You Feed Them Missional Food Pantry isn’t your typical food pantry. Instead of simply giving patrons bags of groceries and sending them out the door, You Feed Them Missional Food Pantry treats each visit as a trip to the grocery store, where patrons choose specific items.
“A lot of times, with pantries, clients throw away half the things,” said Lydia Davis, minister and organizer of the pantry located at Barnes United Methodist Church. The pantry celebrated its first anniversary on Thursday. “They’re doing the grocery shopping. They get to select the foods they would feed their families.”
That’s not the only way You Feed Them Missional Food Pantry differs. In addition to food, each visitor receives prayer and has an opportunity to share any hardships, goals or discuss any other concerns. Christ care ministers listen, help patrons find services or help with job searches, and most importantly, offer an opportunity to accept Christ.
“We’re working on how can we holistically help a person,” Davis said. “We’re only open once a month. The rest of the month I’m working on what are these requests from people, building that relationship. They come back for that. My goal is to continue partnering with community resources and other agencies for their help.”
The pantry served 670 people, 203 people accepted Christ as their savior and three were baptized in the first year, Davis said.
You Feed Them Missional Food Pantry is modeled after Faith, Hope and Love Community’s missional food pantry, where Davis received training.
Sisters Tara and Barbara Billingsley say serving as Christ care ministers allows them to demonstrate Christ’s love in a gentle and nonjudgmental way. Everyone who visits the pantry isn’t initially receptive to prayer or the other services offered. The Billingsley sisters instead pray silently and over time, they’ve seen some walls of resistance come down.
“We love them,” Tara said. “God loves them. Some of them don’t even know that they are loved, that they mean anything.”
Before becoming a Christ care minister, Barbara says she didn’t like praying in public. She’s no longer hesitant about doing so and her prayer life has strengthened.
“All I’ve ever wanted to do is be a servant,” Barbara said. “To bring a smile to them means so much to me.”
Contact Editor Oseye Boyd at 317-762-7850. Follow her on Twitter @oseye_boyd.
You Feed Them Missional Food Pantry is open 6-7:30 p.m. every third Thursday at Barnes United Methodist Church, 900 W. 30th St.
