A young house church, Region 4’s West Chester group, has been meeting since May/June of 2009. For about five or six of those months they have been committed to serving once a month at The City Gospel Mission (http://www.citygospelmission.com/) located in Cincinnati. On the second Tuesday of each month, they purchase, prepare and serve a meal to 100-110 homeless people at the mission. Originally I had planned to participate with the house church as they served at the mission in February, but due to bad weather the group had to call off the meal. I had been included in the weather e-mails that day and was encouraged by the fact that the group made sure the mission not only had a back-up plan but they also planned on delivering a check so the mission would have a emergency meal in place for another occasion. Since my plans to join them were put on hold, I met with my friend and contact Jonathan to discuss the ministry.
Curious as to if it was an individual who had a specific desire to serve in this way, I found the answer was as simple as a few of the house church members having previously served with the City Gospel Mission and they, as a house church, had the desire and resources to fill this need. Each month, along with the general preparations, the members of the house church are able to serve each person their meal individually, which leads to a few chances to interact and converse.