Pittsburgh, Puerto Rico ministry centers freely giving food and Jesus

By Gabriel Stovall

Through gifts of food and serious faith conversations, the Pittsburgh and Puerto Rico ministry centers are meeting tangible and spiritual needs in the midst of a pandemic.

“Busy day at the Send Relief Center,” Pittsburgh Send Relief Missionary Adam Sewell said on Facebook Tuesday evening after another long day of food distribution.

Right underneath his comment was a photo of grocery bags packed with food that the Pittsburgh ministry center was prepared to share with people in the surrounding community.

“This load represents almost 700 pounds of food on its way to a local senior apartment building,” Adam continued. “Our volunteers knocked it out of the park today.”

That’s in addition to the meals provided during the center’s weekly Sunday community dinner and the 590 meals served during the week of March 30.

Not long ago, Sewell stated that the Pittsburgh ministry center’s biggest need was food. Now, God is continuing to meet those needs, so the center can put groceries and meals directly in the hands of people—often going door to door—which leads to spiritual connections.

“The crisis has led to some great gospel opportunities, because as people are coming to us. They are overwhelmed by what’s going on in our world, and we have the chance to share about the peace of Christ,” he said. “We are showing people that we are still here, and right now they need to know that.”

Similar things are happening in Puerto Rico, as Send Relief missionary Jonathan Santiago and church planting missionary Felix Cabrera worked together with pastors and planters on the most recent food distribution that, as of March 30, provided 50,000 meals to the island’s residents.

They’ve been collecting unutilized food from the Puerto Rico’s Voluntary Organizations Active Disaster group and purchasing other food items to prepare for a second distribution.

Gabriel Stovall is a writer for the North American Mission Board


Published April 10, 2020