Awaken

There is something beautiful that happens when the Church steps in to care for the vulnerable in local communities. For me, I get the pleasure of calling the Tampa Bay Area my home. Though beautiful in many ways, with our weather and beaches, the need is great here. Many are crying out to be seen, to be cared for, to be loved. 

What we say often at NOMORE is that where there is poverty, there is vulnerability, and where vulnerability exists, exploitation often occurs. These tangible needs of the hungry, the orphaned, those enslaved and hopeless, are heavy among us. But there is HOPE: the Church is answering the call. 

This past spring, a small group of college students got together to study spiritual formation – really diving deep into how we can truly abide in God and become more like Jesus. Out of this study, we came to the conclusion that the summer semester needed to be about one thing: fulfilling the Matthew 25 call to serving ‘the least of these’ as if they were Jesus himself. It was time to take action and the Spirit led us to minister to the homeless in Downtown Tampa.

What started as a grass roots ministry – and to be honest, we are still grass roots in so many ways – has turned into a weekly gathering with this homeless community. For at least an hour or two each week bellies are full, laughter erupts, and Jesus’s light and love is shared. 

I’m thankful that God’s provision is real. When He asks us to serve, He will provide. I can attest to it. Every Friday at Perry Harvey Park in East Tampa, park bench tables are overflowing with hot food, resource bags, clothing donations, Bibles, and more. Praise God! 

What has been interesting to see is the intersection of my work at NOMORE as the Anti-Trafficking Manager and this homeless ministry. The community we minister to in Tampa come from all walks of life – some of them identifying as victims of human trafficking themselves. And this is where I see how God uses all of our story and experiences to meet people where they are and to say “I see you. You’re not alone.” 

Though grassroots, we refer to our ministry as the Iona Collective. Iona is a holy isle in Scotland. It is considered to be the birthplace of Christianity in Scotland and the surrounding region in the first century. Our desire with this name was to remind us to always return to Jesus and the ways of the Early Church – solely focusing on being led by the Spirit and being Jesus’s hands and feet in the community. 

This ministry has only been possible through the work of the Spirit in collaboration with local churches and partner organizations like NOMORE. Just recently, at an outreach focused on poverty that NOMORE hosted in partnership with our business partners at RNR Tire Express over twenty-five resource bags were put together for us to give out to those in need. Another church partner of ours has donated closet space along with providing resources for our ministry. I could give you example after example of how God has provided. It often feels like these resources just fall out of the sky – and that’s when you know it’s God at work. 

If there is a key take-away for this blog it’s this: Everyone has a part to play. 

God has been whispering to the Church: AWAKEN. Everyone can do something! 

Everyone can serve the most vulnerable, the least of these. If we all own our part, much like the Early Church did in Acts 2 and 4, there will be no needy person among us. God is calling us back to Him, to be the Church He’s called us to be. To serve, to love, to cherish God together as a community. Just like with the Iona Collective, we can all uniquely step into the work of God in our spheres of influence. 

It only starts with an obedient heart and a simple question: God, what would you have me do?

Sign up to volunteer with us for upcoming outreach opportunities at: declarenomore.com/volunteer

You can give regularly, to make more Stories like this possible at: declarenomore.com/12club

This Stories blog was written by our Anti-Trafficking Manager, Kait Poppa.