Manna Soup Kitchen

Yesterday I spent roughly 2-2 ½ hours at the Manna kitchen in Northbridge handing out dinners to those who are less fortunate in our society. Some are homeless and some are just desperate for food (I think).

It’s a new outreach for our church. We started on Easter Sunday and every second Sunday of a month, we head down to Manna and prepare/cook/clean/and feed quite a few people.
The girls in my small group are really wanting to get out into the community and do something so we decided to join the church in serving these meals.

Last night was the first time we had gone, and it was eventful to say the least. Ever heard the phrase "Too many Chiefs and not enough Indians"? This was exactly the case last night. There was an overload of volunteers which can be a positive and a negative thing. There were way too many people making thoughtless decisions, rather than going to the person in charge.

One example: A guy turned up for a meal while we were still open but after nearly everyone had already eaten and left. He was wanting a meal and we were serving Shepherds Pie. We had 4 big dishes of it and had only served up 2 dishes, so there were 2 left over, untouched. These go away into the freezer to be used during the week or later down the track. One guy and I asked to serve up another plate for the bloke and they started saying that they didn’t want to cut into another dish. (!!!!) This was also after some of the volunteers decided to have some of the Shepherds Pie for their dinner (I couldn’t bring myself to do this – it just didn’t sit right) and they had finished off the 2nd dish and were now telling a homeless guy ‘no’. After a bit of debating we managed to get a plate to him with a bit of dessert.

The above story may not upset some people and may not agree with my opinion, but isnt the whole point of the soup kitchen, to serve people!?!

There were too many people, a positive because people are out doing things in the community and a negative because there were too many people in the kitchen that one lady and I just stood in the same spot all night for fear of running into someone or stepping on someone’s toes. Its great that so many people are helping and are willing to serve on these nights, maybe we just need a roster done up or something.

I found that the problems I have at church don’t just go away because we are serving out in the community. I thought this might be a great opportunity to talk to people outside of church and get to know them in a different context, but they are the same as they are in church (which can be a good thing sometimes). The same issues I have at church became issues at the soup kitchen. I got frustrated with some of the idiodic and thoughtless ‘jokes’ and generalisations some people made as well. Some people just shouldn’t be let loose into the community! I also got frustrated that the girls in my small group were pushed aside and didn’t really get to serve as much as they had hoped.

On the upside, it was great to serve people who are without. I left feeling truly blessed in what I have. I have been trying to cut back on the amount of ‘want’ that I have and be content with what God has given me, and this was a great experience. I loved watching the girls in my small group be able to bless different members of the community, and there’s nothing better than seeing a truly thankful smile on someone’s face. The girls are still keen to be involved and I am too. I guess we will have to see how the future months pan out I guess!