The other day I was talking to a friend on the street while walking home from work. A guy came up to us, ‘Hey, can I get a couple bucks?’ Sound familiar? ‘You know, friend, I can’t give you any money, but if you’re hungry and you show up at our church tomorrow, we’ll hook you up with some food. I promise. It’s just up the street.’
A number of years ago God convicted me about serving the poor. Our church is just outside of Detroit so I was overwhelmed with the possibilities, until I sensed the Lord saying, ‘Do something! Start somewhere!’ I could do that. I landed on the idea of passing out groceries at a local mobile home community. I shared my idea with church members that I thought might be interested. I gathered a small team and we got to work.
We called it The Grocery Giveaway. Short on poetry, I know. We did what we could do – once a
month we’d fill up between 15-20 bags of groceries, then give them away door to door, offering to pray for anyone that had a need. Soon we had members of the neighborhood joining us. I handed the ministry over to another leader and it grew. Eventually we had a small group meeting onsite and we had favor with the property owners; we were seen as a community resource for the whole park.
A few years later our church had grown and moved to an actual church building! Now we house a food pantry, led by a dynamic mother of four who owns her own business, and staffed by a team of dedicated volunteers. We help over 100 families with twice monthly services. We get our food from personal donations, area food banks, and more. We’ve recently added two new components.
First, we’ve converted some unused space on our property into a garden where we grow fresh vegetables for the pantry. We’ve networked with local businesses to come alongside church members to help care for and maintain portions of the garden. Local food for local families. Second, we’ve partnered with the local career center for one of their employment managers to visit the pantry and talk with interested guests about job openings in the area. We’re hoping to give them a hand up too.
We also care for our homeless neighbors. Our church houses an overnight shelter for about 70 men and women for the first 12 days of each year. We provide a hot meal, warm smiles and a safe place to sleep, in partnership with two other local churches and our area Chamber of Commerce. I love seeing everyone using their gifts and building community.
[bctt tweet=”The poor aren’t a project. -Jim Pool #VineyardGlobalFamily” quote=”The poor aren’t a project.”] They are our neighbors, our friends. I love meeting a homeless guy on the street corner, or a family in need at my kids’ school, and saying, ‘If you come by our church, we’ll help you out.’
