I am learning so much every day through this process. God is teaching me to see others as He sees them, to love unconditionally, and to recognize that poverty is an extremely complicated issue with no easy answers.

Paula and I have mentioned over and over how we believe the foundation of Grace’s Kitchen is obedience. We know that if He stops this process tomorrow, we have been obedient to God’s call to feed the hungry. We also know that this call is really on the life of every believer. The Bible does not tell us to feed the poor if we have enough money, if we have the time and the resources, or if we feel led to do so. It also does not tell us to love the least of these if they deserve it or if we know that they will appreciate it. The Bible tells us in Proverbs 14:31, “He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.” We are giving honor to our Heavenly Father when we obey His commands to take care of the poor. It is also such a picture of the grace God gives to us. We deserve nothing, yet He gives us everything.  It is only because of that grace that we are able to freely give to others.

Last Thursday, we arrived at the park ready to feed people just as we had the previous week. We were surprised when we realized that there were not as many people as we had served the week before and were left wondering what to do with the food we had left over. God quickly showed us that if the people were not coming to us then we should go and find the people! It was amazing how God brought the exact people to us that needed breakfast. We found them under bridges, sitting at bus stops, in doorways and street corners. God also gave us a boldness that could have only come from Him as we became more and more comfortable yelling out “Would you like some breakfast this morning?”  One man in particular stood out to me. He was extremely thin and obviously hungry. He was sitting on a bench in front of a church who was offering a meal following the morning service. The man gratefully accepted the bag of food we gave him and immediately began to devour its’ contents. When I offered him a second one he readily accepted but barely took a breath from eating. My prayer is that he still went in and heard the church service and got a second meal, but perhaps was a little more alert than he would have been had he still been hungry. We may never know the impact of the food we gave away and it doesn’t matter. It is an absolute blast to be in the center of God’s calling and to find freedom in the fact that we are not responsible for the outcome!

We have precious volunteers who have been faithful to write Bible verses to put in the food bags. Paula has chosen specific verses for us to use and we have assigned them each to a particular week. We read the verse and pray before we serve each week, and we cling to Isaiah 55:11 which tells us ” so is my word that goes out from my mouth:  It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” The God of the Universe promises that His word will not return to Him empty! So thank you Bible verse writers; you are doing great kingdom work.

Many other neat things happened last Thursday including a conversation I had with a homeless man about the the three days between Christ’s death and resurrection. I ended up giving him my Bible and praying with Him, and marveling over his hunger to talk about spiritual matters. We also had a sweet teenage friend of ours to join us. She, along with her mother, was confronted by a fairly hostile man who asked “Why are you here? Why are you out here doing this?” Her answer was to turn her palms over in front of the man and answer simply “We are the hands of Christ today.”

We have no idea what God has ordained for Grace’s Kitchen. We know it is His ministry and His idea. We know that He has graciously revealed it to us and that we must follow in obedience. We know He has been clear and concise every step of the way and that we must persevere even when we are unsure of the next step. We wait, we watch, we pray and we listen. And that is enough for today.

-Lisa