Each Saturday morning, Bethel Metropolitan Baptist Fellowship Church’s parking lot is transformed into a massive feeding operation where up to 150 Lake Charles area motorists line up to receive a boxed meal, some as early as three hours before the official start.
Since opening the parking lot ministry in 2020 to serve individuals impacted by Hurricane Laura, the church whose worship attendance averages 15 members, has seen God move mightily, according to Pastor Clyde Lewis. Their efforts to show Christ’s love has encouraged many food recipients and even has led to 20 professions of faith.
“The church is in worship on Sunday but on Saturday the church is working,” Pastor Clyde Lewis told the Baptist Message. “You see the cars line up around the building and block and it just fires me up.
‘Jesus has called us to love all people’
“The thing I keep pushing to my members is this is our assignment,” he continued. “We are called to the people’s business. People matter to God so people have to matter to us. You can’t do it unless they are your passion. When you talk about people, it’s all people. Jesus has called us to love all people. You get a chance to minister to people not just by telling them about Christ but through your actions.”
Lewis, who has been pastor of Bethel Metropolitan Baptist for 10 years, said his members have embraced a call to reach others with the gospel. They distribute food to the homeless each month, host gatherings for the community at a nearby civic center, serve meals to pastors several times a year, assemble care packages for inmates and perform acts of kindness to law enforcement and firefighters.
“The Lord blesses you when you are blessing and being a light to the community,” Lewis said. “He will never let a church fail that will serve others. Churches that die are churches that aren’t reaching people but churches that are committed to reach people and the Great Commission tend to be around for a long time.”
EDITOR’S NOTE — This article was written by Brian Blackwell and was originally published by Louisiana’s Baptist Message.
