Hope For The Hungry: The What, Why, and How of Our Churches Efforts to Grow Food to Feed The Hungry

by Jed CoppengerBible, Christian living, Church, Culture, Disaster Relief, Redemption City Church, UncategorizedPosted on No Comments

In March of 2020, as the world was shutting down for COVID, our church, Redemption City Church, started growing food on our church property to give away to meet food shortages in our area. Nearing the end of the third growing season, with a lot of ups and downs along the way, we have grown and given away over 90,000 lbs of food to reduce spiritual and physical hunger amongst every kind of population you can imagine here in Mid-TN. That’s a little over 70,000 people that Redemption City Church, a nine year old church that typically has a little over 400 people on a Sunday, has been able to feed in Jesus’ name.  

No, we didn’t start this ministry because we want to become farmers, we simply wanted to be faithful—faithful to the calling of God on our church to advance his mission in our context with all that He’s entrusted to us. As strange as it sounds, we wanted to follow in the footsteps of heroes of ours like George Mueller, to name one of many, who used mercy ministries, like his orphanage, as a strategy for “showing God” to a world in desperate need of Him.

Of course, our church, wasn’t the first to think of doing something like feeding the hungry. Jesus set the pattern for reducing spiritual and physical hunger in his ministry, most famously as he miraculously fed the multitudes (Matt 14-15). In those narratives, we learn that Jesus spoke to the spiritual hunger of their hearts so powerfully that the crowds were willing to follow him and listen to him for long periods of time without regard to food. Their hearts and minds were starved. Jesus’ message was a feast. Indeed, he is the bread of heaven (Jn 6).

But, more famously, in those narratives Jesus also fed their hungry bellies. What is so often missed in our reading of these miraculous narratives is the fact that Jesus fed the multitudes through his disciples. “You feed them,” Jesus said to his disciples. They knew that Jesus’ command was impossible. After all, the size of the crowd was most likely around 15,000 people! Jesus called his disciples, and all of us since then, to join him in an impossible work that brings him great glory and does great good. And that’s what happened. After commanding the disciples to do the impossible, Jesus used them to do the impossible, since they delivered and collected the food.

While many parts of that moment aren’t repeatable, some, Jesus said, should be. Later, Jesus commands his disciples to feed the hungry and clothe the poor (Matt 25:35-40). His Spirit inspired NT authors like James to command churches to do the same in places like James 2:14-17. Any of the myriad of passages in the NT that talk about “caring for the poor” are passages that assumes that those caring for the poor are thinking about feeding the poor. The fact that food work is such an important part of kingdom work shouldn’t come as too big of a surprise to us, since the kingdom was originally lost because of Adam and Eve’s mishandling of food (Gen 3:1-6). Without question, Jesus and the Apostles led the NT church to reduce spiritual AND physical hunger.

That’s why, when you examine the way Christians throughout church history followed Jesus’ example and teaching, you see that, amongst many practical acts of love and generosity, they fed the hungry spiritually and physically. Jesus didn’t just feed hungry bellies that one day in Galilee, he’s continued to use his disciples to reduce the spiritual and physical hunger around them. Redemption City Church is simply using our land to do the same.

Why Should Your Local Church Consider Launching A Ministry That Feeds The Hungry

While it’s true that not every church needs to grow food and give it away, I believe many more can and should. Here are three quick reasons why your church should consider a “Hope for the Hungry” ministry that grows and gives away food.

First, and most obviously, launching a ministry like this would enable you to follow the biblical teaching and examples mentioned above—helping glorify God and do a lot of good in your area for the cause of Christ. Right now, as I write these words, over 700 million people go to bed hungry each night. That’s a group of people around two times the size of the U.S.A. Many believe that number will rise to over 840 million people by 2030. That’s a lot of hungry children, teenagers, young adults, and elderly. Because of COVID-19, it is estimated that 83 to 132 million more people will be chronically hungry than were projected to be. The war in Ukraine is making things worse. In the state I live, TN, we have around 1 million hungry people, over 250,000 are children.

