{"id":1340,"date":"2011-08-11T05:56:59","date_gmt":"2011-08-11T09:56:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/?p=1340"},"modified":"2011-08-06T16:13:13","modified_gmt":"2011-08-06T20:13:13","slug":"not-for-sale-feeding-the-poor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/08\/not-for-sale-feeding-the-poor.html","title":{"rendered":"Not for Sale–Feeding the poor"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Outreach\u00a0of \u00a0the Islamic community to the Islamic community\u00a0is the third pillar of Islam.\u00a0 For the Muslim, the Zakah<\/em>, which is the name for their charitable donations, is to fulfill a compulsory act of worship.\u00a0 Each Muslim is expected to pay Zakah<\/em>, which benefits local Muslims who are poor, needy, slaves, debtors or travelers.\u00a0 The Qur\u2019an<\/em> requires that the Zakah<\/em> be given and distributed locally.\u00a0 The Islamic Society of Brevard County oversees the distribution and collection of the\u00a0funds that are used on the east coast of Central Florida.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Reaching out to every ethnicity, Habitat for Humanity has become one of the world\u2019s leading charitable organizations.\u00a0 Habitat builds houses in partnership with very low-income families through zero interest loans and at no profit.\u00a0 Joe Gassman, President and CEO for Habitat for Humanity of Brevard County, Inc, wrote \u201cHabitat for Humanity is a Christian housing ministry rooted in the local faith community.\u00a0 Over 50 percent of the houses built and rehabilitated by Habitat are accomplished through the faith community.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe consistent success of our local (Brevard County)<\/em>\u00a0affiliate is that we live the core values of our Christian faith as modeled by Jesus who \u2018did not come to be served, but to serve\u2019 (Matthew 20:28).\u00a0 With eight homes currently under construction, Habitat \u201cvolunteers are garnered from every walk of life and segment of our community.\u00a0 These men and women discover and witness to the power of offering themselves in the service to a family in need.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

It is perhaps the individual congregation\u2019s faith expressions that make the deepest impact on the overall community, however.\u00a0 Churches, temples and mosque provide personal counseling, divorce recovery support groups, parenting lessons and alcohol recovery meetings.\u00a0 As our nation sways under the load of economic uncertainty, the church has leapt forward providing free\u2014but excellent\u2014classes endeavoring to train people in the area of financial management and job skills development.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One such congregation is First United Methodist Church, located in the heart of Melbourne.\u00a0 Rather than vacating to the affluent suburbs, this congregation opted to stay.\u00a0 Their community became their mission field.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>During the Annual Melbourne Art Show and the Christmas parade, the members of the congregation of First UMC\u00a0hand out water to the attendees.\u00a0 Hot dogs and soft drinks are provided free during many of the city\u2019s special events.\u00a0 Everyone is invited to participate in the \u201cTrunk or Treat\u201d Halloween festival.\u00a0 The members decorate their car trunks.\u00a0 Then children from the neighborhood and beyond come to fill their goodies bags with candy and treats.\u00a0 \u201cWe want to provide a safe place for the children to come during this fun celebration.\u00a0 Parents should not have to be concerned about the safety of their little ones on this happy night,\u201d John Denmark, recent pastor of congregation said.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Joining hands with many other congregations and ministries, First UMC and many other congregations\u00a0support Daily Bread,\u00a0a center located in Melbourne, Florida\u00a0where men and women can come for a good, nourishing meal.\u00a0 While the Daily Bread ministry has drawn criticism for bringing into the community people who may not be desirable, it is the position of the church bodies who supports the outreach believe they are helping to fulfill the Christian command to feed the hungry.\u00a0 Over the years, the local churches as a body have heard the concerns of the neighborhood and they have endeavored to provide a neutral, safer place for the Daily Bread facility.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0The Sharing Center is another faith-based outreach to people needing food and financial assistance.\u00a0 Most local churches in South Brevard County\u00a0support the Center which provides screening and help for people truly needing support.\u00a0 By bundling and cooperating, the Church community has found they can be more effective in their efforts to obey the mandate of Jesus to feed and cloth the homeless and deprived.<\/p>\n

Going beyond the norm, First UMC provides His Place with back packs for distribution.\u00a0 His Place is a ministry to men and women who are more transient–passing through or planning to live only temporarily in Brevard County.\u00a0 His Place distributes the back packs to people in need of temporary shelter.\u00a0 Tents, personal items and food are included in the bundles received.\u00a0 Acting on their own, one Fifth-grade Bible Study class at First UMC makes \u201cMeals to Go\u201d for people needing rations to carry them through the day.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Church youth group takes a week to minister to the children at Master's workshop<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Often it is the small, unnoticed ministries that reach deep into the core of a hurting population living in cities, parishes and community throughout the world.\u00a0 One such ministry is Master\u2019s Workshop in Melbourne, FL.\u00a0 This after-school program is supported by 20 local churches.\u00a0 Their mission is to help build whole children using basic Biblical principles.<\/p>\n

Yet they do much with meager funds.\u00a0 Their annual budget is about $20,000 a year.\u00a0 Tutoring, art lessons, fun and games are provided for the 20 to 30 latch-key children and teens who make this their home-away-from-home.\u00a0 Additionally, each child is fed a nourishing meal before she leaves the Workshop in late afternoon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Janet Marks, founder of the ministry, says they receive no federal or State funds.\u00a0 \u201cThe City of Melbourne gives us $900 grant each year.\u00a0 The rest comes from volunteer donations and churches.\u201d\u00a0 Then a smile overtook her voice.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t have to worry about the finances,\u201d she said, \u201cbecause God provides out of the sunshine of his love.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the world rushes around looking for ways to succeed and win, the faith community is not for sale. They are the givers, the providers, the protectors of the needy and the innocent.\u00a0 Still working, still struggling, Muslims, Jews, Christians and others in the faith community join hands to grasp the heart of needs, using God\u2019s love to provide and to change those weak from want and despair.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Outreach\u00a0of \u00a0the Islamic community to the Islamic community\u00a0is the third pillar of Islam.\u00a0 For the Muslim, the Zakah, which is the name for their charitable donations, is to fulfill a compulsory act of worship.\u00a0 Each Muslim is expected to pay Zakah, which benefits local Muslims who are poor, needy, slaves, debtors or travelers.\u00a0 The Qur\u2019an…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":387,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,20,40,186,49,147,85,12,4,41],"tags":[21,688,696,699,236,715,701,238,692,6,237],"class_list":["post-1340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-church","category-faith","category-hope","category-inspiration","category-leadership","category-prayer-2","category-religion","category-simple-truths","category-spirituality","tag-christian","tag-christianity","tag-church","tag-faith","tag-feeding-the-poor","tag-hope","tag-inspiration","tag-islam","tag-religion","tag-simple-scriptural-truths","tag-zakah"],"yoast_head":"\nNot for Sale-Feeding the poor - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/08\/not-for-sale-feeding-the-poor.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Not for Sale-Feeding the poor - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Outreach\u00a0of \u00a0the Islamic community to the Islamic community\u00a0is the third pillar of Islam.\u00a0 For the Muslim, the Zakah, which is the name for their charitable donations, is to fulfill a compulsory act of worship.\u00a0 Each Muslim is expected to pay Zakah, which benefits local Muslims who are poor, needy, slaves, debtors or travelers.\u00a0 The Qur\u2019an…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/08\/not-for-sale-feeding-the-poor.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-08-11T09:56:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-08-06T20:13:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2011\/08\/ZakatPillar1-231x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda G. 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