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  • POST:  JAN. 13, 2018 by Andy Rotunno MEXICO:  THE RIGHT PLACE Our team’s first stop was in San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora, Mexico, January 2-10, 2018.  This part of our outreach was added at the last minute, but it was exactly where God wanted us.  On our first morning in San Luis we prayer-walked through the dusty little neighborhood around the church, then we met with Pastor Adan Garcia, our host at Living Word Missionary Center on the south side of the city.  He challenged us to consider the gospel the most valuable thing we could give to the people of the city, more than food, quilts, clothing, or money.  He said, “It is the gospel that will make a real change–the change that this city truly needs more than things.”  This was so important for our team to hear, since we had come with a truck stocked with Gleanings food, quilts, and building materials (not much money). Next we met with our friend Elsa Oralia Cruz to strategize and plan for a week of ministry […CLICK IMAGE TO READ MORE]
  • POST:  DEC. 31, 2017 Chelsea and I are so excited to share details about the missions adventure we are about to go on as a family of seven!  Keep up-to-date with our travels, stories, and updates here at andyrotunno.com  HAPPY NEW YEAR! It’s New Years Eve!  2018 is moments away!  Our family has experienced so much in 2017.  Last January our friends helped us pack up our life in Burbank, California and move our family to Gleanings for the Hungry here in Dinuba in California’s Central Valley.  God has been doing incredible things each day during this year in our marriage and family, our community, the ministry and amongst our support team.  We can’t wait to see what the Lord has in store for 2018. FIRST DAY OF 2018:  MEXICO This year is beginning with an adventure for our whole family.  God is really blessing and challenging us as a family to step out and follow Him.  On January 1, 2018 we will begin an 8-week international outreach trip to three countries:  Mexico, […CLICK IMAGE TO READ MORE]
  • SOUP OF THE WEEK MINI UPDATE MARCH 20-24 1 From Chelsea Rotunno: My new job at Gleanings, besides homeschool teacher and mom, ballet teacher, and kids meeting leader, is to write the weekly blog post. It will be on the Gleanings blog, but I thought we would post a version of it here, too! Andy and I decided to call these wrap-up posts “Soup of the Week,” since it is soup production season here.  SOUP OF THE WEEK Another wonderful week at Gleanings, with about 700,000 servings of soup processed and 26 quilts sewn! Familiar faces are always an encouragement to missionaries and their families! We were blessed to have a visit from Jim and Ralene Stine, Charity, and little William. The Stine family used to be on staff here at Gleanings, and as the saying goes, “People don’t stay away from Gleanings long.”  Volunteers this week included a team from Centerpoint/Bayside Church, students from Cal Baptist University, long and short term mission […CLICK IMAGE TO READ MORE]
  • WILL YOU BE PAID? 1 QUICK ANSWER:  NO We will not be paid.  In fact, there are no paid staff members at Gleanings for the Hungry.  Chelsea and I, along with all the other full time staff at Gleanings, are volunteer missionaries raising all our funds from a personal support network of loving donors like you! Gleanings for the Hungry is an amazing organization!  It is 100% donation supported and volunteer run. From the dehydrated soup mix ingredients, the summer peaches and nectarines, to the work volunteers and full time staff, everything is voluntary and donated! JOIN OUR SUPPORT TEAM Click here to join our support team! Right now we are building our team and we would be so honored to have you join us at any level. Check out the support page for all the giving options. When you contribute to our support fund, you are helping to supply the daily needs of our family. This is no small thing to us. We are so humbled by your generosity and we are incredibly grateful for each one of you. […CLICK IMAGE TO READ MORE]
  • WHERE WILL YOU BE LIVING? 1 AT GLEANINGS Many friends have asked us where we will be living.  We will be living on site at Gleanings for the Hungry.  Along with the peach plant, soup plant, warehouse, offices, and volunteer housing, Gleanings also has a small lane of staff housing units on campus.  We will be living in one of those units!   CENTRAL VALLEY Dinuba is in the heart of California’s Central Valley!  This the heartland of California and the fruit basket for the rest of the country and even the world!  Most of the summer fruit we eat is grown in the San Joaquin Valley–grapes and raisins, peaches, nectarines to name just a few.  As you can see in the photo below, we will be moving from the city to the country; the Central Valley is an beautiful agricultural region and it is the backyard of Los Angeles and Southern California.  The closest major cities are Visalia (20 miles south) and Fresno (30 miles north). […CLICK IMAGE TO READ MORE]
