Church Gives Away 50,000 Pounds of Food

Bedford Christian Community volunteers prepare some of the 3,200 boxes of food that were distributed.		Families receive boxes filled with staple food items such as bread and orange juice.

 

Bedford Christian Community (AG) in Temperance, Michigan, is a church compelled by Christ's love to share that love with others in tangible ways. On Saturday, February 21, that meant giving away 50,000 pounds of food to its neighbors.

"This outreach was a way of putting feet to the teaching of living a missional life for Jesus Christ," explains Lead Pastor Nate Elarton. "We want our body to not just attend church, but be the church, reaching out and ... doing something for our community to show them the love of Christ in a practical way."

More than 150 volunteers from the church came out to box food, direct traffic and pray with people. From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., they handed out approximately 3,200 boxes of groceries. Teams of volunteers also distributed food door-to-door to seniors and others unable to come to the church.

The church partnered with nonprofit organization Hope and Encouragement for Humanity (H.E.H.) to provide the food for the outreach. H.E.H. founders Gary and Lori Phillips attend Bedford Christian Community.

Bedford Christian Community is located in between Detroit, Michigan, and Toledo, Ohio. The area has taken a hard economic hit as many workers in the auto industry recently lost their jobs.

Families receive boxes filled with staple food items such as bread and orange juice.

According to Vanessa Farnell, Elarton's assistant, there is much instability among the community and many people who were once well off now struggle to pay for groceries. The steady stream of cars that lined up in front of the church on Saturday provided a glimpse of the growing need. Through the food giveaway, Bedford Community Church helped ease the burden of some 3,200 families.

Farnell says local response to the outreach has been overwhelming.

"Your church and the people that helped are a true example that people do care for other people," read one thank you note.

Another woman shared, "My husband closed his business in July and things have been tight. The Lord has always provided and it was refreshing to see your mission in action!"

The 50,000-pound food giveaway is part of a greater campaign that Bedford Christian Community is promoting this year. "IMCOMPELLED" is inspired by 2 Corinthians 5:14, "For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced one died for all."

"We want to show our community Christ's love. We do not want people to see the church as perfect, religious, hypocritical or judgmental, but loving and truly representative of Jesus Christ," Elarton explains. "Jesus fed people to show His love and that He was the Messiah, so we want to do the same, showing the life-changing power of Christ."

Bedford Christian Community has developed a Web site for the Compelled campaign. Business cards given during intentional acts of love direct recipients to the Web site, where visitors can learn more about Christ's love and leave a testimony describing how they were impacted by the campaign. Click here to learn more about the IMCOMPELLED campaign.

Click here to visit Bedford Christian Community's Web site.

Click here to view news coverage of this event.

 

Authors: Kara Chase, Assemblies of God Web Services