New Hope United Methodist Church

Rome Ministerial Food Pantry Goals

The Rome Ministerial Association Food Pantry assists those in need by providing food for hungry families in eastern Lawrence County and specifically the Fairland School District. Our primary focus is on families with young children, senior citizens on limited incomes, and the disabled. This ministry is designed to help people stretch their dollars by providing them with non-perishable food items no more than one time per month. Holiday giving also flows through and is coordinated by the food pantry.

The Food Pantry is a great place in the church for individuals and groups to volunteer, contribute, or perform community service.
Our goals are as follow:

Providing food to anyone who is hungry and comes to our door.
Promoting spiritual growth through prayer, listening, and encouragement.
Improving communication with the congregations of our member churches though announcements, letters, and newsletter articles.
Offering opportunities for more volunteers to participate.
Maintaining our financial resources so that the food pantry is sustainable.

In all encounters, our main goal is to follow the example of Jesus in love and compassion.

Cheryl Bradford,
New Hope Food Pantry and Social Concerns Chairperson

Have you ever wondered what the world would be like if no one cared or no one shared?

Many people go about their daily routines and hardly give a thought for the needs of their neighbor, the elderly person struggling to buy food, the homeless and hungry, the special needs person, or anyone else. Today it’s so easy to get caught up in the fast lane of life’s busy highway that we forget that there are those among us who really need us – from the youngest child to the most senior adult and those in between. It seems sometimes that very few people really care enough to stop and share their blessings and resources with those in need or to even provide a kind word.

The Rome Ministerial Association Food Pantry housed at New Hope United Methodist Church is a rest stop on the busy highway of life. It is a place where those who care and who are willing and able to share can help meet the needs of those who are hungry. It is a place of help and refuge for those among us who are struggling. It is a place of God’s continual blessings through community outreach.

Christ himself was concerned about the physical needs of people. We read how Jesus was concerned about those who came to hear Him and how He fed the large crowd with a few fish and bread. We read in other accounts how He cared for the sick and the special needs, the poor and the blind, touching and healing them and meeting their needs. His was a mind of compassion, set on people in need, and His compassion was demonstrated throughout His life …a life dedicated to ministry. Jesus came not only to meet the physical hunger and thirst of people but also their spiritual hunger and thirst. He stated that He was the “Bread of Life” and the “Living Water.”

What do you think the Bible means when it says “let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus?” Christ’s mind was certainly set on ministry such as feeding the hungry physically. In so doing, He also created the opportunity to fulfill their spiritual hunger needs. If we who call ourselves Christians are truly seeking the “mind of Christ,” might we find ourselves willing to love and to help others more? Perhaps we will find our hearts more open and compassionate, more caring and indeed more willing to share from what God has blessed us with both physically and spiritually.

The Food Pantry Ministry invites you to pause on your journey and to reach out to others around you.

Whether you can offer a commitment of time to shop for the pantry, regular prayer for the ministry, food collection and distribution support, monetary gifts, or other measures of ministry, you too can demonstrate the love of Christ through the pantry. Please take a few moments to prayerfully consider how you can become involved in the Lord’s work at the Rome Ministerial Association Food Pantry. For if we do these things for those who truly need our caring and sharing, we do them as unto the Lord.