God’s provision through church gives hungry a reason to give thanks

CLEAR LAKE—The hunger ministry of Clear Lake Baptist Church has one unchanging rule: Rely on God to provide.

And God has always held up his end of the bargain.

Volunteers with the ministry strictly are prohibited from soliciting donations of any kind for the effort. They don’t publicize the ministry’s needs. The ministry doesn’t hold canned-food drives or do any fundraising. Even if volunteers see someone throwing away items the ministry could use, they cannot ask for them.  

What they can do is pray—often.

God knows the ministry’s needs and the needs of the people it serves each week, and he provides, said Bill Shaver, who leads the effort that feeds about 300 families a week. The approach is inspired by George Muller, a 19th century Christian worker who ran an orphanage for more than 10,000 children without asking for help or identifying what the orphan-age needed. He prayed and waited for God to work.

Muller’s method has worked for the Clear Lake ministry, as well, Shaver said. When the food bank is low on food, people bring in donations. When donations are low, money is available to purchase items from the food bank.

“God continually opens doors,” he said. “The food comes in. The money comes in. The produce comes in.”

Prayer also undergirds the food distribution. Chaplains pray with each family who receives food, specifically asking God to meet particular needs. The prayer helps the chaplains get to know each family better. Chaplains learn people’s stories, concerns, needs and triumphs. They’re also there to celebrate when God provides.

Sign up for our weekly edition and get all our headlines in your inbox on Thursdays Email Address Chaplain Lorena Ramirez (right) prays with a mother who picks up food for her family from Clear Lake Baptist Church.

God has guided people to jobs. Clients have recovered from illnesses and, in one case, a serious motorcycle accident, the chaplains noted.

“We’ve had many miracles of healing, people finding jobs,” said Chaplain Linda Sarpe. “Sometimes, it takes a while, but there are always answers to prayer.”

When people glimpse God working through the Clear Lake food ministry—which also serves smaller groups of people in Houston and Galveston—they want to experience it more often, organizers said. They see the need and recognize how God is calling people to feed the hungry.

Volunteers who come to serve for an hour often stay all morning. Many who show up for one day become regular volunteers.

“These families are really hurting,” he said. “We’ve had families come in here and tell us, ‘By the end of the week, we’ll be homeless.’”

Clear Lake Baptist Church Associate Pastor Keith Rogers sees how people are affected by serving in the food distribution effort.

Putting one’s faith into action is part of the discipleship process, and when people do it in the hunger ministry, they see God at work in lives, he said. They see prayer work. They see God move. They see the impact of following Christ’s call to feed the hungry.

“It gives our church family an opportunity to minister,” he said. “It gives our church the opportunity to see faith in action. It gives our church an opportunity to minister to the least of these.”