This past week I ventured over to North Philadelphia to meet with two pastors (a married couple) who have led and personally underwritten a compassionate ministry for many years.  Their ministry has focused primarily on feeding the hungry, often people on the streets who frequently have no permanent residence.  This couple has a small congregation consisting mostly of the people who volunteer with them and some folks whom they help.  They have no budget to speak of, their office space is small and cramped, and most of their records are kept in spiral notebooks and on scraps of paper. They pray fervently, they network like crazy, and they lean heavily on GOD.

Last week, my friends fed 2200 people…not snacks or sandwiches but full meals.  This has been the pattern since the pandemic hit Philadelphia.  This is what they are doing each week. Whereas before, the numbers were in the hundreds, the degree of food insecurity in the area has caused those in need to grow by 10s…and the supply has kept pace.  GOD has been moving people and organizations to supply this ministry with food…every day, every week.  It just keeps coming, and they just keep giving it away to people who need it.

I met with them to discuss their plans for reopening their church to in-person meetings and their annual celebration event planned for September.  Two delivery trucks came while I was there: a van and a cargo truck with eight pallets of boxed food stacked nearly to the ceiling of the truck.  With four of us working, it only took minutes to unload the van, but even with two pallet jacks, it took more than an hour to unload and restack the contents in the cargo truck.  It was a hot day, and the sweat was pouring.

There was well over a ton of food sitting in the hallway by the time we were done.  The delivery truck driver asked one of the pastors how long it would take to distribute it all.  Her answer was, “It’ll all be gone by the end of the day.”  He and his 15-year old helper prayed with us before they left.

Weeks ago, I heard someone’s comment regarding the lack of trust they had in someone else (not surprising in these days): “I don’t believe what you say because I watch what you do.”

I think for anyone who spends time around my friends, who are both very clear and vocal in their proclamation of the good news of Jesus Christ, if you watch what they do, day-in and day-out, year after year, you can have confidence in what they say.  They are for real.  By the way, both of them would be considered elderly by today’s standards, and like the energizer bunny, they just keep going and going and going doing the work of GOD’s kingdom for His sake.  I think this is a big piece of what the Bible calls “true religion.”

© Byron L. Hannon, 2020.  All rights reserved to text content.