Dennis (one of our deacons) has been volunteering at a food pantry called the Father’s Heart. He organized an opportunity to volunteer and serve food this past Saturday and I want to share about that experience. I have served at a good number of food pantries, but this one felt different. While it was very well organized and they knew how to mobilize all kinds of volunteers in an efficient manner, that is not what made it different. I sensed a wonderful spirit of love in this place.

When I first entered, I gave them my name and received a nametag. Everyone was in their volunteer groups and I was alone on an island (Dennis had not yet arrived). It felt like eating in the dining hall by myself in college again. One of the regular volunteers introduced himself and pointed me to the coffee. He was a nice guy and we later connected over growing up to LL Cool J. Next, they began to organize the volunteers and hand out assignments. I was assigned the produce table and handed out fresh produce for the next few hours.

I wondered about the lives of many of these folks. There were many Chinese immigrants. I wish I knew Mandarin so I could tell some of the senior folks, someone is here to help you carry your bag (one of the assignments was to help older folks who struggled to carry everything). Apparently, the lines start forming at 3:30am. For the most part, people came through with a smile and received the produce with a polite, “Thank you.” When we ran out of produce, the disappointment in one Chinese woman’s eyes upon hearing there was no more made my heart sad. I wondered how important this food was to her. 

The service ended and I thanked my supervisor who did an amazing job organizing and leading the team. I shared with her that I felt a lot of love in this place. She said there was a lot of prayer that covers this ministry. During the pandemic, her church was not meeting anymore, but the Father’s Heart was still serving food and it became the community she needed. She said she came and volunteered, not just to serve others, but because she needed it.

I must say, there was a part of me that didn’t want to serve that morning. I was struggling with a cough that didn’t allow me to sleep for several nights. The first night I was able to sleep, I had to wake up early to serve. It was a very tiring week with work and sick children (one of whom threw up in my new car). I had to drive from New Jersey to the Lower East Side and had a lot of work to do that day. And yet, I was really glad I went. I shared my supervisor’s sentiment—I needed this. I needed to serve. I needed to be reminded that my problems are small. I needed to be reminded gratitude can be found anywhere. I needed to be reminded there are amazing people out there who love those who are poor. There are a million reasons why I needed this. Ultimately, it fed my soul.

I would like to make serving at this ministry a regular occurrence. Next time, I hope more folks from GNC will make the time to serve. Not because the those whom we serve need it, but because I think you need it.

Pastor Sam