There's plenty to do...

These were the words of the chap I bumped into as I arrived at the church for the twice-weekly feeding ministry. We went to pick up the bread from a nearby bakery and as we walked and talked, he explained to me the various ministry needs currently in Athens. After we had prepared the meal, the overall leader of the team gave me an introduction into the vision for the ministry to the homeless and needy. It is a big vision but one that is required for such a big need. At around 12pm, over 100 people arrived to receive food and a drink. We were well prepared and in just under an hour we had handed out a hot meal, bread and countless cups of tea and coffee. I can now say that I have mastered at least one phrase in Greek (...with milk?). I really enjoyed meeting the team and will look forward to serving with them again. Please pray that through this ministry the people we meet might question our motives for reaching out and come to see that at its heart is the love of Christ - the one who reached out to us - and in our poverty (spiritually speaking) made us very rich indeed!

Now that's a lot of pasta!

Food all ready to go

People eating their meal outside

I hope to be able to share more about this ministry as I get involved each week. It has struck me that whether in Oxford, Athens, London or Hull, essentially the needs are all the same. People are lost, some may appear more lost than others, but deep down everyone is lost and there is only one person who can heal the waywardness of the human heart - Jesus. I remember before heading out to Athens I was trying to have a conversation with a very drunk homeless man, just before I decided it was better to depart he said something quite interesting, 'salvation or a sandwich'. I suppose if you gave someone the choice which one would they take? Hopefully as we reach out to peoples physical needs, such action will be a step closer towards them realising their spiritual need and the true living bread that far outweighs anything we can offer, and food that satisfies from now into eternity.