We went downtown and sought out the housing and food insecure folks again this week and we had a really great showing. We ran out of the terrific egg/sausage/potato/pepper scramble we put together this morning in only one hour.

We hadn’t seen some of these folks before, and we hadn’t seen as many of them during the winter as we were used to. In fact, we were wondering if we needed to change strategies so we wouldn’t miss anybody. Sometimes turnout was in single digits, despite the somewhat gentler weather this winter, and it gets disheartening to have to send the pastor (that’s the big guy in the plaid shirt) out in his car with a warmer filled with breakfast burritos to the various places where your unhoused neighbors hang out, so nothing will go to waste.

One of the ways we try and make our ministry different is the amount of time we spend with our neighbors. One of my (Pastor Tim) favorite parts of the meals is sitting with the neighbors and hearing them tell their own stories. People need to be listened to, to have their lives and their struggles validated, to have their humanity accepted. The winter was a struggle for me because I didn’t have that opportunity as much as I would have liked. Nice to be able to sit and talk with folks.

We’re going to strategize anyway, always room to improve. Blessings to all