I don’t know the last time you were hungry, but it usually doesn’t bring out the best in people. When we are hungry we are typically less joyful, patient, loving, focused, or any of the other characteristics that we were meant to be marked by. As a pastor, if my sermon’s go long, I know people won’t be happy with me. They’re hangry! When people fast from a meal, they typically struggle in ways they didn’t expect. Whatever your experience with hunger is, we all know that a lack of food leads to a lack of a lot of other great things in life. 700 million people experiencing these kinds of hunger related problems each day is a big deal.  

Second, launching a ministry like this will increase the number of Christ-centered conversations amongst your church and with the community. Since we began our “Hope for the Hungry” ministry, we have had a massive increase in evangelistic conversations. We have yet to come across a single person, no matter how lost, who hasn’t had a positive posture towards our efforts. It’s helped give our people more courage to talk about Jesus, I think, because of that. We have more unbelievers, also, who work on the farm. Just a couple of months ago, an unbelieving man who a year ago was a skeptic, gave his life to Christ and was baptized. Why was he around? His wife, who was already a Christian, loved the work on the farm and he thought that was cool too. Over the past year he met with several of us and God saved him. Amazing! Finally, the ministry has deepened the relationships amongst our church. Whether talking as beans are getting picked, weeds are getting pulled, or something else, people open up when their hands are getting dirty. One volunteer recently said, “we’re not just growing food out here, huh?” God grows our relationships on his mission.

Third, launching a ministry like this helps the cultural apologetic case for Christianity. On this point, I’m thinking primarily about the next generation. All of our kids will grow up and go into a world that says something along the lines of, “Christians don’t do anything.” A college prof, a politician, a boss, someone will say it, and it will be said over and over. Having a ministry like this, I believe, positions the next generation to “win the moment,” whatever that “moment” might be, by saying, winsomely and humbly I hope, “our church grew food every year and fed the hungry.” That kind of story changes the conversation. How powerful would it be if an army of churches came together and were providing over 1,000,000 lbs of food annually to the hungry in their area? What about 10 million lbs?

Perhaps, with a God empowered “Hope for the Hungry” effort, we might do a better job pushing back the darkness like the early church did. Describing one such instance, Ian Shaw, in his Christianity: The Biography, wrote, “When the fourth-century Roman emperor Julian tried to undermine Christianity, he found it difficult because of its strong system of social care and the high reputation Christians had gained for their generosity—something that paganism could not match. Social concern was an essential part of early Christian practice and closely accompanied the message of Jesus Christ as Savior.” As the culture darkens, practical examples of light like this will help many “find their way home.”

How Does A Local Church Launch A Ministry That Feeds The Hungry?  

Over the past three years we have put in a lot of work, made a lot of mistakes, and learned a lot. There are at least 5 basic things you need to launch a ministry like this.

First, as obvious as this sounds, you need some land to grow the food. How much land? Not that much. We have about 8 plots on 2 acres of the 31 acres we own. It takes a lot of work to keep that amount of land going like it should. In fact, we’ve talked about doing less. So if you have half an acre, go for it. But you have to make sure that your land can grow food. We have had our soil tested and you’ll need to as well.  

Second, you need to figure out your work capacity. How many volunteers do you have? How often can your volunteers work? Who has farming expertise? Do you have money to help pay for some help and for some needed tools? I recommend that you have a paid leader who knows farming and is good with people (important for volunteer retention), identify “champions” who can work part of several days a week (typically these are older folks or people with a significant amount of freedom), create 4-6 church wide work days (typically on days where a lot of work needs to be done, like a harvest day), and figure out what tools can be donated and what need to be purchased (we had to buy a tractor, etc.). The first two years we had a special offering at Christmas that paid for the year’s needs. We have just had teams come from local schools or from out of town so that their students could help on the farm. When done right, this added muscle really makes a difference.

