Every week, Sojourner’s gather on Saturday afternoon with Bates Memorial Baptist Church in Shelby Park to serve meals to poor families.  Not only do they serve meals, but there is ample opportunity to get to know these families and share laughs or perhaps more often, share their tears.

Saturday was a special Saturday at Bates CDC on Jackson Street. God transformed a heart of stone in a gentleman that Brother Gill had been sharing Christ with for quite some time, praise be to God!  We celebrated with this gentleman as he has put his trust and hope in Jesus Christ.

It was a fresh reminder of the power of God at work in the lives of the overlooked. Many of the families that we minister to feel invisible as many people pass by without acknowledging their presence. Families tell me that they experience more pain and frustration in their loneliness, isolation and rejection than the difficulties of figuring out how to afford healthcare, get meaningful employment, and find adequate shelter.  What they tell me is that they need meaningful friendships and relationships more than a handout and a warm meal.

So it is in this case.  A man we have been journeying with for some time now knows God personally.  He stopped being a stranger to us long ago.  As we got to know him – his struggles, his fears – we came to love him.  And huge part of loving him was not only to feed him, but to help him see his need for Christ.  So yesterday we celebrated! It is truly the Holy Spirit alone that could prompt such a suffering soul to receive God’s grace. There is a harvest to be had on Saturday afternoons! If you’re eager to share Good News in Word and deed, come check it out.

David Taliaferro, the writer of this blog, can be reached at david.taliaferro@summitenergy.com.  Join him and a team of Sojourner’s every Saturday morning at 11:30am-2:00pm at Bates Memorial CDC located at 1228 S. Jackson Street.