A guest post from the heart of a servant, Rhonda Palmer:

“On the first Sunday night in September, our Ekklesia family cooked, served, and ate alongside our neighbors at the Salvation Army. Wow, what a blessing I received! I am sure at the end of the short two hours, I might have just made some new friends. A couple of our guys cooked a whole pig. The pig arrived on this big grill, and when I watched the faces of our neighbors as the pig arrived – it was precious. Their faces said, “wow, these people did this for us.”

Our Ekklesia family was arriving with homemade sides, desserts, and all of the fixings. There was so much laughter, so much good food, and so much community. I loved watching new friends meeting for the first time and serving together. There were children and teenagers serving our neighbors as well! What an awesome lesson learned at an early age.  We had a jam session going outside, and while the music played, I had the chance to sit with a new friends and to talk about chocolate. Yum.

Ekklesia has been serving and preparing meals from time to time for over three years for the Salvation Army in Athens. We stepped it up on this Sunday night and we went to the other side of the counter. Typically, we walk into the back door of the Salvation Army, prepare a little bit of food, and serve others on the other side of the counter. Unlike all of the other days of service, we actually sat down beside and hung out with our neighbors.

My husband met a really neat lady. She talked about being rescued from addictions and prostitution while surviving breast cancer. I know Mark was blessed from the conversation with this lady. She talked about the blessing of her life, not focusing on the bad things that have engulfed her life. I know our Ekklesia family came away from the dinner with the bigger blessing than the needy knew.

People just want you to take time to listen to them and share life together. I talked about chocolate, and Mark had a meaningful conversation about God’s sovereignty through struggles. Ekklesia is already planning on preparing a Thanksgiving meal for our neighbors in November. You can count me in on the blessing of hanging out with our neighbors. Love God, Do Good!” – Rhonda Palmer