Author: Mari Walker

Faith Stories: The Hunger Banquet

“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink.”- Matthew 25:35

Theresa and I were setting up a booth inside the LSU union one evening to participate in “The Hunger Banquet,” a program put on by Volunteer LSU to raise awareness of the relational problem of poverty and hunger. I will admit that I was a reluctant participant, as we were going on our 16th straight evening of not being home. While we were setting up, I was watching the students getting the room ready, laughing and enjoying themselves while they worked. After a while people started to arrive and were assigned areas to sit. There were three groups, the wealthy, the middle class and the poor. The wealthy tables were served a very nice catered meal. The middle class tables had a buffet meal where you serve yourself. The poor were sitting on the floor, and received a small cup of rice with dirty (coffee grounds) water. While everyone was eating, a Sociology professor from LSU got up and gave many interesting statistics on hunger and poverty. After she was finished, Theresa spoke to the group on what the Shepherd’s Market was and how we help those who are hungry. After she spoke, the crowd was very quiet. It was obvious that they were all amazed at the numbers of families and children that are served each month.

Then a man raised his hand and was handed a microphone. He said that he was not there to speak, but after hearing Theresa, he felt he needed to say something. He said that he came from a middle class upbringing, had a college degree and was probably considered upper middle class. He has three children, and his wife is a stay-at-home mom. He was involved in an accident and was out of work for several months with very little income. His family was struggling to keep up with their monthly expenses and was having trouble buying groceries to feed the family. Someone told them about the Shepherd’s Market, and that they helped anyone who came for food. He and his wife came to St. John’s on a pantry day and went through the intake process to “shop” at the Shepherd’s Market. His family came for food for six months before they were back on their feet and able to support themselves.

When the banquet was over, several students came to our table and asked how they could help serve. Some of these students are still coming to help on Monday evenings. The funny thing about the encounter with this man was that he recognized Theresa and me before the banquet even started. Theresa had handled his intake paperwork the day they came to the pantry for the first time. He recognized me from an encounter we had at the Dollar Tree on Burbank Drive. I had gone one evening to purchase food for the pantry and was loading the food into the pickup truck. He saw my Shepherd’s Market shirt, and came over to help me load the food into the truck. When we finished, I shook his hand and said, “Thank you; you don’t know how much you helped me because of my bad back.” He said, “I saw your shirt and knew that I needed to help. The Shepherd’s Market fed my family when we needed food.”

This experience has made me realize that the work that St. John’s is doing through the Shepherd’s Market is positively and powerfully impacting our community. I pray that God continues to help us be a “feeding people.”

Jim Sandifer

Faith Stories: A Second Chance

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. — Ezekiel 36:26

I sat alone in the pew that Sunday morning. The congregants were just beginning to trickle in. The sanctuary – beautifully adorned with Advent greenery – was filled with the brilliant light of a clear, crisp December day. I was focusing on the altar when the thought came to me: If things had gone differently yesterday, the minister could shortly be announcing my untimely death to my friends and beloved community of faith. In that moment, I realized fully for the first time that I had been given a second chance.

The day before, I had left Columbia, Missouri, well before dawn, after visiting with my husband’s elderly mother. The dark interstate was wet and slick with a cold steady rain. In that part of Missouri, the road runs through rather hilly terrain. Every few miles, I was carefully passing one by one what seemed like a fleet of Fed-Ex double long trucks. As I passed one truck, the road went up a slight hill. I completed the pass and pulled in front of the truck just before the hill’s crest. Immediately, over the crest a car sped past in the left lane just next to me going the wrong way. The headlights coming toward me on my side of the interstate startled and confused me. But when the full realization came that I had avoided a head-on collision by mere yards, I began to shake. A little way up the road, I had to pull over to the shoulder because I was shaking so violently. I cried with relief and I reverently prayed – grateful to have been saved from a terrible accident but also terrified for the people in that speeding car.

What an awakening! Literally, a second chance at life!

