Four Aspects of Lampstand Ministries

 

Food DistributionThere are four aspects to Lampstand Ministries: food distribution, service projects, mentoring and consulting. Lampstand works hand in hand with other ministries on the West Side in order to provide a variety of service opportunities while reaching out to the maximum number of people in need.

Food Distribution

Lampstand Ministries operates a food ministry every Saturday morning called "My Brother’s Kitchen." This is so much more than a soup kitchen! It is a Christ-centered community event where the gospel is presented. Everyone from the community is invited in to share a meal. Other help services are offered like showers on wheels supplied by "Shower Up." People can pick out coats and clothing from "My Brother’s Closet." There is an in-house barber shop offering hair cuts. In good weather, local bands provide free concerts on the outdoor stage.

Lampstand hosts special community events like back to school picnics with school supplies given away. We always serve special meals near the holidays and provide local families with what they need to make their holiday meals. This includes turkeys at Thanksgiving and hams at Christmas.

Lampstand also operates "Good Grills," a network of neighborhood charcoal grills. "Good Grills" enables willing volunteers to serve their communities and bring people together by hosting picnics with food provided by Lampstand. This helps people reach out to the homeless or people with food needs in their own communities.

 

Service Projects

Service ProjectsLampstand hosts many service projects each year with groups from all over the country. Lampstand can offer a service opportunity for individuals, families, church groups, or school groups. Lampstand offers day trip service opportunities and we also have space to host groups that need a place to stay while they serve.

For example: Timothy Christian High School serves with Lampstand for about ten days every January. The students stay in their homes but travel into the city every morning and work most of the day. They have built garden boxes and painted artwork that is hung on the fence outside "My Brother’s Kitchen" among many other projects. The students have gained an awareness of the needs so near to where they live and are empowered to do something to help.

Possible service opportunities include:

  • Cooking, serving and cleaning at My Brother’s Kitchen (every Saturday morning)
  • Building, maintenance and remodeling projects in buildings being used for urban ministry
  • Yard work and home maintenance for widows, elderly, or single mothers
  • Urban gardening in the "Garden to Table Pipeline"
  • Neighborhood clean up, serving the communities by showing respect for their neighborhood
  • Artwork and murals to beautify the neighborhood

 

Mentoring

MentoringLampstand mentors young people, often in partnership with the Young Men’s Educational Network (YMEN), in a process continuing throughout their lives. Struggling young people are taken under the wing of Lampstand staff, and provided with guidance and fellowship. Working with other mentors, Lampstand offers a continuing system of support. Children in crisis are used to people going in and out of their lives; the team approach to mentoring is more effective and keeps kids from slipping through the cracks.

Since beginning the program, the mentored children have grown to become leaders in their own ministries and with Lampstand partners. Antoin Brewer grew up receiving mentoring and tutoring with YMEN, now he has started his own coaching and mentoring ministry called "In the Gym, Off the Streets."" Caleb Langkamp grew up serving in Lampstand with his dad, now he is mentoring young men in the city and the suburbs. Arnez Kilgore grew up going to YMEN group activities, now he is teaching a class through YMEN.

"We'll refer kids to YMEN or other mentoring ministries, and we all stick with the kids for the rest of their lives," says Langkamp. "My mentoring goal is to invest in young people as much as we can, because they are the hope for these neighborhoods on the West Side."

 

Consulting

Lampstand consults with many churches and ministries helping them work out the ideas they have for outreach. For example, a church wanted to open a food pantry but was unsure about how to start the project. Lampstand connected them with some of the resources they needed to make their idea a reality. Lampstand is familiar with how to get resources, like food, clothing, furniture and volunteers.

"Churches and other organizations come to us with a project God has put on their hearts, and we’ll help them complete it with volunteers, finances, food, building supplies and knowledge," says Langkamp. "We've been putting together game plans, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, for many years now."