You have provided a place for Barbara Hildebrand to serve our guests for the last nine years. Your support provides breakfast and lunch to people struggling for food daily.
Barbara, who turns 86 in November, shows up faithfully at 6:00 a.m. four mornings a week to serve coffee in our dining hall.
She blurts out: “I love these people!” and demonstrates it by greeting guests warmly by name, receiving their fondness in return. Barbara blesses others because the favor of God has blessed her.
“These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word.” Isaiah 66:2b
To be sure, God’s favor does not mean Barbara’s life has been easy or without pain. At only 45, she lost her husband to leukemia and never remarried. Then, in 2020, she lost a daughter to Lou Gehrig’s Disease. She says she could never have survived these difficulties without faith in Jesus. Today, Barbara is the primary caregiver to her sister with special needs. She shares a house with her sister, daughter, two grandsons, and her two-year-old great-grandson — whom she also watches daily!
“Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.” Psalm 5:12
Those who are favored by God know that He is with them and that nothing will happen to them apart from His purpose (Romans 8:28). They know that God is walking with them through difficult circumstances and will rescue them from trials (Psalm 34:19). They are aware of God’s delight in them (Zephaniah 3:17).
Barbara knows she lives in God’s favor because he has been so faithful to her. “God is with me all week, so on Sundays, I go to church to go to Him. I serve at the Mission to give back to God because he has given so much to me.” Convinced of God’s favor, Barbara’s joy overflows onto everyone around her. Her enthusiasm is contagious!
