Then Jesus took the bread. When he had given thanks, he distributed it to those who were sitting there. He did the same with the fish, each getting as much as they wanted. (John 6:11)
When they finished eating, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” Simon replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” (John 21:15)
When Jesus came to earth he taught us many things about God and how we are to live faithfully with God and one another. One thing that Jesus taught through word and example was to feed those in need. In John 6 (and parallels in Matthew, Mark, and Luke) Jesus feeds the large crowd that had gathered to hear his preaching. It was a miracle as he started with only 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread. Yet, he used the power of God to help others.
When he appeared in resurrected form and ate with the disciples by the seaside he turned to Simon Peter and asked if he loved him. When Peter said yes Jesus commanded him to feed his lambs. That task is given us as well. We are to help people who hunger and thirst for God. We are also to help people who just hunger.
We have a chance to help prepare food for persons overseas who need nutritious meals. On Leap Day, February 29, 2020 we will “Leap” into Service by filling rice packs that the Midwest Mission Distribution Center will send overseas to people in need. One full pallet is 1200 packs. Since each pack feeds six persons a pallet will feed 7,200 people! We will be doing this at our church in the Fellowship Hall.
We will set up four lines to work at the same time. Each line of 10 persons can fill about 125 packs in an hour, so we will need workers over 3 hours. On January 5 in worship you will get to sign up to work an hour of your choice. You can sign up individually or you can pledge to fill a line for one hour with friends and family. Anyone grade 1 or older can help so it can be a family group, or a neighborhood group, or a basketball team, or any group of persons who want to help the hungry. Other United Methodist Churches in the area are also invited to help us out. We need a total of 120 hours volunteered, so start thinking now.
We also need to raise $1200 because the packs cost $1 each to fill. We already have $1000 pledged or in hand. That leaves only $200 more to go. You can make donations to the church marking it “rice packs” any time before January 31.
Most of all, we need to pray. We need to pray for those who are hungry in body and in spirit that they may be fed. We need to pray for what God wants us to do to address the needs. We need to pray for workers. We need to pray for the MMDC that works so hard to care for God’s people. Feed my lambs, says Jesus. And so, we will!