The Reed Family: Church of the Reconciler

A couple of weeks ago, our Sunday School class had the church's outreach coordinator come speak to our class about the outreach opportunities that are within our church. As we are in the process of filling out our outreach commitment cards, it was awesome to see what organizations that the church helps and where the church's greatest needs were with regards to volunteers for their outreach programs. She told us that at that time, the greatest need was to have a class sponsor and volunteer to feed the homeless at the Church of the Reconciler the first Sunday in June. That was only two weeks away and they were in desparate need. We had a small class that day, unfortunately, but there were five of us that instantly felt called to do it and were going to be in town that weekend. We told the outreach coordinator that we would do it, without regard to the fact that we had to raise $300 in 2 weeks to pay for the food, and the fact that 5 of us were going to SERVE 200 people! On Sunday, we found out that we had an anonymous donor pay the entire amount. We are so very grateful for that.

I had no idea what to expect. I never thought about the fact that just 10 minutes from where we live, there is this whole community full of homeless people. The Church of the Reconciler is a church for the homeless community. After a church service on Sunday, they provide a meal to usually around 200 people. For a lot of these people, this is the only meal they get for the week. Can you imagine?

When we arrived, we met Miss Mary. She is the cutest, sweetest, little fireball you have ever seen. She is the boss over there and she does a wonderful job. Everything was so organized and she kept everyone in line for sure. She gave us all a hug and thanked us for being there as soon as we arrived. She gave us the directions, stating that the first round of people would be sat at noon and would consist of around 75-100 people. We would SERVE them. It did not consist of a cafeteria line or anything like that. The purpose was to make them feel welcome and not ashamed and for once in their life, to be served. The five of us made the first round of plates, which consisted of baked ziti, salad, and a banana. We had a good assembly line to prepare the food quickly and efficiently. Then, it was time to go.

I have to say, I was a little nervous about leaving the kitchen to go serve. I told Joel that I wanted to stay right next to him in case anything happened. Little did I know that when we went out to serve, it was chaos and we all went in different directions to get them fed as quickly as possible! We were told to make sure that everyone only got one plate and one drink, and to be mindful of those that hide their drinks under their chair, or put their food in their bags for later, and ask for another plate. They would fool us. And, they tried for sure to fool us. It was so sad. I had to say "no" to several people who tried to do this. It broke my heart because you wanted to give them more, but we had to make sure that everyone got fed and we didn't run out. Some were so thankful and expressed their gratitude. Others were rude and told us to hurry up. There were several skirmishes that broke out about getting more food. It was a rush, but I never once felt unsafe. It felt good, actually. Really, good.

Once the first round was over, we hurried back into the kitchen and started on round two. This was even more chaotic as we had less time to get the plates prepared. Somehow, we got it done though and did the process over. It seemed like we were done in a heartbeat. The time went by so fast.

I have to tell this one funny story. In all the madness, I stepped on one old man's foot by accident. I was in heels and I felt SO bad! I told him that I was so sorry and asked him if he was ok. He was probably in his 70's. He told that I could step on his foot anytime I wanted to, and gave me this huge smile. He made me smile too.

I think the biggest thing that broke my heart was seeing the kids in there. I guess after having a child of my own, I hate that those kids have to grow up in that environment. I wanted to snatch every one of them up and take them home with me! One child got in trouble for hitting someone and sat in the kitchen with us--that was timeout. He was adorable, but you could tell that he had a rough childhood. My heart just hurt for him.

I would totally recommend doing this if you are wanting to do some sort of outreach to the community. Joel and I can't wait to do it again. It felt so good to be able to provide for those people. We had no idea what got them to that point--you never know, that could be us someday--but it was good to know that we could give them a decent meal and make them feel special, if only for a day. Those in charge, like Miss Mary, at the Church of the Reconciler are doing a wonderful thing and we really can't thank them enough.

Now, onto the pictures. We only had an I-Phone, so they are a little blurry. Here is a picture of Megan and me in the kitchen before we started serving.