  • HOW DOES GLEANINGS FOOD GET TO HUNGRY PEOPLE? 1 THE SIMPLE ANSWER The simple answer to this question is the Church. Gleanings partners with many different kinds of organizations such as schools, orphanages, prisons, churches, nonprofits, food banks, disaster relief organizations, and more. These groups represent the Church, the Body of Christ, sharing His love on the ground in their communities. Below I’ll explain a few different ways that food actually gets from Gleanings’ warehouse in Dinuba, California to hungry people around the world, but the main idea is that Gleanings’ primary mission is to produce nutritious food and make it available to organizations around the world that have a vision of restoration for their local communities. In this way the food is a tool that helps mobilize the Church to reach new people with the Gospel. PARTNERSHIPS All throughout the year Gleanings is producing food; dried fruit in the summer, and dehydrated soup mix year round. The […CLICK IMAGE TO READ MORE]
  • WHAT WILL YOU BE DOING? 1 DISCOVERING OUR ROLES When our friends, Fritz and Cindy Meier, invited our family to join the Gleanings staff, they asked, “Where do you see yourselves serving?” Of course Chelsea and I had different answers about what we were excited to be involved with.  One thing is sure, we will not be filling a singular position in the organization, in fact anyone who has been to Gleanings knows that every person there must be ready and willing to fill many roles. Certainly as time passes we will assume specific responsibilities and positions.  The beautiful part is that they are inviting us to serve and to discover how God can use us in new ways and with our existing strengths.  TOGETHER One thing we are very excited about is that both Chelsea and I will be staff members.  So, this is something we will be doing together!  Even while serving in different areas we will be on the same team and working to support […CLICK IMAGE TO READ MORE]
  • WHAT IS GLEANINGS? 1 WHAT AN OPPORTUNITY! Wouldn’t it be amazing to have the opportunity to team up with incredible people to bring nutritious food to hungry communities in 100 countries around the world?  That is exactly what we will get to do at Gleanings for the Hungry! Gleanings for the Hungry is a Christian nonprofit organization and a ministry of Youth With A Mission (YWAM). The mission of Gleanings is to help feed the hungry of the world both spiritually and physically. Gleanings runs three main ministries–dried fruit production, dehydrated soup production, and Discipleship Training Schools (DTS). DRIED FRUIT PRODUCTION During summer Gleanings partners with local California growers in the Central Valley to “glean” the unmarketable or “cull” fruit–particularly peaches and nectarines–then process them into sun-dried fruit. Gleanings picks up large bins of culls, already picked and separated by […CLICK IMAGE TO READ MORE]
  • 7 ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTIONS 1 7 ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTIONS ABOUT GLEANINGS “I heard you are moving!  Wow, tell me more!”  Chelsea and I have talked with so many of you this past week or so about our move from Burbank to Gleanings For The Hungry in Dinuba, California.  You all are asking great questions and we wanted to share more in a blog series this week.  Check in each day to learn more about our family’s adventure and move!  Here are the top 7 questions you’ve asked: 1.  “WHAT EXACTLY IS GLEANINGS?”  2.  “WHAT WILL YOU BE DOING?”    3.  “HOW DOES GLEANINGS FOOD GET TO HUNGRY PEOPLE?”  4.  “WHERE IS GLEANINGS AND WHERE WILL YOU BE LIVING?” 5.  “WILL YOU BE PAID AND IS MY SUPPORT SUPPLEMENTAL?” New 6.  “HOW LONG WILL YOU BE THERE?” Coming Soon 7.  SEND US A QUESTION TO ANSWER THIS WEEK   Stay tuned in this week.  Submit a question for us to answer by email at andyrotunno@gmail.com.  Be the […CLICK IMAGE TO READ MORE]
  • DARING TO SAY YES 1 ANTICIPATING OUR MISSION Since Chelsea and I met we knew that God had plans for us to step out.  Years ago, we used to dream big of moving to China to teach English.  Our favorite authors and thinkers challenged the status quo and echoed God’s call to “leave your nets and follow”.  We were full of excitement and enthusiasm!  In fact, we were on our third missions trip as a couple with Urban Promise in Vancouver, B.C., leading a summer camp program for under-privileged kids as we imagined a future of international travel, foreign language learning, and ministry.  Then it happened!  I should say, she happened–Eliana that is!  Just days into our camp director’s preparations we discovered that Chelsea was pregnant!  What!  We instantly felt the weight of caring for a child overtake the anticipation of nurturing of our own global dreams and plans. A SURPRISE CALLING We had a hard time transitioning into parenthood, nevertheless we learned […CLICK IMAGE TO READ MORE]