Mary Feeney, our Life Center Coordinator, works with seniors, food bank clients, English and Spanish GED students, and more at the Life Center in North Littleton. Here’s why she’s passionate about her work there:

Widows, orphans, immigrants, and the poor are our neighbors and scripture consistently calls God’s people to look after them. James writes that looking after them is religion that God “accepts as pure and faultless.” My journey towards working with these people started when I was only five years old. The only kindergarten girl in my small class, I was left out by all the first graders who said I was too little to be their friend; this experience initially opened my eyes and heart to people who feel unwanted and marginalized.

Later, my parents took me every month to visit forgotten people abandoned in low-income nursing homes and sent me to Haiti and India on mission trips. These experiences and other interactions with minorities and the poor have helped me understand my own privilege in our society. My education at Denver Seminary taught me that I can leverage it on behalf of the voiceless and powerless.

My work at the Life Center flows out of the new identity that I’ve been given as God’s beloved daughter. The Holy Spirit lives in me and gives me His heart for those who are hurting and broken. Listening to stories men, women, and children confronting homelessness, mental illness, discrimination, poverty, loneliness, and a sense of alienation from others and God breaks my heart every time.

However, I know that the same hope and redemption I’ve been given are available to them and working at the Life Center gives me an opportunity to participate in meeting the tangible needs of these individuals. Healing is a painful road and restoration doesn’t happen overnight. But the volunteers who come faithfully to serve are Jesus’ hands and feet as they care for our clients –participating in this process is a privilege that I am honored to have.

In an increasingly pluralistic culture, my hope is that the witness of those of us serving through Mission Hills’ Life Center will demonstrate that God hasn’t forgotten the widows, orphans, immigrants, or the poor. Participating in the Kingdom work of testifying to God’s goodness, grace, and abundant love is a joy.

Meet Mary and the Life Center staff at the Life Center Informational Meeting this weekend. Find out more information HERE.