I was unable to be present as the distribution began since I had Bible study at the same time. So for the first hour and a half, I taught from the gospel of John and prayed that God would bring our community to the church so we can feed them.
As I left the class and walked over to the tents where bags of food were being passed out, I wondered how the work was going? I wonder who from our community was coming for food, and I wondered what we were learning as we pass the food out? I wondered how God was calling us to adapt to meet this presenting issue?
I then took my place in the food-line and began running bags out to the cars that pulled up into our parking lot.
Over the next 45 minutes I spoke to a lot of people--people that I did not know. People that I had never seen before. Their responses, while diverse, carried a familiar and consistent tone. They were grateful and they offered us a blessing. Many people responded to us with a "God bless you" and/or a "thank you so much." My heart was touched.
As I walked back to the house with Jennifer, I was reminded of something Lillian Daniel wrote. She said:
"We had a feeling that there were people in the [community] who has something to teach us."
What a powerful statement! Trusting in people that we do not know to teach us something important--something from God.
I wonder: Are we willing to listen to what our neighbors were offering to each us?
That is not only a challenge that we deal with here at Bethesda as we pass out food to our community, but I believe it is a challenge that we should address each day as we meet and encounter our community.
And so I wonder about you: are you willing to listen to your community? Because they might just have something to teach you too. . .
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