Stony Point
It All Adds Up: Teresa’s Story
Have you ever been part of something that was larger than the sum of its parts? That is Feed the Need Missions. The parts are important, and they are obvious. Feed the Need Missions provides hamburgers and hot dogs to those in need—at sites each week and in disaster areas when the need arises. Feed the Need Missions allows many people to be part of a great work. We feed hundreds of people free hamburgers and hot dogs each week.
Many people are generous and donate to provide the supplies for the meals. Some wonderful leaders keep the vision on track and undergird everything with prayer. Some people do the administrative duties to keep everything running smoothly. Other people go and purchase the supplies each week. Site volunteers show up every week and wash, chop, cook, wrap and bag the food. The most fortunate volunteers get to take the orders for the food, talk and pray with those who come to be served. All that is impressive, but there is so much more!
Feed the Need Missions addresses many kinds of poverty. The obvious financial, physical poverty, but there is also emotional, spiritual, and community poverty. Those who come, volunteers and guests, face more than one of these. The obvious provision is the food for those who are in physical or financial poverty.
But the bigger provision is for the emotional, spiritual, and community poverty. Each week, we have people who come who have recently moved into the area. They need the community that is provided when they come and talk with us. Each week we pray with those who are facing emotional trials and they need the love that soothes their emotions. We display the love of Jesus in every interaction, and we pray with each person who comes. We even get to introduce some to Jesus for the first time and some come to accept Jesus through their interactions.
The sum of the parts is much greater than the individual parts. The volunteers become family and pray together for each other. The volunteers who are packaging the burgers and hot dogs pray as they work for those guests who will receive the food.
Oh, the joy and blessing of praying with and for the guests. To answer their “why” questions—Why do you do this? Why would you come here? Why would people give money for this? Why are you here in the rain, heat, cold? To have the opportunity to pray for each family. To see the changes in the community. The friendships that develop among the volunteers and the guests is amazing! The excitement when someone who hasn’t come for a while comes back. That recognition of their importance is often the only time they get validation of their importance. For some of our guests, Feed the Need Missions provides the only love and acceptance they get.
Oh, the joy and blessing of praying with and for the guests. To answer their “why” questions—Why do you do this? Why would you come here? Why would people give money for this? Why are you here in the rain, heat, cold? To have the opportunity to pray for each family. To see the changes in the community. The friendships that develop among the volunteers and the guests is amazing! The excitement when someone who hasn’t come for a while comes back. That recognition of their importance is often the only time they get validation of their importance. For some of our guests, Feed the Need Missions provides the only love and acceptance they get.
Even COVID couldn’t slow down God’s hand through Feed the Need Missions. The change from a serving line to a car line could have dampened the spirit and the connections, BUT God! How amazed we were to see prayer become so much deeper and more open. Who knew that the guests would open up so much more in the privacy of their cars! Would we have had the opportunity to pray with the man who accepted Jesus at Feed the Need Missions the week before he was shot 7 times at close range and lived to give God the glory? To come back to thank the volunteers and ask them to pray with his wife?
Yes, the sum of the parts of Feed the Need Missions is amazing! Physical food for those in need, a place of service and an opportunity for generosity for the volunteers, a way to help in emergency situations. But there is no way to know the spiritual and emotional impact on every person involved this side of heaven. There is always room for one more, too. You can be part of all of this—just show up with a heart to serve and a smile to share.
About the Writer:
Teresa Carrol is a lead volunteer at the Stony Point site, where she has been serving for more than five years.
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