Paula Pasley loves to cook, and she loves the people she cooks for.
When Southeast’s Southwest Campus opened nearly eight years ago, Paula served as the green room coordinator for the Worship Team, which included her husband Jeff. Her duties included making sure the Worship Team was fed each Sunday morning. Paula could have made or ordered anything, but week after week, she prepared mouthwatering breakfast casseroles and delicious parfaits, serving up a spread of homecooked goodness.
Paula, however, needed to take a break after the death of her ailing mother. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Paula was struggling, both with the loss of her mother and, like the rest of the world, the pain of isolation due to quarantining. That’s when she had an idea of how to jump-start her escape from isolation, while bringing hope to others. Sensing that others may have feelings of separation—and loneliness—because of the pandemic isolation, she developed the idea to make a pot of soup and some cornbread to drop off on the doorstep of a few elderly men and women.
“If they would allow me to just drop it off on their porch, then they would know that they were not forgotten, that they are loved!” Paula said.
Paula asked Southwest Campus Pastor James Hauser if he knew anyone who would benefit from a homecooked meal. He told her of a man whose wife’s funeral he had just officiated.
The next day, Paula and her husband—accompanied by the man’s neighbor, whom they knew well from church—took food to the man. Paula anticipated that they would set the food on the porch and share a smile and wave from a distance, but to her surprise, the man, whom they had never met, invited them inside his home. They had the opportunity to have much-needed conversation and to pray with this grieving widower—all initiated just by providing a simple meal.
Afterwards, the neighbor asked, “What exactly are y'all doing?” Paula shrugged and replied, “I don't know exactly what I am doing, but knowing the effects of isolation from the pandemic and the loneliness that can come with that isolation, I feel God is leading me to visit people, make soup, and let them know they are loved.” With that answer, the neighbor said, “I want to be a part of that!”
Afterwards, the neighbor asked, “What exactly are y'all doing?” Paula shrugged and replied, “I don't know exactly what I am doing, but knowing the effects of isolation from the pandemic and the loneliness that can come with that isolation, I feel God is leading me to visit people, make soup, and let them know they are loved.” With that answer, the neighbor said, “I want to be a part of that!”
Paula’s idea was the beginning of a ministry at the Southwest Campus. What started with one servant has multiplied several times over and now includes more than 25 men and women.
Together, they have provided meals for grieving church members and nonmembers alike, cared for the elderly and shut-ins, and served food for the homeless. They have delivered food to those nearby and those miles away, and organized meals for a church member battling breast cancer.
While Paula and her team use a variety of herbs and spices to ensure the meals are delicious, their favorite seasoning is to pray with those receiving the meals and remind them they are loved by God.
She pointed to Matthew 25:35-40, noting that Jesus said, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
“It’s not rocket science,” Paula said. “It’s just caring for your brother and sister.”
Jesus was always coming from or going to a meal, where He would listen, laugh, and speak truth in love with others. There is just something special about a meal, especially when it’s made with love and served in the name of Jesus.
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