Volunteers from the 100-strong team start filling AOK 5000 hampers for struggling households;
Ellen Lockwood, left, who answered God’s calling, co-ordinated the project
with Phil and Sarah Weaver, right

Food for thought leads to community project

When New Springs church in Loughborough responded to an unusual call from God, a modern-day ‘feed-the-5,000 project’ was born. Phil Weaver told Chris Rolfe all about it

Way before the cost-of-living crisis struck and energy bills skyrocketed, pastor Ellen Lockwood felt God calling her to launch an ambitious project.

“I feel the Lord is challenging me about Jesus feeding the 5,000. He’s telling us we need to feed 5,000 people too,” she told her senior pastor Phil Weaver.

This was in January 2021, and by April 2023 New Springs church in Leicestershire had helped more than 8,000 people by providing winter hampers to struggling households via its Acts of Kindness 5000 project.

AOK5000 ran from 1 December 2022 to 6 April 2023, staffed by a 100-strong a r my of volunteers and powered by Ellen, Phil and Phil’s daughter-in-law Sarah Weaver.

“We had three centres where people could apply for hampers, or they could register online. We advertised the project via GPs, local charities and our MP and on social media and things also grew through word of mouth,” Phil explains. Those who applied were asked if they were single, a couple or how many kids they had, allowing each hamper to be tailor-made with items relevant to each person or family.

“They would receive blankets, hot water bottles, toys, nappies, toiletries, groceries and fresh meat,” says Phil.

The three centres were converted into supermarkets, complete with trolleys, where people would be invited to visit and choose a certain number of food items – 19 for a single person, 27 for a couple and 33 for a family – all free of charge.

“They could choose any thing they wanted – that included whole chickens, ham hocks and gammon steaks!”

This huge project also included deliveries to housebound people and 225 warm rooms on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Phil’s son Nathan also ran a ‘Big Giveaway’ at one of the centres where people were invited to fill bags to the brim with as many brand-new household goods as they could.

And the church wrote, designed and printed 120-page books to give away too, containing household and money and energy-saving tips, recipes, information on local services and extensive gospel messages.

Naturally, this huge logistical operation was costly and New Springs relied on the generosity of church members and grants. Local schools and businesses supported it too.

“We bought masses of skip bags and turned them into Bags of Hope giving them to schools and businesses to fill with hot water bottles, scarves, blankets and gloves. A lot of people helped us this way.”

‘Müller moments’

The project team were also thrilled to see God provide during many ‘Müller moments’.

“George Müller ran huge orphanages in Bristol and he’d say grace before a meal even when they had no food to give the children. Then there’d be a knock on the door and food would have miraculously arrived.

“We had many mornings like that where we’d have nothing, we’d pray and suddenly something would happen and we’d be able to go to the warehouse. That’s really increased the faith of the staff and the pastors here at New Springs.

“When you’ve got nothing and you pray, then you end up being able to buy £2,000 worth of stuff it’s a phenomenal testimony.”

The team has been excited about the impact AOK5000 has had on their community. Virtually all the people accessing the project had never set foot in a New Springs church, says Phil.

The majority – 82 per cent – came from ‘the middle squeeze’ (the posh way to describe ‘the working poor’) who may have two or three jobs yet can’t meet their bills each month.

“One lady told me she couldn’t believe how much everything is going up. She and her husband were both working but they found it hard to pay their bills.

“Another said she was working hard yet couldn’t get to the end of each month.

“So many people in these situations told us they couldn’t believe we would want to do this, that there must be a catch. We were able to tell them there was no catch, we wanted to help and it was all free.

“We were also able to pray for hundreds of people who we wouldn’t normally have contact with. We’ve seen a number get saved and have even had a couple of baptisms. Every department in the church has grown as a result of AOK5000.”

With connections and experiences like this, New Springs is keen to follow up the project. To this end, they are phoning everyone who received a hamper to check if they need any other support, to invite them to other projects and to church.

“We had a special Easter service which was absolutely rammed, with more than a third of people there new from AOK5000,” says Phil.

“On 1 June we invited everyone who contributed to the project to a big celebration where we were able to share the gospel.

“ Now we’re planning other large events by means of follow-up too.”

All of this, Phil says, is down to Ellen hearing from God and following his call.

“When you do what God tells you to, even though it might sound ridiculous, he can do things far beyond what we can ever imagine!”

New Springs City Church Loughborough is a member of the Elim Network

This article first appeared in Direction Magazine. For further details, please click here.

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