Returning from coffee, an immigrant Pastor of a refugee community and I, watched as donated food was loaded onto a trailer, headed for another village in SW Missouri.
I asked the Pastor if the people in his community received free food from the pantry?
He thought, pensive for a couple of minutes.
Then he said, "No. I don't think so. I don't think it would be good for their souls. I don't think it would be good for their perseverance."
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It has been my observation, in almost 30 years of ministry and community development, that when food pantries build bigger buildings and run massive add campaigns, they are not decreasing poverty, they are seeding it, first into the soul, then into the culture. The end result of bigger pantries is a growth in the food pantry business (because growth is good?), a larger customer base. To put it succinctly: poverty grows when food pantries expand.
I have watched, for 7 years, as the people of the refugee community, represented by their pastor, have persevered: working in a variety of factories, trying to learn english and the ways of a new culture, acquiring tutors for their kids, planting and harvesting on the smallest of garden plots. Hope and Joy are tangible fruits of their perseverance. They encourage me, to persevere, and behold the beauty to come.
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