Thanks Giving for 600

It’s the fourth Monday at De Leon United Methodist Church and that means its FOOD PANTRY Monday.  And its Thanksgiving Week, so the crowd of those seeking food supplements will be at its largest for the year.

  

Over 150 bags of donated, government, and ministry purchased groceries are filled and prepared. Freezers full of meats are ready.  Hundreds of dozens of fresh donated eggs are also stashed in the refrigerators.

At 12:00 pm Dotty, the leader of this ministry arrives.  Her team of 6-10 other leaders begins to arrive soon after The  line of clients started forming at 11:30 outside.  2:00 pm is the start of this 2-6pm project.

At about 1:00 pm we walk across the rear parking lot and  join Dottie’s crew.  The rest of over 20 unpaid servants arrives by 1:30. At 1:50 we round up for prayer.

And at 2 the doors open. By 3:30 there are only about 25 bags left in the grocery room, where I have been stationed with retired Pastor Dan. Servants from another room come in led by Donna to start filling more bags.

Mona has given away about 4/5ths of the eggs.

David has distributed half of the meat.  And there are a couple of hours to go. 

But now things slow down, and by dusk, at 5:30, there is only a trickle of cars coming  into the parking lot.  We were left go at about 4, and rested and watched from the coach in the church back lot.

Pastor Ken was not able to be present today, so when the young lady came in crying that God hated her and she was hopeless someone came to get Pastor Dan or I. Dan allowed me to attend.  Dotty opened the church office and she and the young lady and I counseled, prayed, cried, and sought how best to help this dear soul.

‘What do you need most of all?’ I asked. ‘Not what do you want most. What do you need.’

‘I want my two boys back but I need my birth certificate and social security number so I can get a job.  They have been stolen.’  How do you get them, I wondered.  ‘And next?’

‘A place to sleep tonight’. Where might that be?  De Leon is tiny, and Deland, not a big town, is 7 miles further south.  It was then that God once again proved He is in control.  In walked Jan.

Jan leads the local WISHING WELL Christian job and housing for desperate people ministry. She had walked in to see how the food pantry was going and heard a pastor and Dotty were with a desperate one.

Final report: the young lady has a bed tonight in a local shelter, her boys are safe with their grandparents, and Jan is picking her up at the shelter tomorrow morning to process her through a new birth certificate and social security card and start  to find her a job.

It’s the fourth Monday of the month at De Leon United Methodist Church. Its 6:00 pm. Over 600 people were supplied with up to a weeks worth of nutritious food. And at least one desperate young lady who thought God hated her, met her true Father today.

Tomorrow is the fourth Tuesday of November, and the pantry here is closed. Other desperate persons will seek God.  Where will they seek Him?  Who will be His feet and hands tomorrow?  Me, you?  Only if we are ready to say, “I will”.

-Ken