A taste of Christ’s love: The impact of the Diaconate’s Meals Ministry
The care of God’s people comes in a variety of forms. One of the unique and effective avenues the Diaconate has established for congregants to serve one another is its Meals Ministry. Through the simple act of cooking and delivering a hot meal to an individual or family in need, the love of Christ is spread in a tangible and practical way.
Our Meals Ministry Coordinator, Christine Kim, along with many of our Meals Ministry volunteers, sacrificially make this ministry possible. Below you can read in their own words how Meals Ministry recipients have been directly blessed through these simple acts of mercy extended to them by members of our faith community.
Logan and Nate Lo
My wife Alison was diagnosed with the single most deadly cancer possible, a butterfly glioma, five days after giving birth to our only child. That was heartbreaking. Everything was a struggle: constant hospital visits, a newborn, and of course the pain of the situation. The Meals Ministry was a quiet and reassuring constant in our lives. Countless wonderful Redeemer members provided meals for well over a year. That was one worry that we didn’t have to concern ourselves with. My wife ultimately succumbed to the cancer only a few weeks ago, but the kindness shown by Redeemer and the Meals Ministry was one of the very few positive things from this whole ordeal. I know that we will never forget it.
Gloria Wong
In May, during an emergency health issue, I was unable to eat due to resulting nausea. A loss of six pounds in one week left me too weak to manage daily chores, including cooking and shopping. Through the Meals Ministry and their volunteers, I was offered nutritious meals every other day, which allowed me to gradually regain strength. In addition, prayer with volunteers blessed me spiritually during my struggle to overcome nausea and loss of appetite. I am thankful for these volunteers who extended their love for Christ to the gospel community of Redeemer.
James, Mizy and Judah Juhn
We were so touched by the time, effort and resources sacrificed to help our days go by much smoother following the birth of our son. These meals helped save a lot of time and energy for us in a time when those were scarce. But even more importantly, it helped us feel loved as part of the church community.
David and Heather Bixler
When I was informed that the meals ministry would be providing dinner for our family during the time of our son Sean’s brain surgery, I thought it was a nice gesture, but I hadn’t thought about meals at all, and I certainly hadn’t placed them high on the priority list. I was soon grateful that someone did have the foresight to understand that eating would be essential, and as his hospital stay extended to almost three weeks, I began to see what a great need it actually met as we shuttled the length of Manhattan between our home and the hospital daily. In this act of a meal, we humbly experienced God’s care through an outpouring of generosity of the church community.
Kathy and Tim Keller
I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in early 1990, shortly after we started Redeemer. By 2001 I was very sick, and practically had a revolving door at New York Presbyterian Hospital. Throughout my many surgeries and sometimes lengthy recoveries, the Meals Ministries brought a wide variety of wonderful dinners all the way over to Roosevelt Island (which is no mean feat!) Because we lived on the island, Tim and the boys didn’t even have the option of relying on take-out, so having a friendly face show up with a hot dinner kept our family going. I can still remember individual people and meals: a neurosurgeon who took time to cook and travel to RI with a meal; the photographer who brought the vegetable lasagna; the private chef who treated us to examples of her skill, and many, many others. Thank you all.
Here on the Diaconate, we can certainly use your help with our Meals Ministry. Please consider joining our team by contacting Christine at [email protected]
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