About 4 years ago, the Lawrencetown United Baptist Church decided to put their faith into action. We began a Friday evening event that would reach the people in our community. The name of the program came from John 21, where Jesus tells Peter “if you love Me, then Feed My Sheep.” Feed My Sheep (FMS) runs every Friday night, from 5:00 until 6:00pm. We offer a hot nutritious meal to whoever comes, free of charge from October until the end of April. We felt it was important to serve people their meal in order to get to know them, and their families. We have anywhere from 40-70 people attend FMS on any given night, almost half of those are children.
Our goal: we simply wanted to share the love of Christ with people. We wanted the people who came to know that God loves them, that we love them. There was never any pressure to come to church, our desire was to build relationships. FMS has accomplished that and so much more. Last year we felt there were some who attended on Friday night who were looking for more so we implemented a program we call Living Waters. After the meal we have a bible-storying session for those who wish to come. We have two people who provide a bible lesson for the children while the adults are attending Living Waters. This program runs for about half an hour.
FMS has become so much more than what we set out to achieve. The Holy Spirit is working in the lives of those who come and it is a blessing to watch people grow, to open their minds to the possibility that Jesus is alive!
For many FMS has become the highlight of their week, for all intents and purposes it has become church we believe for those who come. But it has also changed the lives of us in the church, who serve. From the cooks, set up crew, servers, dishwashers, drivers and clean-up crew, FMS has allowed us to grow in our faith.
There is no question in our minds, lives are being transformed as we serve our Lord and Saviour by serving those who come inside the doors of our church. We give thanks to God for the opportunity and the reminder we are here to serve. We, the church, are the hands and feet of Jesus Christ in this world. We have been blessed to be a blessing to others.
– Submitted by Rev. Patty Beals, Senior Pastor of Lawrencetown United Baptist Church (NS)
