Every morning before I woke up, the food was there. The pallets were placed behind the five bread trucks that would be used to distribute mounds of food to the people who needed it. I don’t know where it came from…..I never saw a forklift. However, I do know that the Dreamcenter has the largest food bank in LA…..and that food is provided by none other than God Himself. I have absolutely no doubt about that.
Once the food was there, it was Evalyn’s job to figure out what food and how much would go out on each truck based on the sites that we would go to that day. She is a genius at her job. A sharpie and a piece of cardboard were her only tools….and the 3 times I went out, the food ended up being almost the exact amount needed for the people who showed up.
I had no idea what I thought I would encounter at the various sites we would go to, but the people there……they were amazing. They appreciated us so much and told us “God Bless” and other nice things as they passed by collecting their items. 99% of the time it was in broken English, but we still all understood.
You see, LA has so many cultures living within its boundaries. We encountered Hispanic, Asian, Black, White……all kinds of people in need. And the need wasn’t just about food. At the end of the food line we offered prayer. These were the times you could really see what the Food Truck Ministry was all about.
At one stop a grandmother was there. Her daughter had just had her two children taken away. This woman needed prayer badly. One of our team members went to her, but called for Evalyn for assistance, since she is Hispanic. Evalyn prayed and moved on, but the woman wasn’t finished. Our team member continued to pray over her….even though she knew the grandmother couldn’t understand what she was saying. The grandmother could “feel” what was being said.
At another stop a woman needed prayer for her knee….which immediately felt better.
At our last food truck stop we met a little old Asian Lady named May. She was feisty, but quite the helper. She knew who was number one though because all she could say in English was, “Jesus #1…….” and then she would pick another name and rate them as well. Somehow I made it to #1 as I dropped off three boxes of pineapples in front of her…..She said, “Jody #1” as she smacked my backside. My #1 status was short-lived as just a few seconds later it was back to, “Jesus #1, May #5.”
At the same site we had a woman who almost had heat stroke. That day it was 115 degrees. That temperature is never seen in LA. So after waiting for 2 hours for food, her fragile body couldn’t take it anymore. After much convincing she allowed us to drive her home, at which point one of our team members, a nurse, carried her up three flights of stairs to her apartment, got her cooled off, and gave her a banana. Who knows what would have happened had she not been there?
As I stood in the back of the truck on more than one occasion it was very hard to look at the lines that would often stretch around the city block corner. How does this happen? How do we allow people to go without food? But the LA Dreamcenter does the best that they can, and I think they do a marvelous job.
Because it isn’t just about the food. It is about the relationships with the people that have been built over the years. Evalyn knows everyone in line. Each site has volunteers who have the families already signed in and lined up ready to go before we ever get there. Those volunteers don’t get paid for what they do….and they aren’t at just one site either. The same volunteers will show up multiples times a week all over town.
The compassion that the Dreamcenter staff had for these people in some of their worst possible times is evident.
“Do you know how hard it must be to completely humble yourself, possibly daily, to beg and ask for things necessary for survival? Dignity – the state or quality of being worthy of honor or respect. In God’s creation plan, He placed us just below Himself. He put us in dominion over the Earth. In Christian theism human beings are indeed dignified. Human dignity is derived from God. God does not love us because we are so valuable; we are valuable because God loves us (Sire, 2009). What I am recognizing more and more is that these aren’t just “people” that we are serving, but God’s creations. And they are meant for greatness, just like we are.”
Except from my journal, 7-5-18
I think the Food Truck Ministry reaches more hurting and suffering people than anything else that the Dreamcenter does. They have been to the same places, on the same days, at the same times, unceasing, for no telling how long. These people trust the Dreamcenter to help them survive. These people know that the Dreamcenter trucks will be there with food necessary for survival, but also there with prayer and other things that spiritually get them through their toughest times.
Of all the things we did while in LA, the Food Truck Ministry was my favorite. You could see lives changing right before your eyes. The young families with children in strollers, the elderly with their laundry carts (often times so proud of a new one that they had gotten that they had to show you and tell you all about it.) The occasional homeless that would come through the line.
At the end of the day the trucks would be empty. All the broken down boxes would be recycled…..the trucks swept out. The sun would set…..I would go to bed……I would wake up and look out my window………………only to see freshly line up pallets behind the trucks again…..ready for a new day, and new people to provide for.
Tetelestai 