Today our youth from Massanutten Presbyterian depart for home. It’s been a busy, fun, exhausting but spiritually fulfilling week. And while there are many great programs to mention that Raleigh Youth Mission found for us, it was our last stop that brought it all together for me. As we approached A Place at the Table, we saw diners eating at what could have been an Upper East NYC cafe. To say it was a mixed crowd is an understatement. There was a disheveled woman having a conversation with no one necessarily nearby, a man reading the morning paper in business attire, a shaggy bearded man in mismatched clothes with his precious backpack close by and a 20 something-year-old couple munching on avocado toast. Here, everyone has a place at the table. The menu reads :

Inside were wait staff ready to take orders, bring food and clear tables. Everyone works together and the line between privileged volunteer and homeless working for a meal becomes blurred. You truly stop wondering because all ARE equal. The manager on duty talked to us about the history of the cafe. It was an NC State student who had the initial idea and like all ideas with beautiful intentions, has grown exponentially. Everyone deserves to have a choice of what they want to eat; and while I applaud soup kitchens and organizations handing ready-to-go food bags to the needy, there’s something remarkably graceful about being able to decide how you’d like your eggs cooked. There was no evangelizing or telling people to repent. There was not even a mention of God or Jesus in that restaurant. But oh, man was God ever present; Present in kindness, acceptance, humility and dignity. The kingdom of God is A Place at the Table. Find out more by visiting: