Every Friday evening our volunteers provide food for visitors. The Open Evenings are intended for anyone who is lonely, homeless, poor or in need of help: everyone is welcome!
Around 6 pm we gather at the North Station to invite people with coffee/tea and waffles. When we have finished our drinks, we walk with a large group from the station to the church hall where the tables are set. Some of our visitors come on foot, but we also drive a few times in cars to pick people up and bring them back later. In addition to the people of the North Station, the Open Evening is known to people from the area who regularly come to eat or help on their own initiative.
We currently provide soup with bread and cheese/jam followed by a dessert and regularly some extras depending on possible donations such as a box of tangerines or a load of eggs. After the soup, a story from the Bible is told, after which coffee/tea and dessert are served. The story is usually told in French/Arabic, because these are the languages that visitors to the Open Evenings mainly speak. We have a permanent interpreter, but it also happens that spontaneous translations are made from the audience.
After everyone has eaten enough, there is the opportunity to have a nice chat while the music plays in the background clothing distribution opens. We focus as much as possible on the people and not on giving food. We do the Open Evenings not only to provide emergency assistance, but mainly to make contact with the people behind the needs and build relationships.
The soup is for the hunger at that moment, the conversation is for the longing for one future.