Copyright 2023 Kat Silverglate

Our November Mission story begins with a vulnerable moment:

“Because my family was in full time ministry, I decided early on that I didn’t want to be a burden. We had all we needed, but asking for things seemed, I don’t know, like I was adding a burden. So, I rarely asked for anything or expressed my opinion.”

Her father was a pastor in South America. Her mom worked around her schedule. They had all they needed, but to ask for things felt wrong to Sandra Fader.

“We didn’t have money for transportation sometimes, so I walked a lot. I remember wearing black socks so my parents couldn’t see the hole in the sole of my black shoes. I knew if I told them things like that, they’d worry. I didn’t want that, so I hid my needs.”

Even when her father spoke harshly or she saw things that didn’t seem quite right to a little girl, she kept quiet. Because her Godfather was a Bishop, she was surrounded by many church leaders. And not just surrounded; but blessed. Her baptism was held the same week as a global conference which drew Bishops from around the world to her hometown in Peru. Thirty Bishops stood, formed a circle, laid hands on her head and shoulders, and prayed in their own native languages for her life and future. It must have looked more like an ordination than a baptism.

“I felt so covered in love.

When I close my eyes now, I can still see that room and hear

all those men praying in different languages.

I remember thinking,

‘God must have something planned for my life.

I must have some good purpose here.’”

With no money for college, she applied to aviation trade school. “My parents couldn’t afford it. They said they’d somehow make it work. That same I-don’t-want-to-be-a-burden feeling overwhelmed me. I got a job as the secretary for an Upper Room Magazine distributor and used my first paycheck to buy food for my family.”

After graduation she found herself thrust into a world she wasn’t prepared for. “I’d grown up in a bubble. I was naïve. I didn’t know how to use my voice. After years of stuffing my needs, a silent rebellion grew in me. All I wanted to do was to figure it out on my own.”

 She moved to the US.

When they told her that her son may have a fatal condition shortly after his birth, she decided that rebellion wasn’t the best strategy for facing this crisis. She began to thank God for the time she had carrying him in her womb. He lived. The door to her heart was now ajar. She continued to struggle until one day, at one of her lowest points, she was sitting in a room with long windows. It was pouring outside. She was weeping. Life had become unbearably hard. Later, reflecting on the amount of rain running down those windows, it dawned on her that God suffers when his kids suffer. He was weeping with her. He’d never left. He was there in her darkest hour.

“I made a promise to Him that day. I told Him, ‘I will put you permanently in the center of my life again. I will find You and when I do, I will never let you go. Never.’”

Feast Mode

What happened next can only be described as a feast to end all feasts! At the first possible opportunity, she found a church that welcomed her like a prodigal returning home. No shame. Open arms. That reception sent her into feast mode. Suddenly she wanted to taste anything and everything the Lord had to offer. Literally, she joined every small group that would take her. At one point, she was in three different groups eating up every morsel of truth and fellowship she could digest.

She learned how to ask for help and the difference between a load (what we all carry) and a burden (what others share). She started to receive help at a food pantry called A Place in Time which was co-founded by a woman who attended her church, Tricia Heng. Slowly she found her voice, graduated from college and graduate school, bought a house, got her Real Estate License, got married and somewhere in the middle of all that started to volunteer at that same food pantry and work full time for the church where her feast mode started.

At the end of 2019, A Place in Time asked her to serve as its Executive Director. “I was in seminary studying Leadership. It was the perfect fit. I said yes. The church where the ministry started provided space and volunteers. We called social workers and told them we were serving the community. In October, we served 25 families. By November, we sent out 80 Baskets of Hope. By February, 70% of our recipients were asking for more than physical food. They wanted personal prayer. We were thriving.”

And then COVID hit. “People were scared. Businesses were shutting down. Jobs were closing. People needed food and community more than ever. We decided to do a drive-through pantry where each recipient safely interacted with five to seven volunteers before they exited the line. One would welcome them, one would offer special donations, one would load food in the trunk, one would give announcements, one would hand out water, a few would pray. One month into COVID, 100% of our visitors were asking for personal prayer. It was beautiful.”

Would the Feast Continue?

When the demand got so great, they started to run out of food and volunteers. The leaders prayed for the feast to continue. God sent a pastor from a large church with a check and an offer of regular volunteers and donations. By the end of 2020, they were feeding 150 families regularly. When they had to find a new location, they prayed for the feast to continue. They looked everywhere for a new home, but nothing. And then, as the move time approached, that same big church offered them about 1,000 square feet to continue the operation. For the next two years, they served between 180 and 200 families a month.

Could the Feast Continue?

In 2023, the leaders found themselves on their knees praying for the feast to continue at a new location, but nothing surfaced. And then a pastor who wanted to start a food pantry told them, “I’d be honored to welcome you, but I can only give you what we have.” He had about 260 square feet, a fraction of the space they were in. To boot, they were due for an inspection from a food supplier who would decide if they qualified to continue receiving food to distribute. They decided: “if this is what God is providing, this is where we will go!” In order to fit in the new space, they had to stop distributing everything but food. Sandra shakes her head as she remembers inspection day: “The day before the inspection, we got as organized as we could. I was convinced we wouldn’t pass. The woman showed up, looked at our 260 square feet and said, ‘it’s small but it’s organized.’ We passed. We were stunned.”

Did that Feast Continue!

The feast continued for four months in that tiny generous space. “At one point, we got three pallets of food and a bunch of backpacks. We had nowhere to put them, so we started knocking on doors and asking, ‘can you store this for us?’

Power in Prayer

“Many of the people we serve are prayer warriors. They started to pray for our bigger home. We asked everybody who would pray to pray and keep their eyes wide open. Eventually, someone mentioned it to a friend who was married to a man on the board at a local church.”

Oh Boy Did that Feast Continue!

The feast continued in September of 2023 in their new 1,700 square foot home at that very church.

“At this new location, we welcome visitors in shifts, spend personal one-on-one time together, pray, and invite choices where we can. That first distribution in this new space was the best we’ve ever had in my opinion. And that’s saying a lot!”

____ The Father’s Feast ____

When Jesus tells the story of the prodigal son, He paints a picture of the most generous feast. But not just a feast with physical food, a feast with spiritual food. A feast with the open arms of a Father who wants to give us far more than groceries. A Father who wants to welcome us to feast mode. To ignite a hunger in us to taste and see that He is good. To satisfy our craving for the things that aren’t of this world. For the things that are eternal. For life with Him at the center.

Listen to the Father’s words after he orders a feast to celebrate his son’s turn to Him:

Feast mode is a celebration of found-ness.

Our November Mission

In your mission pack, you will find two napkins. Fancy napkins. A small one and a large one. The kind you might find at a special occasion. When we see fancy napkins, we don’t sit down at these meals the same way. We wait for the significance of the moment. We wait because we don’t want to miss the meaning behind the feast. We wait knowing that it isn’t going to be maintenance food. The celebration will feed us in ways that will sustain us well beyond the tossing of the napkin.

Consider using the large fancy napkin to invite someone to a feast [a simple meal]. You can mail it to them with a note or give it to them with a kind word -- “Let’s share a meal before the month is out.”

Slow down. Pray about feasting with someone who needs to know they are welcome at God’s table.  Or someone who already knows and just needs an invitation to celebrate. Find a way to celebrate the Lord’s ridiculous love with others over a meal. Share your own feast mode story. How has the Lord satisfied your hunger?

Use the small napkin as a daily prompt to celebrate the friendship of God. Once each day, ask yourself, “what would I say at a feast celebrating God’s presence with me?”

Write it down. Share it. Let’s get our feast mode on!

Amen? Amen!