Before the COVID pandemic, the team at Parkway Southern Baptist Church in New Albany, Indiana, would offer transportation and snacks for children who attended Wednesday night teaching. And once a month, a full meal.
But when COVID hit, “Everything shut down in the matter of like a day. And that happened to be a day when the kids were supposed to get a meal from us. So, we were like ‘What are we going to do? These kids need to eat. And now the schools are closed. Everything is closed. There’s no way for them to get what they depend on.’” Youth for Christ Campus Life Site Director Jennifer Omerso explains, “We came up with the idea to pack a lunch and bring it to them.” And they did, using appropriate pandemic precautions. At the time, they were feeding about 30 children. As the pandemic unexpectedly continued, “each week there would be new kids who were like ‘Hey, is there any way I could get one of those lunches? I don’t have anything (to eat).’”
Complete interview podcast
Jennifer reflects, “The number of kids being blessed quickly rose from 30 to 100 to 300…and now (even after the pandemic) we are sitting at 400-plus lunches every week.” And her team is feeding all they can. “This is such a huge need in the community for food, especially with inflation and everything the way it is right now.”
For the kids, not having nutritious food can bring on life issues. “For a lot of them, when they don’t have something to eat, it’s going to impact everything from how they perform at school, to even – just their attitude.” Jennifer says the term “hangry’ (a blend of hungry and angry) is a real thing. “It’s going to affect their disposition. It could cause there to be behaviors in school or even at home.”
Jennifer and her team consider what they do “a labor of love.” The outreach has established trust with residents. People are more open to talk about their struggles. Some have even joined the sharing. “It’s gone from, ‘okay, why are you knocking on my door?’ to ‘come in. Here, I made you a cake. Oh, I made this blanket for you’ to ‘I want to help. Here’s some mac and cheese. You can pass it out to the community.’”
“We’ve had kids that we’ve passed food out to that now help us pass out the food. They get excited when they see the wagon coming – and they’re ready to go and help!”
The food team’s determination puzzles some residents. “Last week, it was pouring down rain and they’re like ‘Why are you out here? Why are you doing this?’” The response from Jennifer is simple: “Jesus doesn’t leave us. We’re not leaving. We’re going to keep showing up as long as you’ll open the door.”
Being servants of Christ, Jennifer’s team usually asks if there are any prayer needs. And there always are. One woman had just been diagnosed with cancer. She received prayer, love, and encouragement.
And, when invited, they share in family celebrations. “We’ve been able to walk beside for the last three years, a lady that we’d met just by knocking on the door, giving her kids food, to find out that she was just getting ready to celebrate one month sober. And now she’s getting ready to celebrate being three years sober!”
“We’re bringing the Gospel, but we’re also living the Gospel” in meeting physical and relational needs. And the Campus Life team makes it clear to residents “over and over again, ‘Hey, this isn’t us. This is Jesus. This is God. He loves you. He wants a relationship with you. We are motivated by his love, not by our own deeds.’”
In our complete podcast interview just below, Jennifer shares that while growing up, she was “a lost kid.” There was a lot of brokenness, things going on in the home. But hear how she learned “about a God who loves me, he accepts me, he wants me no matter what” and how that moment changed her entire life.
YFC chapters impact thousands of communities across the nation, seeking out and serving youth from all walks of life. Young people are silently struggling through a wide variety of challenging issues—and through the YFC ministry God empowers them and they see the living power of a loving God. YFCtrains its leaders in a proven, relational ministry model called 3Story®, which encourages staff and volunteers to be good news while also sharing the stories of the Good News of Jesus. It involves building relationships through the ups and downs of everyday life to lead people to Christ.
YFC has been a pillar of missional ministry since 1944, when Dr. Billy Graham served as YFC’s first full-time staff member. Since then, Youth For Christ has continued to be both a rural and urban ministry on mission, and it is always about the message of Jesus. Youth For Christ operates in over 100 nations and has over 130 chapters that impact communities across America.