WS Chronicle

It’s the holiday season and now is the time of the year when many families get together for fellowship, a hot meal or the exchanging of gifts. Many individuals in our community don’t have those luxuries, so First Waughtown Baptist Church opened their doors to welcome them in.

Their annual “Feed my Sheep Day” offers the homeless, the downtrodden and those who just need to hear about the love of God the opportunity to come in and enjoy a hot meal, receive winter clothing, while also fellowshipping with others.

“This is something that was started by the missionaries, because we wanted to reach out to the homeless people and to share the love of God with them,” said Geneva Payne, event coordinator. “We started out doing that by asking people to bring in clothing and I petitioned businesses for assistance as well.

“What we do now is we bring them in and at first, they are ministered to and if anyone wants to accept Christ, they have the opportunity to do so. They then come down for a fresh, homecooked meal and when they finish eating, they will pick out clothing they need.”

According to Payne, after asking the visitors what they enjoyed most about the experience, the majority of people said they enjoyed the ministry portion most of all.  

“Some of them said they loved the fellowship and the love people showed towards them and they plan to come back again,” she continued. 

The church not only opened their doors, they actively went out into the community to bring people inside. They picked up individuals from several locations including Samaritan Ministries, The Bethesda Center, the Rescue Mission, Salvation Army and the Battered Women’s Shelter.

“This makes us feel really good, because this is how people know that you are a child of God,” said Payne. “When you show love from one to another, that’s how they know that you are a child of God.”

Jeanette Kelley, president of the missionaries at First Waughtown, added, “Any of us at any given time could have been in their situation. We could have been in that same situation, because life sometimes comes at us really hard. We want them to know that we many not have been in their situation, but we have been through our own trials. But if you believe in trusting God, he always has someone there for you.”

Dr. Dennis Bishop, senior pastor of First Waughtown, serves several roles during the event. On top of his duties inside the church, Bishop also drives one of the church vans to several locations to pick up individuals.

“We look forward to doing this every year,” he said. “It’s such a joy to see the people come in off the street, from the shelter, and bringing their children to get a good meal. A lot of people asked us if we had clothes as well and it felt good to say yes.

“Just to see people who are so thankful that someone thinks enough of them to bring them in and try to do what Jesus has called the church to do and that is to be the light in the world. In between these walls we do a lot of things, but the mission of the church is to go out and that’s what is important to us.”

Bishop said he is touched when he gets the opportunity to see the church “fulfill someone else’s joy,” because that actually helps him.  

“I see church people cry all the time, but when I see somebody come in off the street that is so thankful and humbled by an act of kindness, that really touches me and that’s what keeps bringing us back every year to reach out and bring more people in,” he went on to say.