By Josh Beavers
Mrs. Rebecca Myles used one of the best references imaginable when I asked her the purpose of the Food Pantry at St. Rest Baptist Church in Minden.
“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink,” she quoted the Book of Matthew, never missing a word or pausing to remember; the showing of a servant’s heart. “I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”
She concluded and her eyes told me what was in her heart. Then she said: “I believe in service. We all do. That is our God-given purpose.”
And St. Rest fulfills that purpose twice a month with its food pantry – located in the church annex, and open to all those in need.
The food pantry serves more than 200 clients at any given time and dispenses twice a month – the first Saturday and then again on the Saturday before the third Sunday.
“You would truly be surprised at how many people in our community need help with a nutritional meal,” Mrs. Myles, the food pantry coordinator, told me during our interview.
The purpose of the St. Rest Food Pantry is to supplement families in need so they can use their income to make ends meet every month.
In addition to meat, dry and dairy goods, milk, fruit, water and soda, the pantry also supplies personal items including soap and other essential goods.
The St. Rest Food Pantry has been around for many years, and Myles has been involved since 2018. In that time, she has witnessed the growth of the outreach program as well as a community grappling with a deadly pandemic.
Through all the changes in our world, the pantry has not lost its commitment to community. When social distancing became the norm and the world was put at risk, the food pantry developed a plan for drive-thru service.
It’s all about adaption to the circumstances around us.
“It may be you today,” she told me about her outlook on the pantry and life in general. “It may be me tomorrow.” The Book of Matthew as a motto for life.
Service is about commitment and caring for your fellow man, woman, and child. That’s the purpose and belief of those who administer the St. Rest Baptist Church Food Pantry in Minden.
And it is carried out every day and in every way.
If you know someone in need you can contact St. Rest for information. If you would like to donate to the food pantry, you can call the office and specify your donation go to the food pantry. The church office number is (318) 377-5455.
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