Bryan Schultze has been serving at The Rock for more than 14 years. He is responsible for running all aspects of The Rock Food Distribution Ministry. He not only hands out food, but he brings in donations, organizes volunteers, sets up food distribution, as well as handles the transportation logistics.
He’s also no stranger to actually going through the food line himself.
During a dark time in his life, Bryan fell deep into addiction. Sixteen years ago, he became homeless and in need of help. Reluctantly, he turned to a local church food pantry. “It broke me to go, I didn’t want to be there, no one wants to be there,” he remembers. Yes, there was a physical hunger for food, but it was going to take a lot more than food to fill the hunger within his spirit. “I knew I needed help and the only thing that could fix me was Jesus.”
“Food distribution may bring the people here but, that’s not what the ministry is really here for. We’re here to let them know that Jesus loves them,” he explained. It’s his desire that those who come through the food line know the God that changed his life can change theirs too.
Through generous donations, a staggering 8 million pounds of food passes through The Rock Food Distribution Center every year! The food distribution ministry feeds an average of 400 families every Tuesday and Thursday and a half a million people per year. In addition to providing food through the center, the ministry assists other churches and nonprofit organizations with filling their food lines as well.
Working in the food ministry requires complete faith that God will feed His sheep. Bryan recalls one day when they had very little food to give. It was one of the largest distributions they’ve ever had. The line of people stretched out to the back fence and an hour into distribution, the volunteers became concerned that they would have to turn people away. Bryan and a few others went into the warehouse and prayed. They prayed over the people and the food, claiming more fish and loaves, putting their complete faith in Jesus. Minutes later a truckload of food pulled up! The driver explained to Bryan that although his boss is not a religious man for some reason he asked him to deliver this truckload of food. God was faithful and 1,200 families were fed that day, not one turned away.
The FDC spends every Tuesday and Thursday distributing groceries to those in need. Such a task could not be possible without the help of our dedicated volunteers. The volunteers are amazing. They show up rain or shine. Some are here 40 hours a week! They come in early and stay late without hesitation.
“Every Ministry at The Rock says they have the best volunteers, but all of my volunteers are outstanding!” proclaims Bryan.
If you would like more information about how you can get involved with the FDC: https://rock.church/outreach
