City of Refuge

Swirled around for two and a half days at City of Refuge, a community in San Diego dedicated to ministering to the poor and needy. Started by a couple named David & Christine over thirteen years ago out of the back of their dwelling, the work has grown to a diverse group of approx. 25, living in half a dozen small rented houses, who serve over thirty tons of food per month. I arrived on a wednesday afternoon & received quarters in the Mission House, used for visiting missionaries & workers. The community eats together most evenings. Thursday morning i accompanied a group of four who went to people's homes to hand out bags of food. Most of the recipients were female. All looked forward to their weekly visit. Thursday evening I went with my friend jonathan, and a non-community member named Vanessa, who wanted to see what it was like, out on the streets to minister to homeless people. Jonathan exhibited the true love of Christ towards those he met. We handed out beverages and snacks. (S.D. ordinances prohibit handing out cooked food w/o meeting restaurant standards.) Those whom we visited showed genuine appreciation for both the edibles and the valuing of them as people that we brought.
Friday morning I joined a group who walked up to the "warehouse" several blocks away. Here we broke down cardboard boxes & loaded them onto a truck, unloaded food into the warehouse, which has a numbers of refrigerators, shelves, and floor space, and watched others set up musical equipment for the next outreach. I wasn't with the group long enough to understand thew rthymns of their life. Sometimes it seemed like a band of gypsies appearing and disappearing. Nonetheless these people are on the front lines of ministry to those whom Jesus describes in Matthew 25:31-46