Soup Kitchen

Sometimes, God is hilarious.

I've been getting all excited about big ideas like 'community' and 'hospitality', feeling a strong desire to live in a loving way - but without quite knowing exactly how to go about it. So a couple of nights ago I had a pray, and felt that one good idea would be to try to set up a meal to invite homeless people to, or lonely people - the kind of people who'd appreciate a good meal and someone to chat to. I wondered vaguely if at some point something like that might happen through my new church.

Then this morning at church, the sermon was about anointing: how we can know our calling, but it is only by the anointing of the Holy Spirit (given by the grace of God) that we really become effective - become natural - at doing whatever it is that we're called to do. We were invited to go forward to be anointed (symbolic!) and prayed for (powerful!) and I felt it would be right to go, so forward I went. Michael, the minister, briefly asked what I felt my calling was - "Community, hospitality and loving people," I replied. He prayed and said he had an image of me loving people practially, giving out bowls of soup, that kind of thing. I was excited at this confirmation of my vision, presuming that it meant, at some nonspecified time in the future, I would be equipped to feed people.

But within 40 minutes, there I was, handing out actual bowls of soup to hungry people!

It turns out that Ebenezer already run something called The Kitchen every Sunday, providing a three course meal and company for people who need it. It turns out that it's run by a lady in the cell group I went to on Wednesday, and who was short of helpers today and asked if I'd like to go along. I did indeed like to go along, and I think it's something I may well become involved with long-term. I'm amazed that this vision came to be so quickly - but I know that God meant more than just this, and I'm really excited to see what happens next!