Two years ago, Rusty Holt traveled with Feed the Hunger to Jamaica on a mission trip. In many ways it was a typical mission experience, with the number one priority being interacting with the children. While we were there I also challenged the team to fortify our relationships with the teachers, administrators, our Jamaican ministry partners, and anyone else we might encounter. The following story is part of Rusty’s journey in that process.
Our team served food to the children, helped the cooks clean their kitchens, taught in the classrooms, and even unloaded 1,152 boxes of food for the 900+ children who we would help feed over the next year.
Rusty is a “fixer.” When he sees, smells, hears, or feels something that isn’t exactly right, he wants to solve the problem by whatever means necessary. Of all the things Rusty experienced in the six days we were in Jamaica, there was one recurring theme: the unsanitary conditions in some of the kitchens. The programs and cooks do the best they can with what they have, and while some issues just can’t be fixed, Rusty had a plan. He wanted to provide brand new cutting boards for each kitchen!
Sadly, it just didn’t happen on that trip, and Rusty brought it up occasionally for the next two years—but still nothing happened. When he heard we had a mission trip to Jamaica scheduled for mid-June this year, he knew the Spirit of God was giving him another opportunity to act!
So while the FtH team, which didn’t include Rusty this time, was in Kingston, Jamaica, I got an email from him. He said he had called the US embassy in Kingston and asked to speak with someone in the kitchen. He explained his desire to help and asked for the name of the commercial kitchen supplier for the Jamaican embassy. The lady with whom he spoke gave him the name and contact info for their supplier. (I can only imagine what she was thinking during this phone call!)
Several emails later, I got a confirmation from Rusty that he had purchased twelve NSF-approved cutting boards and that they were waiting for pickup at the supplier, located 3 km from where we were staying. We simply stopped by, told them who we were, and picked up our cutting boards. They were big, colorful, and heavy!
We were privileged to present those cutting boards to the schools that we visited, and the cooks there acted like we had totally remodeled their kitchens!!!
In previous years, I had given cooks hairnets and candy—and they were very appreciative—but giving them cutting boards was a home run!
I asked Rusty for a few words about his motivation for serving, and what he said should be true of each Christian brother and sister as well:
I do believe we are called to be God’s ‘hands and feet.’ Not just praise him with our lips but also honor Christ’s teachings with our actions. James alludes to the requirement to ‘do if you hear.’ We cannot truly hear God’s Word without doing it as well. Christianity is not passive. It is active. We are to take the Word to the world.”
If God is speaking to you today about taking some action of any kind, please ACT ON IT! Eternity may hang in the balance, or it could just mean being able to cut jerk chicken and scotch bonnet peppers on a sanitary surface. Either way, it glorifies the name of Jesus, and that’s why we exist!
Jim Gurley | Director of Development