Third, you need to figure out your county and state requirements. My guess is, you’ll need someone who knows agriculture to help walk you through this part. We did. If you don’t know anyone, perhaps a call to the state’s ag department can help. We learned, for instance, that it was important NOT to wash our produce in order to avoid liability. It would have been easy for us to skip this step, do something like washing the vegetables, and then get sued. Make sure you don’t skip this step.  

Fourth, identify the people to whom you will give the food. This step is trickier than most think it will be. In order to do it, I suggest you start by praying for God to show them to you. It’s amazing how many of our current relationships came “out of the blue.” Ask God to help you and be sensitive to his leading. Second, look for ministries like “OneGenAway” in your area who you can take larger amounts of food too. There aren’t a lot of places to whom you can take thousands of pounds of food in a day, but that’s what you’ll have to do a few days a year. Large capacity partners like that help you get food to the folks who need it without it rotting. But, thirdly, God will often provide smaller capacity partners too. We also brought bags of food to church some Sunday’s and encouraged people to take them if they needed them or if they knew someone who would need them. We’ve also had people work the farm “glean” from the farm, which we encourage. Partner with churches. You get the idea.

Fourth, with the help of an expert, figure out what you can plant and when it needs to be planted. This plan, of course, will be location dependent. For those new to farming, this is more important than you think it would be. These experts will also be able to give you tips on how best to take care of what you are growing as well. This framework will also help you plan the best days for church wide work days and events.

Fifth, set expectations. We often say, “farmers are flexible.” You know why? Because sometimes, on the church wide work day, it rains. This year we had a drought that hurt that amount of food we produced. So we let people know that our goal isn’t perfection, it’s faithfulness. Also, some people follow through and help like they say they will and others don’t. It happens. If kids happen to ruin a plant while families are out there working, that’s okay. We care about people more than plants. The Enemy is always looking for a way to discourage. Setting expectations helps limit his effectiveness.

These are five things I think you need to think through in order to launch a “Hope for the Hungry” type of ministry without making some of the mistakes we made. I’m sure I’ll think of other things later (if you do, email me and I’ll add them).

I hope you’ll consider praying for our ministry and that God would launch more ministries like it. The last two years, the recipients of our food were pickier about what kinds of food they wanted. Some wanted more potatoes, some loved tomatoes, some jalapeños, and on and on. This year, as conditions in our world have gotten worse, our partners are just asking for “more.” I bet there will be more and more people like that around all of our churches in the days to come. Perhaps this is the time to launch your “Hope for the Hungry” ministry?

The Coronavirus, Fear Reducing Facts, and 6 Christian Ways To Respond

by Jed CoppengerChristian living, Church, Disaster Relief, Evangelism, Missions, Prayer, UncategorizedPosted on 4 Comments

The coronavirus is here and it’s making its presence known. Schools are shutting down. Stores are limiting the amount of water and hand sanitizer you can buy. New York has called the National Guard into certain neighborhoods. The governor of Kentucky asked churches to stop gathering for worship. Washington State is prohibiting gatherings of more than 250 people in Seattle. The Warriors will start playing home games without fans present. Panic is high. The world seems to be coming apart.

In the midst of all of this, it’s tough to know how to make sense of the stories and data that are being thrown around. Some stats are more daunting than others, some countries are having more trouble than others, and the opinions as to why there are so many differences are many.

At this point, a little over 1,000 of the 327 million people in the U.S. have the virus, with over 30 having died from it. More cases will, of course, be reported. New measures will be taken. Endless stories will tell us many of the details.

As we continue to deal with this, consider appropriate responses, and try not to lose our minds in the process, I’ve found the following information helpful in facing the coronavirus with facts and faith, rather than fear.  

