Do A Good Turn Daily . . .

"And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi,

Let me now go to the field,

and glean ears of corn after him

In whose sight I shall find grace.

And she said unto her, Go, my daughter."

Ruth 2:2  KJV

"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, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me."

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink: When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of those, you did not do for me.’

“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”                  Matthew 25:35-46

December 6th I went downtown Indianapolis, Indiana with six Cub Scouts, a younger sister, five parents/leaders, one grandmother and 70 pairs of new socks (OK, they were ‘slightly used’ socks . . . the Cubs had a ‘snowball fight’ with them on Monday night in the Bay at the Fire Station – but they had been washed); to ‘Do A Good Turn,’ aka some ‘community service.’ We went to help serve a hot lunch to the homeless. This sounded like a rather simple task as all we had to do was to show-up – all the food and such would be provided by others . . . but I soon found out this was a HUGE production.

As we pull up, there are already several homeless waiting . . . they knew we were coming. Some are standing on the sidewalk, others sitting on the ground or at picnic tables in the park . . . all knowing that soon there would be a feast set out before them. Some of their names known by the ‘regulars’ that come and serve them meals, to them they are familiar faces. Some come over and begin conversations; they also came over to see who the new faces were.

We met up with a group of Christians from around the Indianapolis area who come together every other Saturday (I think that's what I heard someone say) on Pennsylvania Street just south of Virginia Street. We helped set up ten or twelve long banquet tables on the sidewalk, filled them with hot food. There’s soup, fried chicken, sliced ham, turkey & noodles, macaroni & cheese, mashed potatoes, cheesy potatoes, cole slaw, potato salad, rolls & bread, some fresh fruit, deviled eggs, lunchmeat/cold cut sandwiches, cornbread muffins, yogurt and drinks.

The tables are up, the food and drinks are ready to be served, the workers all have their assignments, the homeless have come and lined up in an orderly fashion . . . all is ready. One of the organizers finds a spot towards the beginning of the line and welcomes all and then offers a prayer.

The homeless make their way down the line with their Styrofoam ‘take-out’ containers in their hands, and as they come to us we ask if they’d like what we were serving. They're welcome to have some of everything we're serving. Their small containers filled up way too quickly.

They’re grateful for the food and they thank us for being there. They’re blessed to see the children there helping to serve their lunch. Some say “Bless you,” and others wish us a “Merry Christmas.” They have smiles on their faces. A few come back for a second helping. Some bring plastic containers with them and put their food in them and several bring bags to put extra food in for later.

There are large garbage bags full of plastic containers and after all seem to have their fill, we fill small containers with what’s left in our pans . . . macaroni & cheese and cole slaw are ready for those that would like a bit more for later. There are a few sandwiches left and some yogurt as well.

Snowball fight

At the end of the food line, there was bread, heads of lettuce, stalks of celery, and boxes of romaine lettuce that they were welcome to help themselves to. There were bags filled with warm clothes, blankets and the socks that the Cub Scouts donated . . . they were free to take what they could use.
While we were serving one of the ladies came up from behind me and thanked me for coming and helping out, one of the organizers I think . . . then she gave me a big warm hug. Several of the other ‘regulars’ came by and thanked us for coming and helping out. I think our being there allowed some of them to spend time out in conversation with the homeless that they come and serve so often.

Lunch had been served, the food was gone . . . we began the clean-up process. We help gather trash, clean off the tables and help load up the vans and SUVs.

I had come with one of the leaders and her two sons and as I waited for them, one of the homeless men came up and we had the most delightful conversation . . . I found out that he had been in Scouting when he was a youth. He was touched to find out that the young boys helping to serve lunch today were Cub Scouts and they had come with several of their leaders.

‘Do a good turn daily’ it’s the Scout Motto . . . each Scout is to do a ‘good turn’ or give some sort of service each day, give unselfishly to others. One of the mom’s/leaders that was with us commented on the Pack’s Facebook page “. . . It was a very valuable lesson for the boys! Helping others.”

We spent about two-and-a-half hours out on Pennsylvania Street, setting-up, serving, cleaning and sharing conversation with the homeless that came by for something to eat. I was thankful that the rain had stopped earlier and that the wind wasn’t as strong as they had predicted on the news.

I went not knowing exactly what I was getting myself into.

I went to see what the Scouts were doing.

I went to serve . . .

When I left, I wasn’t the same as when I arrived . . . I had been richly blessed! What an amazing way to begin the Christmas holiday season!

I found several scriptures dealing with feeding the poor, I began this post with one that has been speaking loudly to me this last week, here are a couple more:

“Happy is the generous man, the one who feeds the poor.”   Proverbs 22:9

“For if you give, you will get! Your gift will return to you in full and overflowing measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over. Whatever measure you use to give--large or small--will be used to measure what is given back to you."   Luke 6:38

What ‘good turn’ or community service have you done lately? Whom do you serve? What drives you to serve others? Is your service well planned out? OR does it just seem to happen? What service are you giving this Christmas? How does giving to others make you feel?

I wish for each of you a very Merry Christmas – remembering the reason for the season and that our God blesses you richly in the coming year.

* I’d like to thank Nicole, one of the Pack leaders, for allowing me to share the pictures that she took serving the homeless in this blog post.

** I'm the one with the heavy red coat & navy blue hoodie (from Quaker Haven Camp) on!