“Is this the place that gives out food?” asked the young man. Beside him stood a woman, with head bent, and on either side of her stood two little boys with runny noses and dirty faces.

Now I could tell you more about this family, but I won’t until later. First I must tell you that their story was just one of the many homeless families that had walked through the doors of The Shepherd’s Hand, in Denton, Texas.

You see – like the majority of people I held a misguided notion about the reason why our city had so many homeless or needy people. I couldn’t understand why some people didn’t seem to be able to take care of themselves or their families. What was wrong with them anyway? Wasn’t this America the land of the free, the brave, and the wealthy?

Yes, that’s how I felt until one day, in early August 2008, as I sat in church listening, finally really listening, to my pastor talk about the growing number of hungry and needy people in our city. As he reminded us that it was our duty as Christians and human beings to help them, I began to think about the times I had turned my back on those I felt were just plain lazy, so I resolved to research the homeless situation in our town, and then to do something to help.

I discovered, through my research, via Internet, that the 2001 published count of homeless people in Denton, was 387 out of total population of 450,100, and the total of unsheltered was 25 people. In 2005 the published count was 470 out of total population of 545,987 and the number of unsheltered was 44.

The published count was wrong, and the system was so steeped in red tape that most of those who were truly homeless were unable to get the help they so desperately needed.

The truth came out when we checked the number of people we had helped since we opened our doors on October 1, 2008. To date, we have given food to over 2000 people, and have learned that there are over 60 families living in make shift shelters in just one of the possible 10 secret locations surrounding Denton.

Then one day, as I was talking to my best friend Diana, she grabbed my hand, looked straight into my eyes and said, “What would you think about starting a ministry to feed the homeless?”

I don’t really remember what reply I gave but am fairly sure it went something like, “Uh… well uh…”
From that day on I must say that I have never experienced more raw, gut wrenching emotion, never been busier, nor learned more about people. I knew that God worked in miraculous ways but hadn’t had my eyes opened to any of those miracles until the birth of The Shepherd’s Hand.

The first of His miraculous ways was recognized when within two weeks of the idea's conception we had six board members, and the second was the name The Shepherd’s Hand. Third came the building and the money for that building through donations. The fourth was God’s directives about the mission of this ministry, i.e. we would not limit the number of days that an individual, or family could receive food, showers and laundry service, personal hygiene products and clothing, tents and tarps, blankets and pillows. Our only requirement was that of need and hunger. Fifth, and perhaps one of the greatest miracle, was that it didn’t matter if the people who came to us smelled good, or had all their teeth it only mattered that God had allowed me to help ease some of their burden. The sixth miracle was that as I listened to their stories, my understanding of their plight grew and I came to realize that most of them were victims of circumstance. The seventh miracle was that, yes, some were mentally challenged and had fallen through the cracks of the government agencies, some were substance abusers, but all were equal in His eyes.

So, my answer to the young man’s question was, “Yes, it sure is. Why don’t you go look around in the back room while I fill a grocery bag for you. Just help yourselves to any clothes you find, or other things you might need. Oh! If the boys see a couple of toys they like they are welcome to them.”

“Oh, thank you, but we don’t have any money for those things.” replied the man.
“That’s OK. We don’t ask that you pay for anything that you need God has blessed us so we could bless you, so just get what you need.”

The timid mother had spent a little time looking through the children’s clothes before coming back into the front room with a change for each of the boys. The boys where no longer timidly glued to their mother’s side, because now each had a new toy to distract them. When they turned to walk back out into the harsh circumstances that had brought them to us they all turned, smiled, and said “Thank you for helping”.

You see the miracle isn’t so much in the groceries, or in the other stuff, it’s in the knowledge that someone truly cared for and loved them, and that someone was not only a “The Shepherd’s Hand” volunteer, but God.
So now each day brings a new challenge, and each day I pray that He helps me to look past my old convictions, past my preconceived ideas of the homeless, hungry, and needy people, and to extend to each a helpful, and loving hand.

Copyright Claudia Mannon