In 2014 when Grace Marketplace finally opened its doors in NE Gainesville, members of our parish were eager to help fill the need for meals. Grace serves 3 meals each day, every single day, relying heavily on community volunteers and donations. The need for outside volunteers to bring and serve food arose just as my Community Group in the Glen Springs/Norton neighborhood, was looking for a service opportunity. The Buchholz Community Group was already committed but realized it might be more than one group could handle. We joined the effort and our dedication does not go unnoticed or unappreciated by those we serve and by the staff at Grace.

 

The work of this monthly ministry is a well worked-out system supported by lots of regular, committed hands who make seemingly light work of feeding between 120-200 people. The hardest part for me in the beginning was the fear of being inadequately prepared and at risk of intruding on others in crisis. I hoped I didn’t misspeak or act patronizingly cheerful, or inadvertently make someone feel any worse or more miserable than they already may be. It didn’t take long before I realized how I had over-complicated anyone’s expectations; what mattered was that I was there to serve dinner, nothing more and nothing less. And what began to matter more was that I was regularly there.

 

I have come to see that in addition to serving hundreds of people hot meals every year, our reliability and commitment has come to be a blessing to the staff at Grace. We help lighten the burden for them a little. I remember a sermon from one of Servants’ former interns, Lily Ubbens, in which she emphasized how we operate without conscious awareness of the staggering number of our own regular daily human needs—in other words, we’re all even needier than we can know. I can imagine how acutely the needs of others weigh on people who work in places like homeless shelters and how this can lead to burnout and high turnover. It took me a while to realize that we are ministering to the staff as much as to the guests at Grace Marketplace by reliably providing them a small respite.

 

The ministry we do at Grace Marketplace is a lift, but it isn’t complicated. We often have children and youth assist with serving (which incidentally brings a lot of joy to the guests). It is often to the most intractable situations that God calls His people to serve. I am only able to commit to these types of situations when I am more compelled by the love of Christ than driven by expectation or results. I feel privileged to carry that love to people that need it, as well as the love of all of those who support the ministry, just by showing up. The more we show up, the more familiar we become and as this happens we are better able to see people, not just situations.

 

 

 

Kate Becker