Feeding the Hungry
Years ago, I served a church that had
a food ministry. Each Thursday morning those
who were in need came to the church where stations of food were set up…there
were tables of bread and desserts, tables of frozen meat and tables of various
produce. The clients were given the
opportunity to shop and choose the food stuffs they wanted which was dependent on the available food and numbers
of clients. When COVID hit we had to
regroup and bag up the groceries and put in the clients’ cars as they drove
up. Can I tell you it was fun and a
blessing to walk through the various tables of food picking out a variety of
food stuff? At some point it occurred to
me that since our process had become less personal the Associate pastor and I
decided to walk along the line of cars and offer to pray with them. It became one of the best parts of the
week. Some were not interested but many
were. They would share prayer requests
and we would pray. God used this open
hearts – mine and many of the clients.
Recently our annual conference
realized the difficulty our churches were facing in being able to feed all of
those in their community who were in need.
Thus, we created a grant to help alleviate some of the difficulties. In applying for grants, the various pantries
have shared their stories – how they began their ministry, the adaptations
along the way and the struggles that the last few months have brought. What a blessing to be able to read these
stories.
We have churches that have set up
shelves outside their building in an effort to respect the anonymity of those
who are in need and enable 24/7 access.
There are those who have changed their process and opened their doors in
an effort to build relationships with their neighbors. There is the story of the local Boy Scout
troop helping to stock shelves in preparation.
All of the stories include, in some part, the increasing numbers and the
difficulty in meeting the needs. And
yet, these churches have not given up because they run out of food before they
run out of need but instead, continue their ministry and look for opportunities
to increase their ability to share.
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