The church wasn’t a fancy building. From the outside, it looked more like a school, complete with gymnasium, than it did a cathedral. Stan gathered his family’s belongings, and Christine hoisted Natalie onto her shoulder. They walked to the side door of the sanctuary and stepped inside. Although the electricity was still off in the area, the interior of the building was well lit by dozens of candles and kerosene lamps, flames flickering against the lightly painted walls, giving the large room a warm and cozy feeling. It reminded Stan of the Christmas Eve candlelight services he attended as a boy.

The room was filled with bustling people, some carrying backpacks, others carrying sleeping bags, still others toting boxes, a few teenagers even sporting guitars. The scene looked like a busy summer camp!

“Well, hello!” Stan heard a familiar voice call out from the crowd. “I’m so glad you could come!”

It was the grandmotherly woman from the grocery store.

“And this must be your wife and baby … come on in. Let me introduce myself,” she said more to Christine than to Stan. “Your husband and I have already met.”

“Well, not really,” Stan said. He realized that he had never even given the woman his name. “I’m Stan. This is my wife, Christine, and our daughter, Natalie.”

“My name is Mary,” the woman said, smiling as she helped Christine with Natalie’s jacket. “Welcome to our church.”

“We’re real sorry to impose on you,” Stan said, “but we didn’t have anywhere else to go. So I thought maybe we could take you up on your offer for tonight. Sorry to bother you.”

“No bother at all! Mary gushed. “We’re so glad you are here. Make yourself at home. Don’t be bashful. Let me show you around. This church is the greatest thing in the world!”

“Really!” Stan replied. “I’ve never heard of a church described like that before.”

“Well, maybe you’ve never been to a real church,” the grandmotherly woman responded sprightly. Again, Stan noticed the twinkle in the woman’s eyes, just as he had back in the grocery store.

Mary took Christine by the arm and led her and Stan toward the front of the sanctuary. “Those fellows are taking food back to the food bank,” she said, pointing to three young men who looked to be in there early twenties. “Come on, I’ll show you where it’s at, so you’ll know where to go if you need anything.” Mary pointed out the kitchen area and the food bank storage area. “As you can see, we have a clothing cupboard, a food pantry, and a soup kitchen, and it’s all available to you. If we have something that you need, all you have to do is ask and someone will help.”

“Wow, look at all that food!” exclaimed Stan, visions of the empty store shelves still fresh in his mind.

“Yes, we have quite a lot,” said Mary. “Our people have been laying in supplies for some time now, so we can take care of our own congregation and folks like you and your family who might need a little help. We love helping people as an expression of our love for Jesus.”

“Right now, everyone who is staying inside the church is eating breakfast and dinner together in our fellowship hall, just off the gymnasium. Lunch is on your own, but if you or the baby gets hungry, there’s always plenty of food here in the food bank.”

“Thank you so much,” Christine said. “Our baby hasn’t had much to eat all day.”

“Well, we’ll have to do something about that, now won’t we?” Mary said as she picked up several jars of peach baby food and handed them to Christine.

Tears trickled from Christine’s eyes as she hugged Mary with one arm and held on to Natalie with the other. “Oh, Mary! How can we ever thank you?”

“Don’t thank me. Thank God. And His people. They are the ones bringing in all the food. But the church is more than just a place for food and shelter. We are especially interested in helping people who are spiritually hungry to find real satisfaction.”

The group walked back to the main sanctuary as Mary continued. “In our church we’re seeing all sorts of wonderful things happen,” she said. “You know how difficult it is to get an appointment with a doctor these days.”Stan nodded. “That’s the truth.” Recently, doctors and hospitals had been having problems accessing their patients’ medical records. Then there were the telephone outages, as well as the gas shortages. It was such a frustrating hassle to attempt getting to a physician that, unless it was an emergency situation, many people simply put off medical attention as long as possible.