Today my teammate Anna and I had the opportunity to serve at a soup kitchen in Wilmar township, here in Port Elizabeth. Out of all the people we encountered today, one man will stay in my mind and heart for a long time, hopefully forever.
Each person who came to the soup kitchen received a bowl (meaning tin can) of soup and 4 pieces of bread. We started serving at 10am and would serve soup and bread until 11am or it was gone, whichever came first.
At about 10:45 a man, who I would guess to be in his 30’s, came up to receive food followed by another man, who I would guess to be in his 70’s. I also gave them both some bread and went to fetch them some soup, this is when I realized that we only had enough soup for one more person.
My heart immediately broke; the rule is first come first served. I realized the older man would likely not get any food this morning or even the whole day. I started trying to think of ways to feed this poor man. He looked so fragile, I didn’t want him to go without. I quickly looked at Nomfundo, the woman in charge of the soup kitchen, and she offered no solution saying that this unfortunately happened all too often.
So I told them both that all the soup we had left was in that one soup can, applolgized profusely, and handed the can to the first man. As I was handing him the can he said to me (probably seeing the look in my eyes), “Please don’t worry, I will share.” He turned around and handed the older man the can of soup and said, “please eat your fill, I will be fine.”
He was hungry, and without food; he was at the soup kitchen for a reason, but he was so ready and willing to serve others before himself.
He was willing to do his part to make the world a better place, person by person.
My prayer tonight is that we can all live this way.
Serving others before ourselves.
Even if it is as simple as sharing your cup of soup.
