This Ministry is such a blessing for so many.
When Amanda and I first started this, we agreed that it would be beneficial to not turn anyone who had the heart to help away, because of their belief or lack of, simply embracing the hope that in those encounters Jesus would be able to let His light shine and win others to Him.
Looking back now, GOD has worked so much through this Ministry, not only in the lives of those we feed, but for myself, Amanda, our brothers & sisters from church serving with us, and those who pass by and have it on their hearts to somehow help or contribute. It blows my mind. We are entering the 29th month of LTN's existence and I can not count how many lives have been changed.... GOD knows, and that's the only real thing that's of any importance anyways. Please keep it up Lord!
I bring all that up because some pretty cool things have happened the past few weeks, that I forgot to mention. I have no clue where the following people stand in their faith or beliefs, but something has stirred their hearts to partake in this...
One woman walking by noticed that in our gathering, there are a handful of dogs which belong to our friends living on the streets. This kind and thoughtful woman took it upon herself to buy dog food and distribute it out to the dogs while they stood in line. That (to me) is such an incredibly selfless act of kindness.
Another woman who was once just passing by, inquired what we're doing... for the past 4 weeks, she has been dropping off bags & boxes of pastries from Starbucks... then she casually walks off. She's like a vapor in the wind, I've yet had an opportunity to speak with her, even for a moment.
Tonight another woman passing by asked about getting involved. She confessed that she'd been watching us for a few weeks now and finally took the step to talk with us. For now, she's made plans to help serve next week. Praise GOD for everything!!!
There were no out of the ordinary events tonight... in fact, it all went rather smoothly. I shared with the group, my thoughts on the Ministry and how I feel it's becoming more & more like a church gathering. There were no objections, and I was encouraged as I noticed more people nodding in agreement if anything. After giving the message, I took a daring step and asked if anybody else would like to say grace and ask for GOD's blessing over the meal. (I say 'daring' because you do not know what to expect here.) and after a moment of hesitation... Michael came up and lead us in an amazing prayer.
The Lord's faithful provision allowed all attendees to leave with a full stomach and some warm clothing as the cooler nights approach the shore. Above all else, after the county wide power outage yesterday.... I'm thankful that we were even able to help do our part to physically pour out GOD's love on the community tonight. Had we not got the power back on, we wouldn't have been able to cook the dinner. It's time to start saving up for a generator just as a back up plan... plus it's just a smart thing to be prepared for anyways.
GOD is good all the time, and all the time GOD is good.
Amen!!!