Learning what the words “outbreak” and “pandemic” actually mean reduces fear – I don’t know about you, but when I hear the media use these words every other word, I feel the panic starting in my germaphobe mind. My mind flashes scenes of the movie Outbreak and every horror film or stat I’ve ever come across. But once I found out what those words actually mean, it changed how they impacted me. You probably already know, but if you don’t, here’s what two key words mean:

  • Outbreak – “Outbreak” simply mean there are more cases than expected. So, since they were expecting 0 cases of the coronavirus, 2 cases would be considered an “outbreak.” So every time you hear “outbreak,” hear them say, “we have more than expected.”
  • Pandemic – “Pandemic” simply means that the “outbreak” (more than expected) is taking place in countries across the world. Since the world wasn’t expecting this virus and it has reached lots of countries (which isn’t hard to do in our day), we are in a “pandemic.”

The next time you hear “outbreak,” remind yourself that they mean, “more than expected.” And the next time you hear “pandemic,” remind yourself that they mean, “more than expected in the world.” This doesn’t mean it’s not serious, but it helps you avoid making it more serious than it is.

The coronavirus is harder on people with weaker immune systems (older people, people with cancer, diabetes, etc.) than the flu, but easier on young people than the flu – The Washington Post noted that the death rate for the “over 70” population in Wuhan was up around 20%; for those under that age it was .8 or less (flu), for those younger it was less. One of the main reason Italy is struggling significantly is because Italy is the oldest country in the world. The elderly continue to make up most of the deaths by far. Let’s pray for the elderly across the globe facing this fierce virus. Let’s ask God for their protection, healing, wisdom on what changes they need to make, and that all would know Christ.

The more time goes by, the lower the initial, scary coronavirus data gets – With each passing week the death rate numbers go down. “The death rate is a calculation of the number of known deaths out of the total number of confirmed cases.” None have gone up. Why? Because the number of people infected is believed to be much higher than initially reported. The higher the number goes, the lower the death rate goes. That number is believed to be higher because for most people the impact of the coronavirus is “mild” so they wouldn’t even think to get tested and many places didn’t have “enough tests” to actually find out how many people had the virus.

Countries with government run healthcare have had a more difficult time responding to the coronavirus – It’s a scary thought to turn the keys to healthcare over to the same people that run the DMV. It’s even scarier to do that for countries who have governments that couldn’t run the DMV as “excellent” as we do here. But that’s the reality. When you look at stories out of Wuhan, China (ground zero for the coronavirus), you find a healthcare system that was an absolute mess. The hospital situation was run by a communist party who ignored previous year complaints that new hospitals were needed because of a lack of space for such a big city (11 million in Wuhan). At the end of 2018, their hospitals were 94% full. Their requests were ignored, which is why you can find stories of elderly people with the coronavirus trying to get into 3 hospitals with no success. In Italy, their government run healthcare system produces a wide range of experiences for people, some great and some awful. The same disease has vastly different recovery rates in different parts of the country. This means that the people who often most need the help won’t be able to get the needed help. Everything I’ve read about these government healthcare systems make total sense of my experience with them in the twenty or so countries I’ve been too. Pray for their healthcare system. Pray for ours. The coronavirus is a problem, but it’s made worse in countries that have handed their healthcare system over to the government.

The spread in Wuhan, China was enabled to a significant degree by the lack of willingness of Chinese government officials to talk about the disease while it made it’s way through one of the largest and most dense cities in the world – China took about a month to communicate what you’re hearing non-stop today. Not only that, they kept quiet while the virus was passed around in one of the best places to pass it around, a huge, dense, city (Wuhan). That’s why the rates of infection are much higher there than anywhere else in China. Be thankful that information is out and people are being more intentional about cleaning their hands, etc.

The coronavirus is serious. That’s why it’s so important to think through what we’re hearing and seeing. When you do, you see that it is significantly more dangerous than the flu for older people and those with a compromised immune system (have had cancer, have diabetes, had an organ transplant, etc.), but the same or less dangerous than the flu for folks the younger you get. How it has been handled differently has a lot to do with various approaches to government and healthcare.

As the number of cases continues to grow, the information we can learn does to, here are a few ways I’d encourage you to respond to our current coronavirus problem.

