A Church of Hope | Mission Hope Church Provides for Community Needs
Encile Brown and Nahum Israel Mendez
The Mission Hope food pantry opened its doors on April 11, 2017. The goal of this outreach ministry by the Mission Hope Seventh-day Adventist Church in Mission, Tex., is to meet the physical and spiritual needs of individuals in the surrounding community.
According to The Ministry of Healing, Christ “ministered to their needs, and won their confidence. Then He bade them ‘Follow Me.’” The food pantry takes place on the second and fourth Wednesdays of every month. We have grown from serving 36 people to an average of 180 families each time. The pantry begins at 6 p.m., but individuals are lining up at the doors and waiting from 7 a.m.
In order to utilize the time wisely for those waiting, the church opens the gym to have cooking demonstrations and lectures on healthy living. At 6 p.m., after the cooking experience is completed, individuals are asked to wait in the church to be called and served. As they wait, they listen to messages in English and Spanish about lifestyle, church doctrine and Bible stories.
From this ministry, we have generated ongoing Bible studies and have individuals who visit the church regularly.
Matthew 25:35 shares, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in.”
We pray that this program will continue to allow us to win souls for Christ. We hope to serve and be an answer to their prayers.
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The article originally appeared in the March/April 2020 issue of the Southwestern Union Record | issuu.com/swurecord