“We can’t do it!” “Our church doesn’t have enough people who will volunteer!” “Where will the money come from?” “It will cost too much money for a meal!”
Our Bible study group had a strong desire to attempt the Bethany Café Program that was already established in three churches in the community of Kernersville. N.C. Bethany Café provides lunch on Saturdays to those who are struggling with making their money stretch to provide for all their needs. However, our vision was dimmed from time to time by the ever-present naysayers. Certainly, our year of planning had many ups and downs!
A partner church, whose Bethany Café was well established, knew of our struggles. One of their Sunday School classes made a moderate donation to encourage us. Our group saw this as a wonderful sign from God and pressed on. Shortly thereafter at Synod, one of our delegates learned of a grant from the Moravian Ministries Foundation in America focusing on “Hunger and Thirst.” Our group was led by Matthew 25:35-40. We felt our project was a perfect fit for this field of interest on the grant’s application. We applied and were successful! Determined to make this project happen, we did our research with the existing Bethany Café churches. Our plans began in earnest!
Being a part of this program has brought blessings to our church family and our community. We now have a pool of 40-plus volunteers working in teams to make our program succeed. Our number is growing as more church members and community members ask to join us. What a joy!
While our guest numbers vary, we have a significant base of guests who are with us every month. Our guests sit at tables with place settings for six. Volunteers serve the entrée, drink, and dessert to each individually – we want them to feel special. We are not just serving to fulfill our goal. We are serving our friends, for it is not possible to see our community friends without developing close ties.
Some of our guests arrive almost an hour before the meal is served, because they love to sit and visit. We want them to feel comfortable doing this. Sometimes they ask for recipes used for food served that day.
Several of our guests have made small gifts to us in appreciation, like the guest who shared a box of homegrown tomatoes for all to enjoy. We also reach out into the community: we were made aware of a lady in our community who was living in her car in a local shopping complex. We took meals to her for several months until she moved on.
We have also been blessed by our church family, changing in ways we only dreamed could happen. Friendships have grown out of these Fridays and Saturdays of service. Commitment remains strong among our volunteers, and this enthusiasm has flowed over to other church members! We appreciate our pastor, the Rev. Dr. Don Flowers, for his pulpit moments; they are just the catalyst needed to draw in our church family for Bethany Café.
So much more could be said. We are filled with the joy of working together and of working for our community. If you would like to hear more, we are eager to share.
Our contact information is Kernersville Moravian Church, 405 S. Main Street, Kernersville, NC 27284, Attention: Bethany Café. Our telephone number is: 336-993-3620.
This article is submitted by the KMC Bethany Café Steering Committee. A Bethany Café volunteer submitted a picture of one of the guests’ meals they have served.