Pray This Problem – Jesus said that we are to bring our “weariness” and our “burdens” to him (Matt. 11:28-30). Let’s make sure that we aren’t just meditating on the burdens created by this situation, let’s pray them. Pray for those that have it or will get it. Pray for the people unusually at risk. Pray for wisdom for government and church leaders. Pray, pray, pray. Every problem is an opportunity to pray. Don’t miss out on this one.

Do Your Part – The best medical advice in all the world about fighting this virus is the same medical advice, for the most part, that we get every year. Wash your hands. Don’t touch your face. Sneeze and cough into your arm. If you feel sick, stay home. Wipe off surfaces. If we do these basics, we are doing our part. It will make a huge difference.

Avoid Overreaction And Underreaction – I’ve found that people either tend to overreact in these situations (looking at you, “Mr. I Bought All The Toilet Paper From Costco”) or underreact (looking at you, “Mr. I’m Going Stop Washing My Hands College Student Just To Make A Point”). Figure out your tendency and battle it. This isn’t Ebola that killed 50% of the people who got it, for most people it’s closer to the flu’s .1%. But this isn’t just the regular flu either, especially for older people and those with pre-existing conditions like cancer, diabetes, and those that have had organ transplants. Let’s be sober-minded and steady as we do our part.

Give People Freedom To Process This Challenge – Everybody responds differently when they are reminded that they aren’t in control, they are vulnerable, and death is real. Pray for everyone to look to Jesus in the midst of this. Give them space when they respond differently than you. Take a long term approach relationally.

Consider Recommended Courses Of Action Critically – Just because a government leader recommends something doesn’t mean it’s the wisest course of action. Today the Governor of Kentucky recommended that churches stop gathering for worship. Curiously, he didn’t recommend that other types of assemblies stop meeting. Nothing was mentioned about Kentucky Basketball games and March Madness. Their schools are still meeting. Even if churches listened to him, which most won’t, it’s unlikely to do much good with all of these other assemblies continuing as is. Again, let’s pray for our government leaders, listen to their perspective, but I wouldn’t follow them uncritically.

Meditate On The Power And Love Of Christ Until You Trust Him Enough To Rest – Inner peace doesn’t come from knowledge, delusions of control, or defeating the coronavirus. Death is always at the door in a world like this. No, inner peace comes from trusting in a God more powerful than death who lovingly sent his Son to rescue from eternal death. Trust doesn’t replace action, it reorients it. In this world, you’re always more vulnerable than you realize. In Christ, you’re always more secure than you realize. Trust him. If he went to the cross for you and defeated death, he won’t leave you now. Find a few Bible verses to meditate on in these times as you do your part.

The coronavirus is serious, but it has an expiration date. As Christians, let’s be more effected by the presence of Christ than the presence of the coronavirus. That way we’ll be marked by peace more than panic. Sure, let’s stay up to date on all of this, but let’s meditate on something better as we pray for those all around us and pursue God’s best in these coming days.

How Can You Help Those Impacted By The Tornadoes This Week?

by Jed CoppengerChristian living, Church, Disaster Relief, UncategorizedPosted on No Comments

With a day of serving under our belts, we feel like we have a better picture of how people can help over the next few days. Like I said in an earlier post, let’s continue to pray, give, and serve with Hands On Nashville. But we also wanted you to be aware of a unique opportunity to serve some folks that need some help in Mt. Juliet.

If you want to help us over the next few days, here’s the info you need to know.

When and Where Can You Serve? Thursday-Saturday morning at 9:30am, RCC will have a team member present at Kerry Bural’s house at 4002 Omaha Ct., Mt. Juliet, TN 37122. They’ll be there for a few hours working to help the Bural’s in any way that they can, along with any surrounding neighbors. If you’re coming on Thursday, Tyler is our point of contact (713-819-5661). If you’re coming on Friday, Manny is our point of contact (615-739-7140). If you’re coming Saturday, Abigail is our point of contact (540-454-9101).

