Colin has been interested in going to the Cooking For Christ ministry at our church for several weeks now. It’s something Julie has organized to take dinner to the homeless each week. Based out of our church, the volunteers meet up at First UMC each Monday to put together sandwiches and pack up fruit and crackers and bakery bread and take it over to the old, unused Elizabeth City Middle School building to distribute to people who need it and fellowship with them.
I guess Colin had talked to Julie about it and decided to go yesterday to help out, and asked if I wanted to go. Now, it’s not that I didn’t want to go, and certainly not that I didn’t want to help. But I was really tired, and already have one of my favorite ministries on Monday nights, and cooking has always been Colin’s thing, not mine (though I’m good at it when I want to be). I just didn’t think I’d be useful.
One skill I’d forgotten about, though, is putting together sandwiches. Holy cow. If you ever need mass amounts of sandwiches put together, I’m your guy. Sarah and I made so many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, just jelly sandwiches, ham sandwiches, turkey sandwiches, Nutella sandwiches, and cheese sandwiches over the summer that we eventually even had a system to make and distribute them to 40+ people on a bumpy bus in just a few short minutes.
Turns out I got to put it to use. I really only decided to go so that Colin would have a buddy. But I realized that I fit in really well at new (for me) ministry sites (thanks, Cameron) and I know how to make myself useful and jump right in and both get a job done. but to serve the real purpose and just love people along the way. Some of my favorite people were at the church, or got there soon after we arrived, and a lot more who I think will be some of my favorite people soon were waiting for us at ECMS.
It’s such an easy thing to distribute food to people just one day a week. But what I love is that the group who has already been going really knows most of the people that are there. There’s another really similar ministry to CFC in town, but the more I hear about it, even from the people who started it, the more I feel like they are helping people at arm’s length. But Julie pulled up and had hugged and kissed the first three people she saw. Most times it’s not that sandwich that’s the tool for ministry.
