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Once the Early Bread meal is prepared
and service begins, Derick Allen
balances oversight of the food line —
ensuring that hot food is constantly
being served — and interaction with
the guests.
“I would like to do this for the rest of my life.”
one to wash dishes, two to make the cheese
and buttered toast, and two to carry coffee
pots and other necessary items to the dining
room for set up. He does this after saying,
“Thank you for helping, friend,” and offers
coffee to each of them as they go to work.
The guests begin to arrive with the
sunrise, around 6:30 a.m., by foot, bicycle
or church vans. They take seats in the
dining hall, just as volunteers complete
last-minute preparations. In the kitchen, a
circle is formed by joined hands. Deacon
David Hueholt, whose church, St. Peter
the Fisherman, oversees the work of Early
Bread, leads the prayer. Deacon David
asks if anyone is here for the first time and
whether there are any prayers that need to
be lifted up this morning. Some request
prayer for an end to violence in the world;
others ask to donate to Compassion, a
foundation geared toward helping strug-gling
children survive in countries like
Kenya. One man, his voice shaky with sad-ness
and hope, requests prayer for his son
who shares the same disease of addiction,
that he may find it in himself to seek help.
Then Allen speaks:
“I was an addict for 25 years on the
street. Today, Derick is 13 years, 10 months
and 18 days clean. … Me am better than
nobody. An addict is an addict. … I try
everything to stop using and nothing work.
Then I try Jesus and Jesus work, friend.
… On the street no one is safe; in prison,
you go to get food and a good night’s sleep.
Today, Jesus is in my heart, friend.”
He says this without embarrassment
and without eloquence, but with the
kind of genuine honesty that can only be
reached through profound humility. For
a moment you’d think, based on people’s
expressions, that they have found relief
through Allen’s message.
He ends by saying, “My thoughts will
be on my recovery, living and enjoying life
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