What Will You Do? Today, we did all kinds of things. We moved things, picked trash up, boxed up breakable dishes, hugged and prayed for homeowners, walked to other neighbor’s homes to help, and more. There are neighbors who aren’t connected to anyone, so we did our best to help them. You’ll probably do the same on your day. The key thing is to be patient and flexible as you help.

What Should I Bring? Bring water, gloves, and anything else you think might be helpful. If you have a chain saw, that could be great. There’s a lot of work, requiring a lot of different types of tools. Bring what you can.

How Long Will We Work? You can stay as short or as long as you want. I’d recommend staying for a couple of hours, if possible. If you can stay longer, that’s awesome!

Each time we serve we learn more about how we can serve more helpfully. With each coming day, I assume that will continue to be true. We’ll do our best to continue to update you along the way.

3 Reasons The Tennessee Tornado Relief Effort Starts Slowly

by Jed CoppengerChristian living, Church, Disaster Relief, MissionsPosted on No Comments

I just got back from helping those impacted by the tornadoes in Mt. Juliet. It’s hard to put into words what the Redemption City team and I saw. Houses ripped off of their foundations, sides of homes completely gone, people’s personal belongings found on the other side of their neighborhood, yards filled with everything you can imagine, just to name a few of the things that I remember seeing. People in various types of uniforms were walking around assessing the damage. Homeowners and those helping them were working hard, shedding tears, hugging, and staring at the wreckage.

I heard stories of families crying out to Jesus to save them as they braced for what they thought would be their end, stories of neighbors rescuing their neighbors who were buried underneath their homes, and even a story of a kid who miraculously lived to tell about how he was sucked out of a room where he was playing a video games.

Like many, we were there to help in any way that we could. And help we did. But not near as much as we wish we could. Over the coming days and weeks, many more of us will play a small part in the massive recovery effort. But right now, as you patiently wait and pursue opportunities, I think it’s important to keep in mind a three reasons that make the disaster relief process slower than many people expect that it would be.

The Process Is Slow Initially Because Significant Amounts Of Money Are On The Line – When we showed up to help clean up houses and yards, we had to stand around a good bit. Why? Because before something could be thrown away, it needed to be documented. Why? Because the insurance company needed proof that it existed in order for there to be any chance that they’d provide money for it. Even finding out the need for pictorial documentation was a process because the insurance company is hard to get a hold of when a ton of people are all calling it at once. Don’t be surprised when the process is slow, especially early on, because people are doing everything they can to make sure they are in the best position possible to win their coming battle with their insurance company.

The Process Is Slow Initially Because Personal Stuff Needs To Be Sorted Through By People Who Are Still In Shock – When you go into these homes you notice a lot of stuff that seems like it could easily be thrown away or straightened up. The reason you don’t do that is because there is a lot of personal stuff in the mess that the owners wouldn’t want anyone else to see. Of course, the only people who can work through that stuff are also the people who are still shaking from this week’s events. Be sure when you help that you remember that these folks need space to process their personal stuff.

The Process Is Slow Initially Because Many Major Tasks Have To Be Completed Before Related Minor Ones Can Be – Before certain homes can be helped, roads that lead to those homes need to be cleared. Before certain parts of a home can be cleared of valuables, the structure of that home needs to be secured again. Before the stuff all over people’s yards could be taken to the road, we needed the city to tell us which types of things to stack together for an easy pick up. Over and over, we came across tasks that we could easily have completed, if, and only if, something major (a task we couldn’t complete) was completed first. And, of course, the people who have the machinery and expertise to complete those major tasks aren’t usually going to be around for a day or two (or weeks) because there is so much to do. So when you help, remember that there are a lot of layers to a recovery effort of this scope that impact the major things that need to be done.

The process is slow initially and many people struggle to be patient. Learning these three realities today really helped me to be patiently engaged, as I continue to my best to pray, stay out of the way, serve, and give.