First came the gifts, then came the need. One child made a big difference by her thoughtful decision to include snack donations to the Camden FUMC Food Pantry for her birthday celebration. Emerson Bachuss moved to Camden in July with her parents, Rev. Ryan Bachuss and Lyndsey Bachuss. Emerson immediately joined the teams at the food pantry, choosing to come in every day that the pantry was open (Monday, Tuesday, and Friday). She was sad when school got in the way of her being able to serve but vowed to come back every time she had a school holiday. At the pantry, Emerson greets each pantry neighbor and rushes to see whether they need help. She does not see social class or race or anything except a child of God. On Monday nights, she continues her spirit of service by helping to serve the weekly hot meal.
For the birthday party that was thrown in her honor, Emerson told her parents that what she really wanted was something for the food pantry neighbors. She decided that snacks would make for a fun treat for the neighbors, so she asked all the party guests to bring snacks for the food pantry.
The party guests, who consisted of the congregation, family, and friends, generously responded to her food pantry request, and snack foods were donated on Saturday, September 15. On Monday, September 17, a forest fire broke out in East Camden. By 6:30 pm, the SAU Tech college students and the Aleta (police academy) were quickly evacuated to a local high school gymnasium for safety measures. The need arose, and the donated snacks suddenly had a new purpose and destination! Eleven-year-old Emerson, along with her parents and Food Services Coordinator, Tate Wunnenberg, loaded the snacks and additional drinks from the Pantry and made the delivery to the hungry students. They didn’t just drop them off; Emerson set the pace by hand-delivering the care packages. This is how ministry works – the food was ready to go before the need ever surfaced!
First came the Source; then came the Need … God provided. Camden FUMC was blessed to be led by a child to do God’s work. Pretty amazing!