Faith Lessons in Cornelia

Faith lessons take time, accompanied by sweat, and sometimes a few tears.  At the beginning of 2012, I invited my congregation, First Baptist Cornelia, on a faith journey.  We spent a month getting acquainted with our theme verse, 2 Corinthians 5:7 – “For we walk by faith, not by sight.”  After six months of walking by faith, we are only scratching the surface of God’s dreams for us, and yet, we are beginning to witness the power of the Spirit of God. 

In April, a Sunday School class made a connection between what they were studying in scripture and their community.  While studying the book The Hole in our Gospel by Richard Stearns, they also read of the closure of the Cornelia Soup Kitchen.  The members of the class wondered what they could do.  Soon, we connected them with Jeff Hudgens a member of the community with the same goal of restarting the soup kitchen. 

Members of the class came to our deacon body and asked them to bless a restart of the soup kitchen in our gym for the next 7 weeks.  After they presented, I asked our deacons to lead our church in walking by faith.  I said, “We don’t know where we will move the kitchen in time for our summer camps.  We don’t know what kind of permanent location will open up.  We simply feel God is calling us to take this one step and see what God does.”  The day after the deacons blessed the use of our facility, a radio station emailed and said listeners had already started sending in donations to help the soup kitchen reopen. 

Since we took this small step of faith, God has continued to open up these kinds of doors.  Shady Grove Baptist Church in Cornelia agreed to serve as the second temporary location (meals served Thursday – Saturday, 11:30-12:30).  The United Way is working with a new non-profit, The Lord’s Help, to secure a permanent location for the kitchen.  New appliances for a new kitchen have been donated.  A local company and Habitat for Humanity have offered to assist in the soup kitchen renovation.  Most recently, the city of Cornelia is working with the Lord’s Help to coordinate a benefit concert on July 21^st at the Cornelia Depot for the Kitchen. 

All of this comes as a result of God’s movement.  Henry Blackaby famously encouraged in Experiencing God to find where God is working and join him.  For our church, the Cornelia Soup Kitchen has become more than a nice thing to do to help others.  It has become a movement of God in our community.  Everyone who comes to eat or serve steps into God’s presence and finds themselves blessed.  All are welcomed.

The Cornelia Soup Kitchen would love to have you join us in the movement of God.  If you are interested in volunteering, making a contribution, or participating, contact Jeff Hudgens (706-968-9954) or Donald Crowe (crowedonald@hotmail.com).