Six years ago, around the same time I started Trinity Reservations, I had the priviledge of being invited to serve on the “Relief Bus” based out of Newark New Jersey. This Christian organization has taken old school buses , painted them white and altered the sides to drop down for road side service. They go to the poorest sections of Newark and the five boroughs of New York City. The bus I served on went to Newark. After we arrived, about 5 or 6 of us in all, we went to work setting up tables to display the clothing that was donated to be given away and others prepared to serve soup and bread. We saw every walk of life in the two or three hours of our service. We served the elderly , mothers with new borns, addicts and prostitutes, gang members and everyone in between. What was most surprising was the common hunger for a simple touch of love and compassion. This was a life changing experience for me. I knew this because I could feel God nudging me from the time we drove home that day and for the next several weeks to come. The nudging was God telling me that this was something that needed to be started in the county I lived in and in the largest town which is Newton NJ. I must admit that I was reluctant to say the least. What did I know about starting such a thing and how could I possibly do it! It did not take long to see friends and associates come along side of me as I began to talk about my experience in Newark and what I felt God wanted for the local area.

What started out as a one Saturday a month picnic in Memory Park of Newton NJ, serving a hot lunch, clothing and of course prayer to about 15 guests turned into an every Saturday, year round picnic in the park serving 50 people and supported by 4 team leaders from four area churches of different denominations! For many of our honored guests, this is the only meal they will have over the weekend until the area soup kitchen opens up again on Monday. This also explains why people are willing to walk to the park when it’s snowing and in the teens for a hot cup of soup and a hot dog in the dead of winter. I have to say that as a team leader, the process of buying and preparing the meal was never a burden but a joy. After a few years of service, relationships are built and our time together in the park became a family reunion. The Team leaders always walk away feeling more blessed than those we are serving. God is so very good! This year a new Bread of Life ministry has been started in Franklin NJ, serving a hot lunch every Saturday for about 12-15 guests. And so God is growing his ministry of people serving and loving their neighbors in a time where so many are in need.

I hope this “God at Work” testimony has been encouraging to you. Do you have a God at Work story to share? If so, please tell us about what God is doing through you or others in your life by connecting with us below.