Today we’d like to introduce you to David Timothy.
Thanks for sharing your story with us David. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I had always remembered the hunger I experienced as a child. Added to that, the changes God had made in me during my 15 year odyssey. And I remembered the words in the Bible where Jesus said “Feed My Sheep.” That combination of things got me thinking about feeding the homeless. That thought started to gain traction when a very good friend of mine by the name of Sheryl asked me something in early 2003 that no one had ever asked me before. She asked me, “what do you really want to do with your life?” So I took a deep breath and said very quietly, “I want to feed the homeless.” Having faith in Jesus and his guidance has made it all possible.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been a smooth road from the beginning we had obstacles First I considered a regular soup kitchen where the homeless would come to our location every day for a meal. That’s what I had always seen on TV. That was the only concept of a soup kitchen that I had ever known. As I considered that concept for my soup kitchen I knew there would be several major roadblocks. Not the least of these would be, what we in the business call NIMBY—not it my back yard. No one wants a soup kitchen in their neighborhood. Deciding that a mobile soup kitchen would be best then the challenges of having no food and resources, vehicle to deliver, funding and support. We overcame all obstacles with having faith in Jesus.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about SoupMobile – what should we know?
Our Mission Statement is three simple words spoken by Jesus more than 2,000 years ago: “FEED MY SHEEP.” We do “Feed His Sheep” in 4 core missions:
Our Mission Statement is three simple words spoken by Jesus more than 2,000 years ago: “FEED MY SHEEP.”
With that, we honor those words with 4 distinct missions:
Mission #1: Feeding the Homeless – Being a mobile soup kitchen we have fed over 250K meals in 2016.
Mission #2: Sheltering the Homeless – Designed to take homeless men, women, or families off the streets, put a roof over their heads, help get them jobs, and eventually return them as working, productive members of the community.
Mission #3: Christmas for the Homeless – Starting in 2005 and every year since, the SoupMobile, in an event called Celebrate Jesus, makes ‘room at the inn’ for 500 homeless men, women, and children at the spectacular downtown Dallas Omni Hotel.
We give them a truly magical Christmas. They all receive new clothes, fabulous gifts, and we throw a huge banquet for them and in their honor. Most important is that when they wake up on Christmas morning, it’s in a warm, safe bed at the Omni – not in a cardboard box under a bridge somewhere.
Mission #4: Christ for the Homeless – SoupMobile Church is a ‘one of a kind’ church on the entire planet! It’s because at SoupMobile Church the homeless are the ‘Members’ & if you & I attend we are their ‘Guests.’
SoupMobile Church is non-denominational but 100% Jesus based.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Thinking to myself out of everything possible the best quality is my faith in Jesus. It is because of him that we were able to begin and then continue to grow,
Philippians 4:13 states “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
Contact Info:
- Address: 3017 Commerce Street, Dallas, Texas 75226
- Website: http://www.soupmobile.org
- Phone: 214-655-6396
- Email: david@soupmobile.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soupmobile/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SoupMobile
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/soupmobile
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/user/SoupMobile
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