One of my placements during January was to work with the New City of David Parish in Leeds, UK. New City of David is a church community of roughly 30 people who work within various ministries in Leeds. One of this is the "Fresh Start" program. The Fresh Start program provides meals to homeless and underemployed people in Leeds. The range of need varies, but the compassion and humanity with which the volunteers treat those who enter for a meal is consistently abundant. While the focus of the program for the moment is on the Tuesday evening meal and conversation, building relationships within the homeless community, Pastor Nicholas has a vision of extending the program to include job assistance, housing assistance, and mentoring. I say they already do a wonderful job in offering the transient community a bit of compassion, food and a listening ear.
On Tuesday nights the cafe quickly moves from the numbers above,to the full house pictured below.
Volunteers take turns doing dishes, but tonight Shepherd has taken over the responsibility which allows for the other volunteers to have conversations with the guests in order to build relationships within the community.
Every week they serve a hot meal. This week, Mercy is in charge and making chicken curry with rice.
This is a group shot at the end of the night. Some of the volunteers have already left, but from those remaining you can get the idea of the playful, and dare I say, joyful attitude with which this community approaches service to others.
It was a joy to work with Pastor Nicolas and the rest of the New City of David Community. Pastor Nicolas told me that he feels that England and Leeds in particular have given a lot to his community and it is their goal to give back as much as they can.
I love that the posture of gratitude toward the gifts that God has given them that seems to inform all the service, outreach and preaching that New City of David does in the Leeds community. It is contagious. They take hospitality seriously. I know this not only because I benefited from their kindness, but observed the gracious manner of the volunteers during the Fresh Start program. My thoughts and prayers are with them as their ministry continues to develop and grow.
No comments:
Post a Comment