St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Ridgeway is launching a food ministry to try to help residents in Vance and Warren counties who find themselves struggling with having enough food for themselves and their families.
The food ministry, modeled after the story in the Bible of feeding 5,000 with two fish and five loaves of bread, will have its first event on Saturday, Jan. 28 and will be held on the last Saturday of each month thereafter, said Corey Brooks, pastor at St. Paul’s.
The church fellowship hall will host the first several months, but as the weather warms, Brooks said the hope is to travel into different areas of the county to provide food.
Brooks spoke with John C. Rose on Wednesday’s TownTalk about how the idea for a food ministry got started.
“We still have a few minor details (to work out), but we’re excited to be kicking this off,” Brooks said. “It’s easy to say ‘let someone else take care of them,’” Brooks said, but added that we’re called to love all of God’s children.
Providing a hot meal through the food ministry is a way to show that love for one another.
There also will be a “blessing box” located near the Norlina post office that people can visit, whether it’s to take food or to donate non-perishable items.
The box will have food to nourish the body and plenty of Bibles to nourish the soul.
“Take what you need and leave what you can,” Brooks said.
The blessing box is a place where folks struggling with food insecurity can go in the time between the last Saturdays of the month, he said.
St. Paul’s belongs to the southeastern district of the Lutheran Church’s Missouri Synod, and pastors like Brooks receive mission insight reports that provide information about the area, from income levels to people’s beliefs about God. Through his service as a chaplain for first responders, he said he’s seen the need himself.
But food insecurity rose to the top as a concern in the area, so the church is trying to do something about it.
Brooks invites other churches to help out, too.
“It’s not just our church,” he said. “It’s a time for us all to come together as brothers and sisters in Christ to provide” for others in the community.
He acknowledged that transportation could be a challenge, so help in that area would be most helpful.
But most of all, Brooks said he wants to let folks know that regardless of their struggles, their walk in life that they are children of God. “We want to walk with you and help you carry your burden as best we can.”
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