We all are given a second chance at life – every morning that we awake to a new day. Every dawn brings new possibilities, fresh opportunities to live out our faith in the daily actions of our lives. Probably the most important realization for me was the need to focus on living my life with gratitude – despite the many challenges and obstacles that I contend with. To live fully and enthusiastically and to spend our days serving God and loving our neighbors – that’s what it’s all about! I keep a little button on the vanity next to my vitamins. I read it every morning, and its message has sustained me through days of joy and grief, excitement and pain. It reads simply: ‘Every day is a gift from God.’ 

Amen!!

Betty Schroeder 

Faith Stories: Ask with Boldness

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7

It was another busy evening in the pantry. A client, who had been through already, came through again with her friend. She had missed out on eggs the first time around, and she wanted to make sure she was able to get some now that we were restocked. It was very confusing going through with the two of them, with her telling her friend what she could and could not get and what she didn’t get before.

When we came to the peanut butter and jelly, she was upset that her friend couldn’t get both. We moved on, and she mentioned the peanut butter at least one other time. I just kept moving on, knowing we still had more clients to take through the pantry.

As they were about to leave, she embraced and blessed me. The words above from Matthew flooded my thoughts, and of course, I went back for the peanut butter.

She was not afraid to be bold in her requests to me, even though she didn’t know me. Shouldn’t I also be unafraid to boldly, continually present my requests to God whose love is steadfast and who desires a relationship with me?

Prayer: Lord, thank you for the Shepherd’s Market – for the healing, feeding and fellowship that it brings. Amen.

Cindy Adams

Faith Stories: To Really See

Then turning to the disciples he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” -Luke 10: 23-24

A beautifully dressed woman walked into St. John’s gym. Several times she had driven past the electronic sign in front of St. John’s advertising the Shepherd’s Market. She told me, “I saw the sign about the Food Pantry, and I think it’s a great thing. I can’t offer to volunteer here because of my job, but I was wondering if I could help by giving you some money?” After she gave me a $100 check, she turned to leave. Thinking that this encounter should go a little deeper, I said “If you have a few minutes, I’d love to give you a tour of the pantry.” She accepted my offer and I showed her around and told her some of the stories of the clients that had come to the Shepherd’s Market.

After the short tour, she looked at me sheepishly and said, “I am embarrassed I only gave you $100. I wish I had given more. If I had another check with me, I’d give you more now, but I will commit to giving regularly.” After this woman took the time to really see, she realized that God was at work in this place. It is a reminder to all of us to really see what is around us. Where is God at work in our lives? Maybe in places we haven’t taken the time to really examine.

Deirdre’ Halliburton 

Faith Stories: In the Shadow of His Wings

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in you my soul takes refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed. Psalm 57:1

Coyotes moved into my neighborhood a year ago. It’s totally understandable. Construction of multiple groups of townhouses has taken up the wild lands that used to stretch from Highland Road to the Mississippi. The coyotes have nowhere to roam, to hunt for their natural prey. Consequently, the neighborhood cats and small dogs have become the accidental prey.

My cat Sammy, wise in her 17 years of life, smells the coyotes during our daily predawn forays into the backyard and down the driveway to fill the birdfeeders. I have noticed her doing a remarkable thing. In the driveway that is well-lit by a street light, Sammy always stands in my shadow, thereby making herself less visible to any terrifying predator that may be lurking. Sammy seeks the protection of my shadow, knowing that there she will find security and safety.

Like the Psalmist, I often find myself dwelling in the shadow of God’s wings. During times of fear and uncertainty, during my bouts with unremitting grief, I find solace in abiding in the protective love and peace of God’s open arms. And when these times of trial and terror pass, I find myself once again singing joyfully in the shadow of His wings.

Prayer: O God of strength, God of tenderness, we thank you for loving us in our weakness and for welcoming us into the shadow of your wings. Help us, as we abide with you, to recover our strength and passion so that we might continue to serve you and be your ambassadors to all people.

