One part of Tabithat Ministries is the Tabitha Shelter. This is a volunteer-run women's shelter organized by Bethany Community Church. It is an incredible organization that gives shelter and protection to women Tuesday through Friday night each week. Tabitha Shelter partners with Noel House, which has paid staff positions and offers a more extensive range of resources. This ministry at Bethany Community Church is coordinated through five different types of volunteers--those who comprise the nutrition team, the hospitality team, the prayer team, the transportation team and the overnight team. Each one of these positions makes the ministry successful. Guests at Tabitha have told me that they truly feel at home and safe when they stay with Tabitha.
Check out this video for some more insight into this organization!
Tabitha Ministries is not solely the shelter. Tabitha also has a food bank to provide food for those who are in need. It also includes a monthly community meal which connects people from different walks of life. The Bethany Community Church website says it well, "The Community Dinner is not simply providing a meal, however; it is creating a space where connect on can happen between the church and the community. It’s about welcoming people into our church home and caring for them. "
I first felt led to volunteer with this ministry last fall. During church one sunday, an informational video was presented, and I just felt like God was tapping on my shoulder and saying this was where I needed to serve. More and more, I have felt that I need to live out my faith in concrete and daily ways. I have long done community service and volunteer work. However, it has been some years since my service has been directly correlated with a Christian organization. This does not mean that my service and my Christian faith are not related, they very much are and I will discuss this in an upcoming blog, it simply means that others don't always know this relationship exists. It also means that during my service, I am not given the opportunity to share how I feel Jesus fits into the picture, offering true hope and true transformation. With all of this on my heart, I felt that the next step in living out my faith was to not only serve with Tabitha, but to serve as an overnight volunteer--the position which had the most need for volunteers.
An overnight volunteer arrives shortly before the guests arrive and spends the night along side them. The next morning the overnight volunteer puts out breakfast and helps the women stack up their mattresses and get ready for the bus. I have been an overnight volunteer twice so far. Each time, truthfully, I enter the situation with a bit of apprehension. However, the experience is lovely. It is so refreshing to and such a blessing to me to get to interact with these women and have all my stereotypes of homelessness constantly challenged. Some of these women have full time jobs, work in retail, have military husbands, have been homeless for years or just days. There is a whole range of women and a whole range of personalities. And, it is wonderful.
If you have the opportunity to do so, I challenge you to find a place in your community where you can create relationships with people that you otherwise would likely not come into contact with. Give where you have surplus. For me, I don't have much extra money to give, so money isn't what I give. I do however, have the ability to give up one night a month to sleep along side these women at Tabitha, and what a privilege it is do so.
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