More than a Handout

The first time Peter and Dana came to a Feed the Need Missions site, they had both been struggling with illnesses which took them out of work for some time. During the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, they lost their jobs. They were in a desperate place. “It’s embarrassing to struggle this much. I could possibly lose my car, and I have to move out of my rental place—I have never been this poor my entire life,” Peter shared.  

You’ll often hear Feed the Need Missions team members say that what we offer is more than “a free handout.” Occasionally, we are asked if we believe this free meal is truly helping, or if it isn’t just enabling certain folks to take advantage. Our response is two-fold.

First, we believe there is more than one type of hunger. Often this has nothing to do with wealth. Some people may have all the financial comfort they could need, but lack community and support. As they gather surrounded by loving volunteers, the meal helps. Some may be carrying significant emotional burdens. As they are prayed over and connected to resources, the meal helps. And the most urgent, some are experiencing a total starvation of the spirit. They may be completely ensnared in hopelessness or a destructive lifestyle from which they have no idea how to break free. As they discover the truth that freedom is found in Jesus, the meal helps. At Feed the Need Missions, we welcome every king of hungry soul. There is no requirement, and no need to deserve it. There is no taking advantage here, because the truth is, we all need what lies beyond the burger.

Second, regardless of deservedness, we believe that we have a biblical directive to feed and fill others in every sense. Countless scriptures speak to our call as God’s image bearers to be burden sharers. Bridge buildings. A people of reconciliation. To meet every kind of need, regardless (even in spite of) deservedness. Check out a few of those here:

I, the LORD, have called you
for a righteous purpose,
and I will take hold of your hand.
I will keep you and appoint yo
to be a covenant for the people
and a light to the nations,
to open the eyes of the blind,
to bring prisoners out of the dungeon
and those sitting in darkness
out from the prison house.

Isaiah 42:6-7

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:

2 Corinthians 5:18

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me…The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.

Matthew 25:35-36, 40