The Joy of Sharing
Nov 8, 2020 | by Nancy Newbrough
At Thanksgiving in 2015, my husband and I decided to do something different to express our gratitude to God: handing out meals to the homeless community in San Francisco, California. At that time, we lived close by. With the high rate of homelessness in San Francisco, we were apprehensive about where exactly to go and, honestly, how safe it would be. But we decided to put that in God’s hands!
With our small budget, we were able to hand out sandwiches, socks and toiletries to 50 people. We prayed over the packages and included Bible verses in each bag to give the recipients encouragement and remind them that there is a God who loves them. Excited about this opportunity to serve, we documented our efforts to share with our friends and family. We received an overwhelming response and were asked when we would do it again. Many were eager to help and some expressed disappointment that we had not included them. We soon realized that God was putting together an opportunity for us to also share the Gospel with our friends and family as well as give them the opportunity to serve with us!
Wanting to name this “something that God was doing,” we first had to define our purpose. Prayerfully, we decided it was to feed body, mind and soul. That entailed feeding the body with food and meeting other physical needs, feeding the mind with the Gospel and Scripture verses, and feeding the soul through experiencing the grace and love of Jesus Christ. Thus our mission was named Project Feed.
The next year when we decided to pass out meals and care packages again, the invitation was issued to anyone who wanted to help. Our impact tripled as we poured out blessings on 150 people from the homeless community!
When God moved us to Katy in 2017, Project Feed was not left behind! In fact, it has become an amazing movement bringing together both believers and non-believers to be the hands and feet of Christ, to serve the under served and to love like Jesus loves. It immediately expanded to include whatever need God puts in front of us.
We arrived here a week after Hurricane Harvey. God used the compassion and generosity of the people we were leaving to help those in the city where we were moving. Accompanying us to Katy were six big boxes full of diapers, blankets, clothes, non-perishables and toiletries ... and many more goods were mailed to us for sharing with our new community.
At Christmas we met a family newly arrived from Venezuela whose contact here was supposed to set them up with a place to live. But when they arrived in Texas, their contact was nowhere to be found! Through God’s grace, they were able to find an apartment, but with nothing in it -- no furniture or kitchen and household items. We felt God was calling us to help. Project Feed diligently prayed and shared their story. Our expectation was perhaps enough donations to provide a couch and maybe a dining table. But our God goes above and beyond, always surpassing our expectations! We were able to furnish their apartment with a bed, living room set and dining table – and everything else they needed from utensils to microwave and toaster. There were Christmas presents for their young daughter and even gifts cards to grocery stores! God is so good!
Last year during The Fellowship’s Annual ServeFest event, Project Feed partnered with Soles4Souls, an organization that takes new and gently used shoes to help those who live in poverty. Project Feed reached out locally to our church and neighborhoods, but even people across the country got involved to collect 1,200 pairs of shoes! We give God all the glory!
After Hurricane Laura, we were moved to send water to the people of Hackberry, Louisiana. Through the generosity of Project Feed, those near and far donated 5,500 bottles of water!
Most recently, we connected with Hearts of the Father, an organization sponsoring outdoor events for young men in foster homes and single parent households. Along with our LIFE Group, we prepared care packages for them containing pre-packaged meals, snacks, toiletries and jackets.
These are just some examples of what God is doing. The holiday season is fast approaching and we are being prayerfully still before Him, asking where He next wants us to serve “the least of these” while sharing the Gospel and new life in Christ.
Our projects are for the entire family – we want our children to experience early on the joy God pours into our lives as we share His love with others. Our heart’s desire is that both those who receive and those who give realize that “every good gift and every perfect gift” in this world comes from our Heavenly Father and His amazing grace! And nothing is greater than His gift of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
J.P.
“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did
for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
Matthew 25:40
To learn more about Project Feed, visit:
https://www.facebook.com/The-Project-Feed-104342581478805/
https://instagram.com/theprojectfeed?igshid=1id8liv9n5yvc