Outreach Commission
Reflections from Lenten Outreach
On March 2nd we hosted dinner at the St. Andrew's shelter and breakfast at the College Hill Moravian Church shelter the next morning. Below are reflections from some of the Mediator parishioners who served at those sites.
I want to start with many thanks to the parish for your participation. Carol W., Brian S., Nan S., Barbara D., Nora E., Sydney D., Norma M. and Carl K., provided the food, cooked and/or cleaned up. Our vestry has allocated 10% of what we make from fundraising, (for example, $0.80 on each box of Easter eggs sold) to Outreach. Therefore, we were able to financially support St. Andrew's homeless initiative with a check of $150 to help offset their costs.
Earlaine Klingler, Chair
Reflections
Barbara D. - "I have found it a joy to meet and work with members of other congregations for such a worthwhile cause".
Brian S. - "I've done this both years and I love doing it."
Nanette S. - "What I like is to see my husband's face when he's serving and how happy he looks that the people enjoy his food. I like eating with the guests and sharing that simple, deeply spiritual act of breaking bread with my neighbor."
Nora E. - "One thing that kind of hit me when I was working was that not all homeless people look stereotypically homeless - a lot of these people you could pass on the street and not realize they have no home - it makes you realize that you can't assume things about people and people in need can look all different ways".
Earlaine K. - "I sat near a homeless veteran who served in Vietnam and carried a Bible with him. This made conversation easy. He was excited about a set of biblical pictures he copied from the library written in Latin that he was waiting for someone to interpret for him. He told me he spends his days in the library until he goes to the Veterans Center and works until five and then to the shelter. His wife divorced him many years ago and that is how he became homeless and closer to God. 'In 23 years God has never let him down' and he is at total peace as he is always in God's house. We ended our visit with the reading of Colossians 13; and he emphasized with me - that the greatest of these is love."
Sydney D. - "With the evening at St. Andrew's being my first occasion to do this type of ministry, I was unprepared for what I might feel after the program was over and I had gone home. One of the things I didn't expect was an invitation to all the workers to sit and actually share the meal with the homeless men after the food had been served. That was the hardest thing for me to do because I wasn't quite sure what to talk about with them. But fortunately the men with whom I sat had a good familiarity with each other, and I tried to enter into their banter whenever I could. But I was definitely in another, different, comfort zone than if I had sat among more affluent strangers. Later that night, as I got into bed, I opened my book of Lenten devotions (from Episcopal Relief and Development), and the first thing my eyes fell upon was the passage from Deuteronomy (31:6) 'Be strong and bold and have no fear or dread of them, because it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.' It gave me a start, but then also brought me to tears. I realized, in that moment, God was speaking to me. I will always remember it."