Tonight my team leader Ben and I were invited to help out in our local park serving food to the homeless. We had nothing to do, and it seemed easy enough, so around 7 pm we headed into town to see how we could help. There was a small crowd gathered-all waiting for the feeding to begin. One family huddled up on one bench. They all had bare feet. I slurped down a little bit more of my overpriced $3.50 iced latte that I had purchased on my way over and we quickly introduced ourselves to the men in charge. One of them (who is known by the locals as St. Nick because of his large frame and snowy white beard) helped us get started as we proceeded to feed about 20 or so homeless people. He told us the turnout was average. Sometimes there was a lot more, sometimes only a few. But every Friday at 7pm, he and other men of his church come to the park to pray over and feed the homeless people of Jaco beach. I looked over and saw a scrawny two year old slurping the life out of my latte, his eyes gigantic as he passed it off to one of his brothers. I laughed. What was I doing anyway with a latte that cost the same amount of what these people lived off daily?
St Nick’s real name is Tom. He came here over two decades ago and never left. He shared with us the small miracle of “Fridays at 7”. In the entire 3 years that the group had been giving food out, it never once rained on them. It could be raining all day long but at 7, just like magic, everything stopped. Then, maybe at 8 it would start up again. In a climate like that of Costa Rica, one could see how much of a miracle this truly is. He also shared with us how every single time they always seemed to have just enough food- no matter how many or how few people showed up. Even tonight, I handed out every single piece of bread right down to the final slice. It was just enough.
Ben and I left the park feeling full, not with food but with the joy of the Lord. When you serve God’s people, he fills you up. He makes you less tired. He makes you forget about yourself and remember others.
“Fridays at 7” was a small but perfect reminder of God’s provision and care even in the little things of life.
