Phil and Rita Schounard have brought volunteer teams to response sites since 2011. Phil’s heart is for cooking, so they have often served the teams and the staff by providing extraordinary meals. On one trip to Houston in 2018 a brother in the ministry challenged Phil to “take it home”, to really pursue God’s will. I wish I could share that whole story, but it’s not yet online. The outcome, though, was a ministry called Crisis Café in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Gail and I have known Phil and Rita for a number of years. Despite their commitment to the ministry God has given them in Green Bay, they still serve with Crisis Response and have often cooked for our yearly gathering in Covington, Louisiana. This fall we had the opportunity to finally see the ministry of Crisis Café and to serve with them for a couple of days.
According to their website (CrisisCafe.org) “Crisis Cafe is committed to feeding the hungry, uplifting the brokenhearted, and introducing people to the life changing love of Jesus Christ.” Just as our ministry starts with helping people rebuild from crisis, theirs starts with helping people in crisis through providing a meal (many meals over time). “Every meal served is an opportunity to share hope, build relationships, and remind each person they are seen, valued and loved, not only by us, but more importantly, by God.”
Gail and I got to serve in two of Crisis Café’s key weekly events. On Tuesday and Thursday they set up a serving line near one of Green Bay’s homeless shelters, and homeless people can pick up enough full meals for their whole family. Gail and I got to help prepare and serve about 35 meals. In one case the family of husband, wife and two teens were living in a small car, and the meals Crisis Café provides may have been their only hot meal of the week.
The next day we got to help prepare and serve meals that are delivered to needy, ill, or grieving people throughout the Green Bay area. Phil made beef tips over noodles, with corn, dinner rolls and dessert. (Gail made Rice Krispy/Frosted Flake treats – the ministry recently received a large donation of cereal.)
Gail and Rita made half the deliveries and Phil and I made the other half. Many of these were to people living in evident poverty: single moms suffering from chronic injuries; families whose circumstances left them unable to work; and in one case a thirty-year police veteran whose Lou Gehrig’s disease has left him fully paralyzed. His wife cares for him 24/7. Financially they might not need that meal, but emotionally and relationally and in terms of just getting through the day, they definitely do.
This is a fantastic ministry, and it was a privilege to be able to see it in action and help just a little bit. It is also a tribute to our ministry, Crisis Response, that it can inspire people to “take it home” in such profound and wonderful ways.
Gail and I are headed back to Houston now, for a while, but we both have ministry travel plans coming up – including a trip for Gail to the Philippines. If you would like to support us (always needed and appreciated – travel is expensive), here is the link to our giving site: Bob and Gail DeGray