One of Jesus’ most memorable miracles was feeding thousands of people in need of food. A church in Kansas City, in the middle of the United States, has been following Jesus’ example of feeding the multitudes.

“So far this year, we have served about 13,500 families. That equals about 53,000 people when you include the amount of people in each family.”

The New Haven Church opens its parking lot every Tuesday for food distribution. Cars line the street and wrap around the church to wait for the volunteers to fill the back of the cars with groceries and even baby supplies. All this is accomplished in partnership with other organizations in the community. They work together to help families in need.

“From 10:00-11:00, for one hour, we serve. We served about 300 families today, so probably around 1,200 to 1,500 people that we served. I’d say that we do anywhere from 80 to a little over 100 dollars worth of groceries when they come through and we put it in the back of their car.”

Today is not just any other distribution day. The church is celebrating their one millionth pound of food donated for the year! Pastor Mark is thanking the team by grilling vegetarian burgers for them to enjoy.

“At the end of June, we hit 1 million pounds of food that we served. Here in 2021, we are definitely on pace to do over 2 million pounds, so we just took a little time to celebrate that. We were thanking the volunteers there with some vegetarian burgers with caramelized barbecue sauce on it, so it was a good celebration to thank the volunteers. We couldn’t have done it without them!”

It’s not only about the amount of food served, but more importantly the lives they are able to impact.

“Another family was asking for prayer because they were going to be evicted from their home in a couple of weeks. That reminded me that we are serving people right on the edge of homelessness.”

This food pantry in Kansas City has grown to serve many families each week, and they say their growth strategy is simple.

“The more we pray, the more people God brings here. So I would say if you want to start a food pantry like this, I would pray for every single person who comes through there. And as you pray for those people, God will send you more, because He knows who needs prayer. Then it will grow and grow and grow, because that’s what has happened to us.”

From humble beginnings, this church has fed hundreds of thousands of people over the last few years. Please pray for the team in Kansas City, as well as others around the world who are continually seeking ways to serve their communities with love.