{"id":21397,"date":"2024-05-01T08:17:23","date_gmt":"2024-05-01T13:17:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/openbiblemessage.org\/?p=21397"},"modified":"2024-05-01T15:35:20","modified_gmt":"2024-05-01T20:35:20","slug":"the-community-table-portland-open-bible-feeds-bodies-and-souls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/openbiblemessage.org\/es\/2024\/05\/the-community-table-portland-open-bible-feeds-bodies-and-souls\/","title":{"rendered":"The Community Table: Portland Open Bible Feeds Bodies and Souls\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you walk into the food pantry at Portland Open Bible (POB), you\u2019ll see a beautifully diverse demographic that reflects the neighborhood in which it is planted. Chinese, Russian, African American, Hispanic, and White families all gather on Tuesdays and Thursdays, known in the community as \u201cpantry days.\u201d In addition to receiving food, they\u2019re gifted with joy and a genuine kindness that is unusual for many of them. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Pantry staff hand out fresh produce to members of the neighborhood<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cIt offers a level of humanity that they might not have had before,\u201d said Pastor Aaron Brown. \u201cPeople can say to themselves, \u2018If I step on site at Portland Open Bible Church, I know that for one \u2013 people are going to be nice to me, and two \u2013 they’re going to try and help me with what I need.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aaron and the food pantry team are going a step further, striving not only to give their community what it needs but also what it wants. When the pantry was in its beginning stages, the staff realized that too much of what was given away was being thrown away. They would find food thrown on the ground a short distance from the pantry, and knowing their program couldn\u2019t be sustained with so much food waste, they were determined to solve the problem. As they began taking data on who their program was serving, noting the diverse ethnicities, they realized their food options didn\u2019t meet the dietary needs of many of the ethnicities they were serving.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re putting an end to food waste through client choice.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur Asian families don\u2019t necessarily want Ritz Crackers and Fruit Loops,\u201d explained Aaron. The pantry developed a detailed intake form in which clients were surveyed not only on their demographics and family size, but on the types of food they most desire. This data allows the pantry to save money by purchasing only the food that is needed AND wanted by their community. \u201cWe\u2019re putting an end to food waste through client choice.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s not all. As of 2024, the pantry has begun a new program called \u201cThe Community Table.\u201d In partnership with Providence health care, the pantry now provides weekly cooking classes with two professional chefs. Each meal is cooked from scratch with whole foods (provided free of charge to participants) and follows a recipe that was contributed by a member of the Portland community. They might cook a Russian meal one week and a Cantonese meal the next. \u201cWe have people from all cultures cooking foods from all cultures,\u201d Aaron shared proudly. \u201cIt\u2019s food they chose that comes with a story.\u201d Classes are filmed, each recipe taught as a unique episode that includes the recipe\u2019s contributor sharing the story of why that meal is meaningful to his or her family. Once all the episodes are filmed, food pantry visitors will have the option of receiving a video link for a weekly episode along with all the ingredients for that \u201cmeal of the week.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEveryone deserves to be fed, and to be fed healthy food.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was skeptical at first, but the numbers keep growing,\u201d said Aaron. And he\u2019s not kidding: the pantry has expanded from its initial service of 123 families in 2013 to currently serving 84,000 families.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, how did it all begin? Aaron credits his mother, Betty Brown, with the idea for the pantry. In 2013 the church was experiencing repeated break-ins. Despite there being technology and other valuables to steal, the only thing taken was food. Betty gathered the staff one day and gave them a choice: \u201cWe can either keep reporting these break-ins or we can start feeding our community.\u201d They decided to do the latter. What began with a few donated canned food items by church members developed into what is now a widely recognized program funded by million-dollar grants.  <\/p>\n\n\n

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Selecting the perfect egg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cEveryone deserves to be fed, and to be fed healthy food.\u201d Aaron explained that their neighborhood is in an inner-city \u201cfood desert,\u201d a technical term for a neighborhood without easy access to affordable and fresh food. These neighborhoods often have plenty of gas stations and convenience stores, but no grocery stores. Imagine being a single mom who must take city transportation to get to a grocery store in the next city over, then find a way to transport multiple grocery bags home, all with her five kids in tow. This is the reality of many families near Portland Open Bible. The pantry\u2019s intake forms show that these families want healthy options; they\u2019re just in a food desert where they can\u2019t get it.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Portland Open Bible nourishes its community, they are seeing physical nourishment carry over into the spiritual. \u201cWe try to be a beacon of light,\u201d said Aaron. \u201cWe serve some of the nicest, friendliest people, and when they see you\u2019ll be kind to them, they open up their whole life story. \u2018I used to go to church\u2026\u2019 is what they\u2019ll often say. I\u2019ve seen former youth pastors show up, worship musicians, people high on whatever blasting worship music. They\u2019re usually the most humble people just wanting food.\u201d A lot of them showed up addicted, trying to get clean. They come volunteer at the pantry and get free food, then eventually end up becoming employees. \u201cOverall,\u201d summarized Aaron, \u201cwe\u2019re here to bring people to Christ. A lot of people who didn\u2019t go to church before now go to church because of the pantry.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pantry has expanded from its initial service of 123 families in 2013 to currently serving 84,000 families.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If you visit 92nd<\/sup> and Powell in Southeast Portland, you just might find a homeless man learning how to make Tiramisu. You\u2019ll also find an innovative church feeding bodies and souls with Christ-like compassion.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward them for what they have done<\/em>\u201d (Prov. 19:17 NIV).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n