Betty Schroeder 

Faith Stories: The Lord’s Table

A couple years ago I worked with curriculum specialists at the Malawi Institute of Education in Zomba, Malawi, for a couple of weeks. A colleague there asked me if I was a Christian, and I said, yes–a Methodist. She told me she was of another Christian denomination and invited me to her church the following Sunday. I accepted, and we went together to her surprisingly traditional, large, beautiful red brick church with a steeple, wide doors and stained glass windows in the colonial capitol of Malawi.

The service was so familiar to ours that I felt right at home–until, that is, my friend leaned over and told me that in a few minutes, when they started preparing for communion, I would have to leave because I wasn’t a member of that denomination.

Sure enough, after a few minutes the preacher announced, “Those who need to leave should leave now.” I was surprised, but other cultures are always full of surprises, and I took it as a kind of “culture shock,” more interesting than upsetting.

As it turned out, I wasn’t the only one to leave–anyone receiving counseling from the preacher also had to leave. We the Undeserving went to the parking lot, and everyone except me left. I was alone by our car under a tree, where there was a delightful breeze. I listened to the prayers in preparation for communion, and heard the shuffle of people going to the altar. Then, at the conclusion, over a thousand Africans raised their voices and with all their hearts and souls sang “Amazing Grace.” Standing in that parking lot, I felt truly blessed.

Now, during our communion service, every time I hear the words that everyone is invited and this is not a Methodist table but the Lord’s Table, I remember, and I don’t take it for granted any longer.

Lynn Evans

Faith Stories: God’s Way Became My Way

Have you ever felt as if God was working behind the scenes, bringing people or things into your life without your being aware that he was working His Way? I think that a lot of “God’s seeds” are dropped along the lives that we live, and it is not until a lot later that we realize his Hand was guiding our lives and helping us make our way become His Way.

That happened to me when I was in high school. I was planning to major in physical therapy when I went to college. So, when I was a junior in high school, I applied for a Girl Scout Wider Opportunity to volunteer at a camp for disabled girls in Kansas City, MO. Only 25 girls from around the United States were chosen for this opportunity. I felt fortunate to be chosen considering that this would give me a great experience to better understand a variety of disabilities. There were girls between the ages of 9 and 22; the girls had cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, affects of polio and accidents, visual impairments and some were deaf.

I experienced helping very intelligent teenagers eat because they had no muscle control in their body. I asked another girl “yes/no questions” until she could indicate the answer by looking up for “yes” and down for “no” to figure out what she needed. I helped another 17-year-old college freshman balance her head on her spine so that she could “sit up” enough to move her hand to write or draw (the only movement she could make on her own) and to wake up every 3 hours to turn her over during the night so that her body would not fall asleep; it had happened one time in the past and it took 2 days for her body to stop that tingling you and I feel when our muscles falls asleep. There were many more life impacting experiences during my two weeks at this camp.

But there was one more that changed my life; I met six deaf or hard of hearing girls who attended camp and most importantly a 12-year-old whose name was Grace. In many ways, Grace touched my heart and piqued my fascination with sign language and working with the deaf. Although none of the counselors could communicate fluently with the deaf girls, we utilized the hard of hearing girls to help, used gestures and a few signs that we learned by observing the girls. The most memorable experience for me was teaching Grace to dive during swimming sessions. She delighted in her new skill as did I. It gave us a bond that lasted even after we said goodbye at the end of camp.

It was through that camp experience with Grace that I decided to change my career aspiration; I changed my plans and majored in Education of the Deaf.

At the time, I didn’t realize that God was working in my life through a young girl named Grace. He had through His “grace” planted a seed that grew slowly, blooming again the summer after my senior year in high school when a 6-year-old deaf boy joined my diving team that I coached.

Even during a summer check-up a couple of years later when my dentist asked me if God had played a part in my decision to work with the Deaf, I quickly responded, “I don’t think so.” Fortunately, I have since looked back on those couple of years and realized that God was working His Way quietly behind the scenes. I thank God for the seeds He planted. They certainly made a major difference in my life and the opportunities that I had to touch the lives of the Deaf children I taught for 32 years here in Louisiana.

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” 
– Jeremiah 29:11

Beth Forester