Mary Doucet, Evelyn Fontenot, Dot Linscombe and Katy Vincent are Sulphur residents who volunteer their time cooking and serving daily meals to community members through Open Door Biker Church. The church serves meals to homeless and low-income individuals Monday through Saturday.
“As long as the church has been here, it’s been a part of the church’s mission,” Vincent, volunteer and church member, said.
“We don’t look at anybody any different than we look at ourselves.”
Each of the women cook or prepare meals in the church’s kitchen for several hours each week and each found the opportunity in different ways.
Doucet said she first learned of the church through a community giveaway the church was hosting. “I didn’t get an iPad. I ended up with a job…It was just God,” she said.
She approached Lonny Harris, a church staff member, about needs in the kitchen. “He told me they needed cooks and so I said, ‘Okay, I’ll cook Monday.’ Then he said, ‘You cook Tuesday? And then you cook Wednesday? Thursday?’ So I said, ‘Well, how many days a week do I need to cook?’ He said, ‘Only four.’ And so I’ve been doing that for about three of four months now.”
Vincent cooks on Fridays after taking a break in the aftermath of last year’s hurricanes. “I kind of slacked up at church and it devastated me…God spoke to me and said, ‘You have to make time for the church and the people that are my people,’ which he’s talking about the homeless and the low income.”
Similarly, Fontenot said it was God’s prompting which led her to volunteer her baking and management skills.
“Pastor Jay tapped me on the shoulder. He pushed me to do this but God called me. It’s God’s work and that’s what I want to do, work for God,” she said.
“But I didn’t want to for a long time. My pride held me back. But God kept knocking me in the head…You know, we always have excuses and I had a lot of those.”
All three women agreed that time dedicated to others is far more rewarding than any sort of selfish pursuit.
Prior to cooking for the church, Doucet said she spent most of her time at home crying, mourning the loss of her daughter. “Something sent me here to do this, instead of staying there. This makes me the happiest. I’ve met a lot of good people plus I didn’t have friends before I came here,” she said smiling at the other ladies.
As a member of the church, Vincent said she’s happy to partner with the church’s mission of serving the less fortunate neighborhood surrounding the church. “I’ve always served my community, especially my elderly. That’s something that’s very special to my heart…We have a purpose here,” she said.
Fontenot, a former plant operator, said serving others is much more fulfilling than working for a paycheck alone. “Work for God is just more rewarding. Working at the plant, that made me happy. But working for God, gives me peace in my heart.”
“It’s so much more rewarding to know you’re helping people that’s less fortunate than you. I grew up poor, very poor, and to see people struggling makes me want to help more.”
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November 22, 2021 at 06:02PM
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