Feeding the Homeless

Author: Jake Kim | Category: Unkown category | Date: 09-20-2020

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It’s 5:30 P.M., and I am setting up a table at Pier 2 for my church’s homeless meal providing service. As I place the containers on the ground and open them up, the smell of warm chicken soup mixes with the salty bay breeze. The church members take their places and an elder opens us in prayer before we begin to serve the homeless.

Besides my family, the members of the service alternate every month. As the pastor’s family, we must serve every month on the second Sunday.

After setting everything up, my dad leaves the pier to park the church minivan and engage some roaming homeless people looking for a meal. After a while, he comes back to check on how we’re doing and to talk with some of the homeless. With inconsistent English, he tries his best to initiate a conversation and bond with those who are willing to talk to him.

My mom stays with us, usually serving coffee at the very last station of our service. She makes sure that there aren’t any unmanned stations on the table and helps everyone with setting up.

Then, there’s me. I generally follow along compliantly, knowing that I could be doing something more “productive” with my time. But when I begin serving, I can’t help but feel compassion for the homeless. Most of them never fail to show up and always reply with the most sincere “thank you”s that I’ve heard in my life. Regardless of my initial attitude towards following along, I always leave with the feeling more productive and fulfilled than ever. 

The homeless meal providing service is a large part of me. Even if there’s no instantaneous merit in participating in the service, there’s still a driving factor that forces me to comply no matter how unwilling I feel. Sure, I have my responsibilities to worry about, but isn’t this the greatest? How can I consider something else when my presence determines the efficiency at which the homeless receive their meals?

So, I try my best to interact with the homeless, as the more I connect with them, the more purpose I feel in serving them. Even by saying a mere “God bless you”, I am reminded of my obligation of serving these desperate people.

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About: Jake Kim

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