Spaghetti for Miles

Last Saturday we had another opportunity to serve the people around the Baton Rouge Dream Center. We blitzed the streets with almost thirty volunteers and handed out groceries to 160 families. The houses received a variety of staples from beef broth to spaghetti, and since the pasta was in 10 lb bags they should have plenty!

We’ve been doing these grocery give-aways for a few weeks now and it’s interesting to watch the reaction of the people. Some of the residents in North Baton Rouge were initially a little suspicious. Given the violence and chaos that continually surrounds them, I probably would be too. There is a man who lives a couple of houses down from the Dream Center and every week we offer him groceries. He always says no thanks, but he watches us. This week, as I was watching him watch us, a cool thing happened. A friend of his was over and the friend accepted the groceries we offered. Then the friend accepted the prayer we offered. We thanked everybody and walked away, as the guy continued to watch us. It’s been my experience that consistency can change a person’s heart.

One of our teams visited The Alamo again and we passed out a whole truckload of groceries. We were able to talk to some of the people we’ve been building relationships with and got to pray with them again. One of our volunteers built part of her testimony at The Alamo, so it was cool to see her talk to these girls and to be able to tell them there is a way out. God is good!

Over on 39th Street we met dozens of kids of all ages. We were able to get some groceries into their homes and to hang out with them a little. A teenager had her trombone with her and she showed us the two notes that she knew. We encouraged her to keep practicing so she could play some more the next time we saw her. She gave us a big smile and said she would. As we walked away I wondered if anyone else in her life had ever heard her play D and B-flat.

Pastors Dino and DeLynn came down to help out and a woman at one of the houses recognized Pastor Dino as the man who had given her a turkey four years ago. Who remembers a turkey from four years ago? I guess it just goes to show that we never really know how much of an impact these outreaches can have.

So, a few hours and about 1600 lbs of pasta later, we called it a day. We went back to the Dream Center to stack the boxes and close in prayer, and then we all had lunch together at CiCi’s before heading home.

There’s something about spending time with like-minded people that encourages me to serve. I can sometimes get wrapped up in the work of the kingdom without seeing the faces of the kingdom. I’m so grateful that, even in my performance-driven mindset, God loves me enough to help me see the importance of a B-flat. May God give all of us eyes to see and ears to hear. All glory to God!