An Opportunity to Serve Honored Guests

For some time now, I have been interested in the possibility of serving the homeless in New York City.  As with most, the thought is strongest around the holidays, but even then, I have never done it.  Late last fall, I was in the Lower East Side and I stopped in at the Bowery Mission.  I suggested that I would be interested in helping out in some way.  The guy at the desk gave me the phone number for the volunteer coordinator, I called her as I stood in the lobby.  We spoke for several minutes, and it has led nowhere.

In December, an opportunity came through my church.  Once a month, a group from the Journey goes to Father's Heart Ministries to help serve breakfast to the homeless.  The next date was scheduled for January 10, but because of my work schedule, I was not able to commit until the week before.  As it turned out, I worked that Saturday afternoon, so I was able to go to the mission and help serve breakfast that morning.  Arrival time, 8:30 AM.  With the trains and the walk, I would have to leave my house no later than 7:00 AM.  Really, a small sacrifice in order to do something nice for someone else.  That's what I thought, I was doing something great-going to help those less fortunate.  I would be taken down a notch or two before the morning was over.

I arrived, actually a couple minutes late on one of the coldest mornings of the season.  I signed in, filled out the release form, got a name tag, and entered a large room, where I was directed to the contact of the Journey group.  After being introduced all around, I put my belongings in a somewhat unsecured room.  I wondered about that, but didn't say anything-after all, they have been doing this longer than I.

Around 9:00, Pastor Chuck gathered the volunteers in a bit of an orientation.  All 140 of us.  He began by saying, "Daddy is not angry.  You can come home."  This is the core understanding that Father's Heart wants the people they serve to get.  They begin by feeding the people physically.  And feeding them until they can handle no more.  Pastor Chuck likened it to when your parents have guests for dinner.  Two things kind of happen.  First, you feed your honored guests until they are full.  When the guest says they have had enough, you suggest more, and you ask more than once.  Second, you get to be the go-for.  Your parents are entertaining, and of course you wouldn't expect your guest to get the salt and pepper, so that leaves you.  And you do it cheerfully.  Lastly, when they leave, you offer to send some extra food home with them.  The funny thing about this analogy, is that when I was home over the summer, my parents had guests a couple times and this is exactly what happened.
The second point that Pastor Chuck made was to hold up a real, live, hundred-dollar-bill.  He said, "If I crumple this up and throw it on the floor, and we walked over it for a couple weeks, this bill would be dirty, tattered, and maybe even torn in half.  If I held it up after a couple weeks and asked who wanted it, every one of you would raise your hand.  This is what these people who will be coming in in a few minutes are.  Crumpled, dirty, torn...but they are walking, talking hundred-dollar-bills."  Wanna talk about changing your perspective on something, and fast?  That did it for me.

After "orientation", we were divided up into groups.  First was the outside workers.  They needed 12.  It was 14 degrees outside.  Nine people immediately raised their hands.  I became number ten.  Two others were quickly named and we went outside.  The line had already formed and stretched down the block.  My job was to maintain order at one of the breaks in the line.  The benefit for me was that I got to greet every single person who came for breakfast that day.  I even got a hug or two!  The line moved quickly and we were actually done outside in 45 minutes.  We wrapped up the ropes and went inside to help bag food to take out.  When I took off my coat, and put it in the storage room again, I noticed on of the volunteers was standing in front of the closed door.  Everything has been thought of in this organization.  There are rules and procedures for every eventuality.  It makes things run very, very smoothly.  That day, we served almost 550 people in less than two hours.

As each  person finished eating, they were offered free legal assistance, if they needed or wanted it.  There was also a place to sign up for free ESL classes and other services.  The idea is to reach someone's heart, but first, feed them until they can't eat any more.  When they left, each person was given a bag of food with enough for six meals.

I spend a lot of time smiling at work, and sometimes coworkers think I'm a little nuts.  "You don't have to smile and offer a shopping bag to everyone!" they think.  But, that's something I love to do.  I get to find out where people are from and give them an opportunity to talk about themselves, and they do.  It was so cool to smile at people and welcome them for breakfast, and that was the expectation!  And our honored guests smiled back.  How anyone smiles when they spent the night outside or when they have no place to go after breakfast is beyond me.

If you want to volunteer regularly, you have to take a five-week series of classes called Discipline for Service.  I will be there beginning February 25.  I am looking forward to finishing the class and being able to serve any time I'm available.  Right now, I can only go with the Journey group, and the next time they serve will be February 14.  I have to work that day.  After the class, I will be able to go without the group two or three times a month.  I'm looking forward to seeing how God uses me there!

For more information about this organization:
Father's Heart Ministries