Our church, God is King Center, was located in Beltsville, and our Pastor, Moise Wang, told us that the Lord said we were supposed to move to Baltimore because that’s where He wanted us. And to be honest with you, at first I’m like… the Lord told YOU to move to Baltimore, not me! This is not the Baltimore I’m used to.
I’ve always volunteered for as long as I can remember. Before we moved, I was in charge of bringing snacks, but when we got to Baltimore, that changed. We started by handing out flyers introducing ourselves to the community, we had a cookout, and invited the community to our service. My pastor then said, “We’re going to have to start preparing home-cooked meals, not just snacks.” So each week, the women would volunteer to prepare home-cooked meals. The demand for meals just kept growing and growing. We also added a clothing and food drive, just before COVID-19.
After COVID-19, the need for meals didn’t go away. After the mandatory closing of the church, I handed out 25 meals that Sunday but there were 10 more people that were there and I had no more food for them. That really broke my heart. So the following week, I went with 50 meals, and Pastor Wang accompanied me this time. We handed out the 50 meals, and still it was not enough. Now we serve an average of 180 meals or more. We have four committed women cooking and preparing the meals every Sunday. In addition to the home cooked meals we hand out sodas and waters. And we still do the clothes and food drive. What we are doing is not easy, but we are being obedient to the Lord, at the same time we find it rewarding and it is making a big difference in the community. The feedback from the community has been welcoming and appreciated. I have been told that sometimes this is the only home-cooked meal they get for the week. Before we were just serving the homeless community but now folks drive up in their cars, and some of them have children.
In the beginning, it was a bit challenging because we’re talking about COVID-19, a scary virus. And my mom would be like, “Are you kidding me? You realize that you could get sick or die?” I just didn’t know how to explain how I felt to her. Not that I took my safety for granted, but I felt the need to be there every Sunday, rain, hail or shine. I’ve been there since March. Before we get started, the Pastor would pray over the entire community, so I felt safe. Also, I knew that what I was doing was important, and I knew in my gut that at this time in my life, this is where I should be filling a need. I feel that my purpose is to serve the community.
Now it’s like second nature to us. We love the Baltimore community. Personally, I don’t know when I fell in love with them, but it happened. Maybe it happened when this young guy came to get his meal and he was bleeding from his head. He told me how these guys jumped him and beat him with a gun. My heart went out to him and I wanted to hug him and take his pain away. I was like, wait a minute, we don’t even have a first aid kit, so the only thing I could give him was a frozen bottle of water to help stop the bleeding. It was as if my brother had come to me and said he had been jumped. And that’s when I realized, wait a minute, I am in love. Not just with this guy, but with the whole community. So it’s not a challenge anymore because I’m feeding my family. That’s what it feels like. That’s how we see the Baltimore community.
Sandra McKenzie is a parishioner and volunteer at God is King Center.
Special thanks to Zaniya Williams for assistance with interviewing for this story.
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