“Do you need me to cook today for the homeless people?” asked Ian. Ian is a great cook and a willing helper. He, along with several other Filipino and Thai volunteers, willingly meets at our outdoor kitchen around a large wok where a group gathers late on Sabbath afternoons to prepare hot meals for some of the homeless people in the city.

For nearly a year now, our Khon Kaen church family has come together after our Sabbath afternoon activities—choir practice, free English classes (branch Sabbath school), AY (Adventist Youth) program and more—to prepare these meals. Each Sabbath, depending on the menu, we may have 60 to 80 meals to pass out.

One week, you may see a group cleaning and chopping vegetables for a fried rice meal and slicing up watermelon to place in small bags. Another time it might be a favorite recipe of pansit or pad Thai. Regardless of the menu, it provides social interaction time for the cooperative outreach ministries that serve the less fortunate.

A couple of carloads of our church family arrive at a familiar spot as the sun sets. The homeless line up as they hear the ladies’ voices singing praise songs accompanied by a guitar. “For you I am praying,” or “Jesus loves you,” sung in English or in Thai, echo through the street by the train station.

My heart thrills especially on the Sabbaths when our Thai pastor is able to join us. It is so good to see him go to areas under a tree or by a lamp post, sit down to talk and pray with folks. The smiles and words of appreciation warm our hearts, and we leave knowing that those precious children of God will have a healthy meal tonight. We have shown the love of Jesus in a very practical way.

“Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me” (Matthew 25:40 NKJV).

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