Food for the Body, Food for the Spirit
When people come for food, they are interviewed by church folks and asked if they have other needs besides food that the church could help them with. Sessions on parenting have resulted, as well as home Bible studies. Distributing food each week provides ongoing contact with many people and, the pastor says, gives credibility to their message of the Gospel. Nick is in his late 30s. Out of work, he left the east coast and traveled to L.A. to meet a woman he’d met over the internet. He couldn’t find a job or, thus, a place to live, and he was getting desperate. The young woman, Rosie, saw a flier from the church advertising their food distribution. Nick called the number on the flier and left a message, and he was amazed when someone called him back offering help. He came to the church and got some food, and a relationship began to develop. As a result of the ongoing contact, Nick turned his life over to Christ. Rosie, too, asked Jesus into her heart, and not long after, Nick and Rosie married. They are both actively involved in the church, coming to the Sunday services and Wednesday night Bible studies, and Rosie attends the monthly women’s ministry activities. The church hired Nick to be their janitor/handyman. The church has increased in size by 50%, and the pastor credits the food outreach with most of the growth. |
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La Puente is east of downtown Los Angeles, a mostly low-income area. A vibrant local church recognized that the best way to demonstrate care to their struggling neighbors was to supplement their food supply, freeing the little money they had for other necessities. The church began a food outreach, getting resources from the Here’s Life Inner City warehouse in L.A. They host a food pantry once a week.