On the fourth of July, we were able to take part in a great outreach in the city of New Orleans. Victory fellowship church hosted "Feed the Multitudes" at City Park (a large park in New Orleans). They put out a call for volunteers to come and help them in this ministry, and volunteers came from across the country, regardless of denomination, so that, as the body of Christ, they could meet needs and minister to people.

Feed the Multitudes was a chance for the church to serve the community. They offered a all-you-can-eat meal (lots of great local foods), also available was non-stop Christian music (in English and Spanish), a games tent for kids, manicures, pedicures, haircuts, a prayer tent, a free bag of groceries and more - all absolutely free of charge.

Victory Fellowship Church in Metairie (a N.O. suburb) organizes this event, which started 18 years ago. The idea came to them as they were seeking to give homeless people a meal and a good time on Independence Day. Since then it has blossomed into a huge, festival-like environment, taking on corporate sponsors and donations from many different places. It is still designed and advertised for the needy, but open to anyone who wants to come.

It is so great to see the body of Christ stepping out of the walls of their church buildings and meeting people where they are at, with a warm greeting and a warm meal. The day was truly an example of Christlike love, compassion and ministry. We were blessed to be a part of it and have it in our heart to see more things like this happening in and through the body of Christ.

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Periodically I get focused on words. My word right now is the word “home.” Just for kicks I typed “home” into Dictionary.com’s search engine, and it came up with 26 definitions. Twenty-six! I think about how I use it on a daily basis. For me, home refers to: - New York, where I grew up and my parents live - Ukraine, where my apartment and many of my friends are - Florida, where I’m living now - whatever building I’m sleeping in on a given night

I talk about going home to visit my parents, going home to eat, going home to Ukraine, going home to sleep, and going home in several other senses that might refer to any one of many of the places I’ve called home since leaving my parents’ house. There is one other major way, though, that I use the word, and this definition has an air of finality about it. Sometimes “home” means Heaven. What a glorious home! Sometimes with all the traveling I do I laugh to myself about having so many homes and yet being homeless all at the same time. But in truth, I’m not homeless, not by a long shot. I just haven’t arrived home yet. Hebrews 11 talks about faith, and verses 13-16 are particularly beautiful to me.

13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. 15 And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

Good news – we’re not homeless! We have an eternal home in Heaven, a place prepared for us by God. This is an often needed reminder for me to set my eyes on things above and not get distracted by whatever’s going on at the moment, a reminder to remember that there’s a big picture. It’s been an encouraging thought to me that I’ve been reminded of recently. I hope it’s encouraging to you, too.

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