to iron your clothes (young people) / knowing how to make simple "cheap" meals with potatoes, hot dogs, and onions / What sort of spices everyone should have at home (Salt, pepper, etc)

• Libraries are a prep for free information / adult education / etc.

• Fire stations / police / public transportation / feeding kids at schools / providing cheap in state college tuition / plowing roads / etc are all ways the state preps. Try to show people that "Taxes aren't bad - they are used for larger society preps" but don't use the word taxes people are insane if they see the word. Educating kids is the best prep you can have as a society. Sex education is the best prep to lower teen pregnancy and abortion, (again if your church is okay with that) etc. Vaccines are the difference between longer average life span and shorter, etc. Cardio AS A PREP is the same as changing the oil in your car, if you want it to last you have to do maintenance, etc.

• I'd shy away from bible verse = specific prep, because there are a lot that don't fit. The one I helped with started off that way and then just gave up and went with the broader "How would Jesus prep for this [specific scenario]?" or "What would Jesus do if he was caught in [possibility emergencies e.g. power outage in winter]"

• Voting is a prep - access to health care, food for kids in school, ambulance wait times (based on if rural medical centers get funding) All the funding for the library preps you use, road upkeep, sewer, fire, police, etc. The church I was helping was being very mindful of this to push only that people SHOULD look at what is voted for and vote how Jesus would vote. Some churches obvious push a side. Not sure on the legality of that as it related to taxes but I know it came up in discussions as the major reason why they were pushing to VOTE, but not how to vote (Also anything touching on politics back then was just discussion. We didn't have people wearing political hats or flags or whatever back then just normal discussions. You may want to avoid ALL political references just to avoid any of the arguments.)

• The key is to :

• Provide all links to everything on the church web page. No one will write down links etc at the event.

• Have elderly people showing off skills to younger people (Canning / gardening / composting / cooking)

• Have younger people showing off skills to older, e.g. $15/month cell phone service from mint / how to save money and time with a grocery app on the phone / how to put "junk" on Facebook market place or up cycle or whatever is popular in your area.

• Talk about preps you know people aren't doing : eating healthy, exercise, vaccinating kids, sex education, cardio, whatever else is affecting your area, NArcan for drug abuse, alcoholism, spousal abuse / women's shelters / etc.

• Talk about other FREE things to save money. Library adult education classes / the local credit union's quarterly discussion about how to save for retirement. The local / state / organizations to help elderly sort out bills, etc. Places that send you free seeds if you sign up, be they blue berry or wildflowers, etc. How to get free wood chips from Chipper, etc.

• Talk about the mentality of action : What would Jesus do if asked if all children should get free meals at school, a place they are required to be? What would Jesus do if he saw someone on the side of the road with a flat tire? What about with a running generator in the winter while the neighbors don't have power? Would he rub it in their faces? Not run his generator to keep operational secrecy? Or would he run it and help out where he could.