More Than Us. More Than Here.

by Kevin Bolton

 

Attention seems to be the currency of our culture. How do Christ-followers, tasked with changing our world, capture the interest of those around us in a way that honors God and points our neighbors to Jesus? Every Saturday morning cars begin to fill the Westover Hills Church of Christ parking lot, in Austin, Texas,  nearly two hours before the Westover Drive-Thru Pantry begins. Cars eventually snake their way several blocks down the street. An hour later, volunteers begin arriving to help distribute food and dry goods. In addition to Westover members, volunteers show up from at least three nearby churches, Anderson High School (across the street), parent / child service organizations, and more.

This community effort began when COVID hit five years ago, and, in desperation to help, we completely changed our approach to serving those in need in our city. Rather than serving twenty or thirty families with partial utility help, we began to offer groceries and prayer to whomever showed up to our parking lot. Two bags of groceries, some diapers from time to time, and prayers with those who want them doesn’t seem like a lot, but when over 250 families show up each week, it’s become obvious we are meeting real needs. God has blessed and multiplied our efforts. The Central Texas Food Bank now delivers almost nine thousand pounds of food weekly at little to no cost to distribute. As word has spread of the need and opportunity to serve, other churches have sent volunteers and provided unsolicited financial support. Neighbors routinely drop off much needed grocery bags and hand checks to our office staff, stating, “We see the line of cars on Saturdays and love what you’re doing.” 

This growing partnership with our neighborhood and surrounding community has infused our church with life and generosity. We now count many neighbors among our members–not because we are great servants, but because we wish to live out our Westover vision of being “More Than Us. More Than Here.” Kinda amazing what happens when you don’t care who gets the attention—just Jesus.