Suited Up!
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” –Ephesians 6:10-11
April 8, 2020
Each week brings a new challenge. As with most states across the country, Georgia is under a “State of Emergency” due to the COVID 19 pandemic. We are also currently under a “shelter-in-place” order with all the rules that go along with it. Fortunately Café Central has been designated an “essential service”. We have been able to continue serving “to-go” lunches, Volume Hyundai distributed toilet paper and paper towels and we also had a food truck from the Middle Georgia Community Food Bank deliver food for distribution to families on Tuesday.
In an effort to abide by the rules of the “shelter-in-place” order, we have had to make some changes with our processes and procedures. These changes include parking lot attendants in reflective vests, a 6-foot distance from cars, usually accomplished by a cart or a tub. Every volunteer is wearing a mask. We wear gloves, which we always had, but now change them much more frequently and we have disinfectant to spray down surfaces the lunch boxes might touch to ensure the safety of those we are serving.
The food truck adds it’s own new processes with trying to keep 6 feet between the volunteers filling the boxes, not placing boxes inside vehicles and how to complete the required forms without handing them out to each individual. Here again we came wearing masks and gloves, yielding a pen to fill out forms for everyone and ask the patrons to have trunk space available to place the boxes.
We have put on armor! We have taken the precautions that are suggested, and in some cases required, to accomplish the service we hope to provide. Ephesians 6:12 says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” It feels so true. Serving has become difficult physically with fewer volunteers and all of the added “armor”. More so it has become spiritually harder as this pandemic lingers on and our focus begins to be this worldly armor instead of being the hands and feet of God.
As you wade your way through the unknowns of this time, I’d like to encourage you, and remind myself, to suit up with God’s armor. He didn’t make a suggestion or a requirement, he simply tells us to stand firm! We should “buckle the belt of truth around our waist, be sure the breastplate of righteousness is in place, make our feet ready with the gospel of peace, take up the shield of faith and be fitted with the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God”. Most importantly pray…”on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. Be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people, SO THAT we will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel!” Ephesians 6:14-19
“Be strong! Take a stand! Put on the full armor of God!”
Until we “read” again…God Bless!
You can GIVE anytime at: https://cafecentralmilledgeville.org/give/
Or mail a check payable to: Café Central 500 Underwood Rd., Milledgeville, GA 31061
Stephannie Shelton
Stephannie and her husband Doug have been volunteering at Cafe Central for 6 years. They moved from Colorado to Milledgeville Georgia in 2015. That year during Sunday service, the announcement that Cafe Central needed extra help for their Thanksgiving service, brought them for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. They have now served weekly since January 2016. Doug is the volunteer coordinator and member of the Cafe Central Board. Stephannie just likes to talk to, and about, the “family” Cafe Central has become.