Soup Kitchen

As ever it's a joy and a privilege to be able to serve our community through The Gathering's weekly Soup Kitchen, and last night was no exception.

Normally this one in the month would be our quietest given that pensions and disability grants have just been paid, but such is the need in the current climate that we were far busier than we had expected.

What this confirms to us is what we already know; the need is very real and those that come for soup are genuinely grateful for the reliability of the Soup Kitchen.

South Africa's lockdown was eased a little on Monday which means life once again has some semblance of normality about it, whatever that is, and we could feel it in the community as things felt a little lighter than they have of late.

Personally I love The Gathering's Soup Kitchen and it's the highlight of my week, from preparing the soup through to serving it. But more recently what I'm really valuing about it is the fact that in The Gathering's generosity, we know that some of our regulars are going home with enough food for the next couple of days. That is often a major stress lifted off their backs and you can see in their faces as they leave just how thrilled they are to have been treated so well and to have been blessed so much.

Thank you LORD!

This amused me no end last night.

Gabriel is one of our regulars and we've known him and his family for years through both our Soup Kitchen and Homework Club.

Last night we named him Dr Gabriel due to his acquisition of a stethoscope. Goodness knows where or how he got hold of it, but he was very proud of it.