For many years now, The River Church has supported Serve City once a month with meals. We asked Teresa Brand, who has been in their ministry, called The Chosen, to tell us more about it.What is The Chosen? The Chosen is the food pantry and homeless shelter at Serve City, a social service organization located in Hamilton, Ohio. The Chosen has been a ministry that my husband Rick and I have been involved in for many years. Churches in the community volunteer and are assigned one evening a month to provide dinner to the temporary residents there. The River Church serves the first Friday of each month.Who does The Chosen serve? Typically, it takes 60-90 days for a homeless person to obtain more permanent housing. Serve City developed apartments on Ninth Street in Hamilton, as well as an efficiency apartment complex two doors from the facility. Many of the homeless residents have moved to these apartments, and a few of them stop in for a meal. Though a few of them have permanent housing now, they continue to stop in the first Friday each month to say hello to me, ask me how I am doing, and always are very thankful for a meal and some homemade cookies. I have developed lasting relationships with the staff of Serve City, as well as many of the people that have come to enjoy a meal. It has been such a blessing getting to know some of these folks, knowing their past struggles, and helping them get the assistance they needed to get re-established into a home. It's a joy to see them succeed in their community!What keeps you committed to The Chosen? After working long hours all week as a social work supervisor as my day job, then coming home to preparing the menu, baking the cookies, shopping for the food, then cooking the meal the night before it will be served, I am really tired. But when Friday comes, I pull up to the parking lot, and there they all are waiting for me, eager to help me carry in the pots of food to warm up. Everyone is friendly, thankful, and immediately they put a smile on my face!I have been so blessed and honored to have the opportunity to feed people, to pray with them, and let them know they are cared for. Sharing the love of God with these people has been an incredible blessing. A lot of people at work and church know I have made this commitment every month for many years, and some have asked me how I keep doing it and when I will stop. I can't imagine what my life would be like had I not taken on this venture. The way I see it, God made us to serve others, and I stumbled upon an opportunity that turned into a passion for me.How can I get involved? If you would be interested sometime in serving, I would be glad to talk to you about how you can get involved serving with The Chosen. You can email me at rtbrand@roadrunner.com.