The Operation & Our Goals

With the aid of our supporters in America, a lot of work and prayers here in Albania, and the help of our Lord, we opened the Soup Kitchen on Jan 15, 2005 .  The final blessing that made this possible was the generosity of people who donated during our trip to America and a sizable grant from the OCMC's Agape Canister Program.

We were very nervous on our first day of operation, but our months of planning and preparation really paid off.  Xhaneta our cook, and Maria her assistant, prepared a beautiful meal of meat, rice, salad, bread, and pudding for dessert.  The Soup Kitchen was blessed by Papa Jani, who then led us in prayer, and the meal commenced.   Our first day we served 22 hungry people.  Everything went very smoothly and we were touched by the gratitude of people and also humbled by their obvious great need.

We have some important guiding principles that we use in the operation of the Soup Kitchen.  First and foremost is to provide a clean, comfortable environment for the people and to serve them a hot, nutritious meal.  Our goal is to not just feed people and send them on their way, but to provide a place where they feel safe and feel the love of Christ.  Everyone working at the kitchen is committed to treating people with respect and love, while being ever mindful of their dignity. 

The number of people we serve has constantly risen during our first month of operation.  From the first day of serving 22 people, we have grown to 120+ meals as of spring, 2006.  We rely heavily on the knowledge of the Orthodox Women's Group to help us determine who should be served.   Because of this increase, we outfitted an additional dining room on the second floor of our building.

Our criteria for serving people is entirely based on need (as well as good behavior).  We ask no questions about politics or faith, but try only to determine need.    We use a system of vouchers to regulate the number of people that come to any given meal.  We also make home visits, with the ladies of the Women's Group, to ensure that we are serving only the very needy.

We serve three days a week:  Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 11:30 am.  People start arriving at 11:00 am.  We let them into our courtyard to determine who has vouchers and who does not.  At 11:30 we open the doors to the building and the people with vouchers practically run into the building.  When the main dining room on the first floor is filled (usually in less than a minute) we direct people to a smaller dining room upstairs.  After everyone has a seat, we say the Lord's Prayer and begin serving the lunch.

The sixty vouchers we hand out for each meal completely fills both dining rooms.  After the meal is finished and some people begin to leave, we start to bring in the people who have been waiting outside.  We serve them the food that is left and talk to them to ascertain their need, and to possibly arrange a home visit. 

We are blessed with the first class help we have at the Soup Kitchen.  It starts with Zhanetta and Maria in the kitchen, and continues with our volunteer help from the Orthodox Women's Group.  At least two ladies from this group work every lunch to serve the meals, and to help with the clean up afterward.  They are tireless workers and have a very loving and understanding way with the people we are serving.  We have built a team where everyone understands their job and does it well.  So far, thank God, this team has worked together beautifully.

Once the food is served and people are eating, we look around the dining room and feel the presence of all those who have helped in this effort.  Help from so many people who gave their hard earned money and support in many other ways to make this possible.  As our partners, we hope these pages and our Soup Kitchen Photo Gallery allow you to share this experience with us.

With your help and through hard work, faith, and God's grace, we have made the Soup Kitchen a reality.  The simple truth is that there are many hungry people in Albania.  We pray that our efforts together will alleviate some of this suffering and help to show the people here the light of Christ.

How Can You Help?