We certainly weren’t needed to help serve the food. There appeared to be a couple of families with parents and children prepared to serve tortillas along with meat, veggies, and salsa.
Our friend Kathleen had asked if we wanted to go to the dinner with her. She usually gets a team of friends together to serve dinner outside one of the chapels at the Lied Social Services campus of the Salvation Army on the third Saturday night of each month, but this was the fourth Saturday. Another team was serving for the evening, so initially, anyway, we just observed.
The dinners are served outside the chapel, which is surrounded by Salvation Army apartment buildings and other facilities for those in need. The dinner isn’t just for apartment dwellers, though. It’s for anyone who’s hungry. A long line of people were already waiting when we arrived shortly before the 6:00 pm dinner was served.
Estimating how much dinner to prepare can be a challenge -- after all, nobody RSVPs for the weekly event. Guest volume can be affected by anything from weather to when assistance checks arrive. Kathleen said that on her first night of preparing the meal, she greatly underestimated the number of people coming; even though everyone got something, some people still left hungry. She determined to never let that happen again, and she hasn’t
Over a hundred guests were served the night we visited, and they all seemed to enjoy the dinner. (I overheard a man trying to give pointers on how to fold a tortilla to another diner, and she protested, “I know how to fold a taco! I’ve got plenty of Mexicans in my family!”) There were also plenty of desserts (donated by a local grocer).
Shortly after dinner began, a loud argument began between a man and a woman in the line. Ron, who administers the ministry, quickly calmed the unrest. After getting food, the young, slender woman involved came over to tell Kathleen her story.
She asked Kathleen for a place to stay and money. Kathleen suggested the Las Vegas Rescue Mission, but the woman gave an elaborate story of why that wouldn’t work for her. Kathleen couldn’t give the help the woman wanted, but hoped they’d begun a relationship that might lead to something later.
I asked about the woman’s story, and Kathleen said, “She was lying. I know, because when I was in her place, I was a liar.” She knows from experience that alcoholics and drug users lie. But lives can change.
As diners entered, they were invited to stop by a table full of neatly folded clothes, including a number of coats. Ron urged people to pick out clothes, “Winter is coming! You’ll be needing those jackets!” By the time dinner was done, all of the clothes were gone.
There was another chance for people to get clothes if they needed them -- during the meal, Ron announced, “We have new socks available for everyone who stays for tonight’s worship service!” Some ministries require people to attend a worship service before the meal is served, but this ministry didn’t operate that way. Still, the offer of new, clean socks was generally a powerful incentive to attend the evening service.
Only twenty-two people stayed for the worship service; most people left immediately after eating. Though there was a preacher for the service, the usual worship team couldn’t make it, so we sang an acapella version of the first verse of “Amazing Grace”.
The speaker that evening, Tae Chu, opened with a golfing joke, then spoke about the Lord’s Prayer, then the story of Joseph from Genesis. He concluded with another joke about a symphony conductor. Ron came forward and gave short Gospel presentation after Tae finished.
When Ron finished, a woman raised her hand, “Ron, I think you should preach like that when people are here. You should stand on a box while people are waiting in line for food.” Ron chuckled, but not a chuckle that seemed to commit to the idea.
While helping with clean-up, I talked to another volunteer named Mike who told me he had had a gambling addiction, but God had saved him. That is why he wanted to help people dealing with other problems. He hoped his story would help others.
I suppose I should make it clear that though this meal and the worship service were on Salvation Army grounds, it wasn’t a Salvation Army ministry, just a group of people trying to help others. Not a work of a church but rather the work of The Church.
Service Length: 1 hour
Sermon Length: 35 minutes
Our Rough Count: 22
Snacks: meal served before worship service
Musicians: none
Songs:“Amazing Grace”
Distance to Church: 3 miles
Open WiFi: no
Tie/Suit Count: none
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