Outreach Experience

My hubby summed up Saturday's experience in two words: Culture Shock.

Our outreach group sat up in a small field just a couple blocks north of downtown Muncie. We were at the site of an elementary school that had long ago been torn down. We were smack dab in the middle of a fairly poor neighborhood. Unsupervised children in the streets.

We grilled hotdogs on a tiny table top grill. We offered chips, snacks and cold drinks, for free, with the hot dogs. We lost count of how many hot dogs we gave out. Our pastor and another man walked the neighborhood streets, handing out our church cards and inviting people to come over to our little group for a hot dog. Entire families came. Poor, tired and sad looking families. Some wanted to talk a lot, some didn't talk at all and didn't lift their heads. Some came back two or three times, still clearly hungry. Some were really dirty. Some were crippled. Some wanted prayer right then. There were people covered in piercings and tattoos. I heard one of our group say, "That pregnant lady we just served, isn't she that prostitute that we talked to before?"

Wow.

My husband, who has never lived in town, was shocked just being in a neighborhood with close houses and the streets full of kids and people and traffic. Both of us are shy people and taking that first step to talking to someone is hard for both of us. But, the Bible says that we must offer our coat to someone who is cold, a cup of cold water to someone who is thirsty and that when we do it to the least in this world, we've done it to Him. And, that's all I need to know to take that first step in talking to someone that I might not be able to relate to, but that I know need Him.