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Volunteers at Line Baptist Church in Little Rock recently saw a need in the area around their church and have stepped up to meet that need.
When temperatures dropped below freezing in late January, Angie Grubb, who serves with her husband Tyler as bivocational youth ministers, said that they wanted to show Jesus’s love to the unhoused.
Grubb said Matthew 25:35-40 is the Scripture that has most inspired this ministry.
“Jesus calls us to minister to all and reminds us that by serving others we are serving Him and honoring Him. As Christians and churches, we have got to go beyond the call of attending church and calling it good. Jesus doesn’t ask us to be stagnant Christians, he asks us to GO and that’s what we are doing here. We are currently 1 of 3 churches in central Arkansas that are offering a warming center,” Grubb said.
“The warming center is for anyone who is unhoused and needs a place to stay warm. We do not discriminate in any way as to who is allowed in the center. We strive to be a place where everyone who enters the doors of our center feels welcome, loved, and cared for. We reopened on Feb. 13 and were open through the morning of the 15th. This third go-round we reopened on the evening of Feb. 16 and have been open since. We intend to stay open at least through Friday if we have the volunteers to do so. If the temperatures continue to stay low, we will make every effort we can to remain open.”
Grubb expressed her appreciation for those who have worked tirelessly to serve their community, “We have been operating from 7 p.m. to 9 a.m. but today we were blessed and had some staff step up to let those in need of warmth back in when the ice started. Volunteers are so essential to the continuation of this warming center.”
When asked how other churches could assist in this effort, Grubb said, “We need volunteers to fill shifts. We currently are operating with four-hour shifts and then a two-hour shift from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. to help with getting people packed up and clean up. The volunteer shifts are simple. We show people around if they are new and then we will just make laps around the hallway every so often to make sure everything is still in order and going well. We start waking everyone up around 8-8:30 a.m. and start cleaning up, which is mainly gathering all the trash up and replenishing the supply areas.”
Other ways to assist are with donations of pillows and pillowcases, decaf coffee pods that fit in a Keurig, disposable cups with lids, disposable bowls, plastic spoons, and individually wrapped snacks. We also need continuing help with hot meals. Soups have been a big hit as they are easy to disperse and warm everyone up quickly.
If you are available to assist you may contact the church office at 501-568-5433. The church is located at 7601 Baseline Road in Little Rock.