Neighbors in Need

There are many perks to living in a small, rural community like East Hartland, Connecticut. Everyone knows everyone, it is a quiet and peaceful place to live, and we have regular visits from some pretty amazing wildlife. We don’t have any traffic lights because we don’t have any traffic. There is exactly one restaurant in the center of town, a library on the West side, three churches, one school, a post office, and the town hall. Note the lack of a grocery store or gas station—you need to leave town for those luxuries! I count it a privilege that I grew up here and that my husband and I raised our five children here. I love my community. But sometimes when you live in a place for your whole life, you can be oblivious to some of the needs around you, and you need another perspective to bring them to light.

Sandy moved to my neighborhood in 2006, and we quickly became friends. She and her husband began attending our church, Bethany LBC, and we ended up working in the kitchen together at some of the Lent Dinners. We eventually volunteered together to cook for them, and on one of our shopping trips to get ingredients, we took ourselves out for lunch. That’s when Sandy raised a concern that had been on her heart for some time: What support was there in our town for elderly people who could not easily get to the grocery store or cook for themselves?

This was honestly not something I had ever thought about. I have had elderly family members in that situation, but our family always rallied and took care of them. It didn’t occur to me that there were other people in my sweet community who could be suffering because they did not have the resources to care for themselves, and did not have family members who were able to help them. But Sandy saw them. She recognized the need, it weighed on her heart, and she started praying about it long before we joined forces to cook at the church. We agreed to pray about it together, and see where God led us, which eventually brought us to the pastor’s office to see how he felt about starting a meal ministry at Bethany.

God’s hand was working, which is always so fun to see, because Pastor Roger had been praying about the same issue. In fact, he had been trying to get Meals on Wheels or a similar program to come to our town, but because we are so remote and there is a relatively small number of people who need it, those organizations won’t come our way. We agreed to put the word out within our church to gather names of people who might benefit from weekly meals.

Right away, about ten families were contacted and they accepted our offer. Some have affiliation with the church, some do not. Over the past several years the list has waxed and waned depending on the needs in the community. We often add people for the short term who are recovering from medical or family issues. Our plan is simple: provide healthy, comforting, homemade meals to those who need them. God has blessed our ministry.

“Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.” Romans 12:13 tells us pretty clearly how we are to treat people around us who have needs. I needed the eyes and heart of my friend to see those needs, and God sparked a fire in my heart to join her vision. But we couldn’t do it alone. We needed our church friends to tell us who might need meals, but we also needed people who would be willing to deliver the meals; this job was even more important than the cooking of the meals. These would be the people who drop off hot meals each week, but more critically, they would be the hands of Jesus to the meal recipients. Often people who are homebound, whether for short- or long-term reasons, are lonely and do not have much contact with others. We needed food deliverers who would be willing, not just to drop the food and run, but also to visit and encourage them. God provided again.
Sandy and I were not able to cook, pack, clean up, and deliver the food while it was still hot, so I guilted my husband and cousin into helping. They responded rather reluctantly. That reluctance disappeared in a moment, however, once they started to have conversations with people. Kenny called me the next day and said, “Sign me up. I’m delivering every week. That was incredible.” My husband Kevin said the same thing. They developed relationships with the recipients, getting to know them and discovering if they had other needs. Now we have three teams who rotate delivering each week!

One of our men, who had been hospitalized, wouldn’t have been allowed to come home unless some minor modifications were made to his house. He called Kevin, and the work was done. When someone ended up in a nursing care facility, Kevin and Kenny visited regularly, giving updates about the town and keeping his spirits up. We have received anonymous donations of money (and Girl Scout Cookies!) to support the ministry from people in town who have no association with the church but have heard of the ministry. Doors are opening; God is working.
On mission trips in Guatemala, one of the most powerful ministries we have supported is a feeding center. Why? Because people have basic needs, and being nourished is one of them. When a person is hungry, they are not in a place to hear about the gospel. We pray that our meal recipients are blessed by the meals, our prayers, and our interactions with them. We pray that we are a blessing to them, but in truth, “remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’” (Acts 20:35).

Amy Bourque is a member of Bethany Lutheran Brethren Church in East Hartland, Connecticut.