Love in Action
Report from Korea
Warming the Hearts of the
Homeless with Hot Meals
By the Daegu News Group (Originally in Korean)
In the winter of 2004-5, Daegu Center initiates became acquainted with officials of the Chok Bang (meaning ‘extremely small attic’) shelter when they donated used winter clothing to the facility’s homeless residents. And so in February 2006, the initiates began providing monthly free meals to street people on Friday evenings during the shelter’s regular dinner service activity at the East Daegu Station Square.
On February 3 with the temperature reaching -14°C and the air feeling icy, the practitioners served their first meal. And although it was the coldest, most blustery day of the winter, approximately 150 homeless arrived an hour early to wait in line for their food, which consisted of rice, boiled white radishes and veggie pork, vegetarian kimchi (spicy pickled cabbage), vegetable side dishes and hot, spicy soup full of vegetables and soy protein.
As they served the meals, the initiates were saddened to watch their less fortunate brothers and sisters shivering while eating on the street in the bitter weather, and prayed that the food would deliver God’s love and grace to their hearts so they would feel warmer. While eating the food, the recipients asked how the “pork” had been prepared to make it so light and tasty, and were surprised to learn that the meals actually contained vegetarian protein and not real pork. In addition, the guests seemed extremely hungry and wanted second helpings. So, due to the high demand the initiates almost ran short of food although they had prepared enough for two-hundred people. Then, at last, before they ran out completely, more food was brought from the Daegu Center so that there was enough for all. And all during the activity, the recipients’ happy faces and appreciative comments brought the disciples great joy and fulfillment.
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Also, the Chok Bang shelter officials sincerely thanked the work team for cooking the food themselves instead of ordering from a restaurant as other associations typically do. And on the same day, volunteers from the Association of Physicians for Humanism, who were providing free health check-ups to the homeless, felt sorry that they had missed the chance to taste the highly popular vegetarian food and hoped they would be able to join the initiates during their next activity.
After conducting their first successful meal service at the East Daegu
Station Square, the initiates prayed that Master would shower Her blessings
on their less fortunate friends living on the streets so that their
souls might soon greet the warmth of spiritual awakening. 
