Tuesday March 31, 2009
A lesson from the destitute
IT was a meaningful night for about 20 volunteers from the Cathedral of The Holy Spirit in Island Park, Penang, as they cooked, packed and distributed 184 packets of food to the homeless on the island recently.
The church held the handout —Street Walk programme — on March 7 as part of its social event for the Lent season themed ‘Keep Hope Alive’.
The food was distributed in George Town area like Prangin Mall, Komtar, Muntri Street and Jalan Kapitan Keling.
The Lent is a special period for Christians to reflect on their faith in order to be holier.
Volunteers from the Holy Spirit Church distributing food and drinks to the homeless and destitute around George Town area. “It’s a time when we give up something that we cherish, one of it is through fasting,” Penang Office for Human Development officer, Joachim Xavier said.
He said it is also a time when they have to reach out to the less fortunate.
“Our ultimate goal is to help the less fortunate but in the process, they help us back by giving us a life-changing experience.
“The homeless and the destitute show us how fortunate we are, shielded from the harsh circumstances of life and able to live comfortably. Life’s certainly not so rosy for everyone,” he said.
“The Street Walk was first initiated in 2003 by The Lighthouse, a community service centre for the homeless and hungry.
“Ordinarily, there will be just six to seven volunteers involved but since it’s the Lent season, we encouraged more people and more churches to participate,” he said.
Joachim said among some of the things volunteers learnt during the programme was not to judge people by their looks.
He said they would be awed when some of the homeless rejected the food as they had had enough for the day and they “do not worry about what is going to happen tomorrow”.
“We truly understand what the Bible in Matthew 6:34 says ‘Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself’,” he said.
He said the programme will end on April 5.
“Other than distributing food to the homeless, we also have a blood and organ donation drive,” he said.
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