Our Calling - Moments of Mercy in the Margins
“Feed The Way” is a non-sectarian charitable organization that walks the streets of impoverished areas providing Care Bags, sandwiches, warm clothes, human companionship, and spiritual care for our destitute and homeless brothers and sisters. Our kind of direct service within the harsh reality of rough urban areas and severe destitution may seem daunting or scary to many people, but “Feed The Way” tries our best (albeit imperfectly) to model what it means “to love our neighbor as our self”. And that means getting out there and meeting people where they are.
Perhaps the deepest reverberations of our sacred calling come from the many heartfelt hugs, soulful embraces, silent times of connection, communal prayers, the countless genuine “I Love You’s” we have heard and spoken, and all of the various life-giving moments of mercy in the margins that we have shared with our homeless brothers and sisters.
Feed The Way Now…A Service Pilgrimage
For the past two years “Feed The Way” has been on a service pilgrimage throughout the United States, Mexico, Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam. During this time we have met, fed, and cared for thousands of people on the streets of this world while also volunteering our time, energy, and financial resources to support several orphanages and schools in Southeast Asia. “Feed The Way” has also partnered with other humanitarian and spiritual organizations to serve their communities.
A pilgrimage is a spiritual discipline that entails surrendering to Divine Guidance in order to be delivered to the people, places, and communities that The Beloved asks you to serve, learn from, and work with. It is a constant practice of letting go of egocentric and self-serving attitudes and behaviors through loving presence and selfless service, especially among those who exist in the fringes and margins of society.
During our pilgrimage, “Feed The Way” has engaged in educational/advocacy work on behalf of our homeless sisters and brothers by teaching/speaking at various community events and spiritual organizations while also directly serving homeless persons on the streets of various cities in the world. We have also volunteered in soup kitchens, food pantries, and outreach missions run by other organizations. Jess and I sustain ourselves by teaching online classes. These education jobs coupled with living humbly allows us to volunteer our time, efforts, and resources to “Feed The Way”.
Our Structure and Core Spiritual Values
All true giving and receiving happens within the heart of God; we are simply the instruments of Divine Charity.
"Feed The Way" is structured so that the donations we receive go to supporting programs and street initiatives that help to physically, emotionally, and spiritually nourish our destitute and homeless brothers and sisters, as Jess and I donate our time, energy, and resources towards this sacred calling.
“Feed The Way” is a non-sectarian organization; our holistic action stems from a living love that transforms our lives each moment we choose service over selfishness, unity over division, and the love of our neighbor and so-called “strangers” over fear and hatred.
True spiritual teachings point us towards Unity and beyond separation, towards Divine Charity and beyond selfishness. For example, The Gospel of John 3:17-18 from the Christian tradition avows, “Now, suppose a person has enough to live on and notices another person in need. How can God’s love be in that person if he/she doesn’t bother to help the other person? The children of God show love through actions that are sincere, not through empty words.” While the Maha Upanishad, a holy Hindu text proclaims “vasudhaiva kutumbakam” which translates into "the world is one family".
“Feed The Way” understands the power of these deep spiritual teachings, as we repeatedly experience their truth out on the streets. Basically, in the Oneness of God there are no “others” just long-lost sisters and brothers waiting to meet and re-connect on their journeys Home. When we live within this transformative spiritual awareness, authentic community can develop in the least likely of places.
The People We Meet on the Street
One of the “Feed The Way” cards we hand out has Fritz Eichenberg’s “Christ in the Breadlines” on the front and a loving message on the back.
“Feed The Way” goes out and meets our destitute and homeless brothers and sisters on the raw city streets, for we cannot always expect people who are already in desperate situations to spend their own time and resources to find their way to a church or some other organization to get a meal or some daily necessities, especially in a large city.
Due to our direct service style, “Feed The Way” has developed deep bonds with people from all walks of life. This includes ex-cons, drug addicts, veterans, disabled persons, people with mental health issues, as well as individuals of various ethnic backgrounds, faith traditions and sexual orientations. Our calling is not to condemn people on the streets but to attend and accompany them on their journeys.
(Habitat for Humanity estimates that 150 million people are homeless and 1.6 billion people lack adequate shelter. These statistics were taken pre-Covid, so they have certainly risen.)
Our Outreach and Its Real Impact
Through the grace and inspiration of The Beloved, and the help of our donors, “Feed The Way” made and handed out over 10,000 Care Bags and sandwiches while procuring and delivering hundreds of pairs of wool gloves, winter hats, and warm socks to our homeless brothers and sisters in Seattle during the Covid pandemic. We also provided pastoral care and spiritual formation in the streets, alleys, abandoned buildings, and parks where people were living. In total, Jake and Jess worked over 4,000 volunteer hours doing “Feed The Way” in Seattle.
After our time in Seattle, “Feed The Way” spent a year on the East Coast attending and accompanying our destitute and homeless sisters and brothers on the racially disparate streets of Richmond, Virginia. In addition, Jake mentored several students from a local seminary in this service work.
For the past two years, our service pilgrimage has taken us to various locales and communities throughout Mexico and Southeast Asia.
No matter where we go and who we meet, the authentic ties that we build are never undone, for they continue to travel with and nourish us wherever The Beloved guides us to “Feed The Way”.
Please donate to help us
FEED THE WAY!
*The profits from Jake’s Sacred Wisdom and Spiritual Formation work go towards attending and accompanying our homeless brothers and sisters through “Feed The Way”. Participating in sacred work is a gift of The Beloved; thus, Jake donates any profits that he receives from it.
**If you are a business, organization, or individual who would like to assist our mission contact us at: feedtheway@use.startmail.com.