The Chicken Lady

It was dark and the rain added to the chill on that November evening. Ellen sat in the empty church parking lot wondering if she had misunderstood God.  Just then the smell of roast chicken reminded her that she had a hot meal to deliver…but where…to who?  The words of her husband ran through her mind as she walked out the door with a hot meal in her hands… and no one to deliver it to. “You’re crazy,” he joked.  She sat in the car wondering if he was right. “Am I crazy, Lord? She asked.” She remembered the Lord’s words to her the previous evening, but frankly, His message was a little….well….crazy. 

“He told me to cook a chicken,” she said, as we sat together at a coffee shop.  “The Lord talks to me at night because it’s the only time I’m quiet!” (she laughs) 

The next morning Ellen went to the store, she bought supplies for the meal. That evening she prepared it, put it in a large container and placed it in the back of her car. She drove to the church, but no one was there…so she prayed; “Lord, I did what you told me to do, now show me who needs this meal.”  Just then she remembered the new couple that had joined our church Sunday. “I’ll take it to them for joining the church,” she thought. So on that cold rainy November evening, unbeknownst to Ellen, a ministry was born. 

She knocked on the door of the Cunningham’s new home. When Frank answered the door, Ellen said; “Hi, I’m from Mt. Zion and I’m here to deliver your meal for joining the church.” A surprised Frank watched Ellen do her thing as she set out a hot meal and left the house. Carolyn called her later saying; “What a lovely ministry you have.”

“Ministry?” Ellen thought, when she hung up the phone. “I have a ministry?”  She loved the idea. “It never dawned on me that I would be someone that God would have a ministry for,” she told me. “A ministry is always for the big dogs in the church you know? For me a ministry is mission trips and all that, and it had nothing to do with me, but that’s how it all got started.” As we sipped our coffee, we discussed how the ministry has grown. She told me how she and her sister came up with a name for it called Birds of Blessing.

The following is part of our conversation. I invite you to join us. Sit back and read about one of your fellow Mt. Zion members, who has a heart the size of her home state of Texas. She loves the Lord with a passion, and she loves you, her church family.

Q. How many meals do you think you’ve fixed up to now, April 2009?

A. For that ministry alone, 112.

Q. How do you set up a delivery?

A. I call the people on my list, tell them who I am, and say; “When can we schedule your meal?” 

Q. What the typical response?

A. People are surprised. Sometimes they’re wary and they think I’m joking. I’ve had people decline of course, I’ve had people want to interview me (she laughs). I had a “chicken interview” because they couldn’t believe that someone was making them a meal for joining a church. 

Q. Then what happens?

A. We set a date, they’re usually very excited. When the day comes, I arrive with my container, set the meal on the counters (they always have clean kitchens, she says laughing), and I leave.

Q. Do they keep the dishes?

A. Yes. They’re disposable.

Q. What is your favorite delivery story?

A. Of course the Cunninghams because they were the first meal I delivered, so Carolyn Cunningham, without knowing it, is the one that started this whole thing. Another favorite was a delivery I did on Christmas Eve, and another favorite was to Trudy Graham. I took a meal to her and since then we have this loving sister relationship.

Q. What does the entire meal consist of?

A. Usually it’s a roasted orange-rosemary chicken, mashed potatoes, pinto beans, bread and a cheesecake. It’s not always the same, but that is the typical meal.

Q. So you’ve delivered meals for over a year, and now a new ministry has come from this. Tell me about it.

A. Birds of Blessing was for people who joined the church, but the Lord was paving the way to meet another need. Once again, late in the evening, I felt the Lord telling me to “feed the flock.” The next morning, I called the church and talked to them about it. Feed The Flock’s purpose is to assign volunteers to make and deliver meals to those, in our church, who need them. For example, if someone had surgery, we would deliver meals until they are back on their feet. I call the volunteers The Supper Sisters and we now have a pantry where we store food donations. 

Q. How can we help?

A. Prayer.  Donate food to the food pantry. Donate 8 by 8 disposable containers for the meals, or small containers for the side dishes. Donate Redi-Made graham cracker pie crusts for the cheesecakes – I ask for those all the time.

Q. What do you want this ministry to look like in…say… 2 years?

A.  Two years from now…..I’d like to see it as a common thing at Mt. Zion. Not a baby ministry, a mature ministry. And what it takes is just repeating it and repeating it. I take it step by step. I have fun with my ministries. You know the Steak Out signs you see on tops of cars? I want Birds of Blessing on my car, or The Chicken Lady or something fun. I want Feed-The-Flock on T-shirts. They call me the “Chicken Lady.”  I don’t know who started that, but now I have aprons and stuff with that on them. That’s the fun thing about it. I’m not offended by it, I’m honored!  That’s probably going to be on my gravestone. God wants me to have fun with it and enjoy it. I have a husband and 2 children, so I have to balance things, but God provides the balance.

Q. Put this whole experience in one sentence.

A. She thinks for a moment then says: “If you don’t get out of your comfort zone, or get out of the boat, I (Jesus) cannot do the miracle!”

What a sentence! That afternoon at the coffee shop, I got to know an amazing woman. I walked away enriched. I will leave you with some of her thoughts; random things she said that I did not want to delete, and then…..in the wonderful Paul Harvey fashion, I’ll tell you who Ellen, The Chicken Lady, really is.

“Peter would never have known he could walk on water to Jesus if he had stayed in the boat. That’s what we can do if we keep our eyes focused on Him. We can do anything.”

“All this is so daunting you know. I said; “Lord I can’t do all this.” And He said “I know, but I can.” That’s what He tells me… it’s not you doing all this, it’s Me.”

(Speaking of leaving her home in Texas) “When God takes something away, He usually gives something else. God gave me this HUGE blessing. Every time I leave a home, or every time I cook for somebody, I am on such a spiritual high and I know God is right there with me.”

“He uses imperfect people to do his work. I often say Thank you…because I’m the imperfect vessel for this beautiful thing that God’s trying to do. And it’s not just one person! This church is an intricate family of believers of what God wants believers to be. One person may deliver a meal, then another person helps with Real Estate, it’s all intertwined, we all help each other and it’s amazing to me.”

“I can’t even keep up with God half the time. That’s why I have this huge notebook (laughing) so I can keep up with God! Birds of Blessing started out as making chickens and God just wove this blanket, this quilt of these amazing things.”

………..

This story is about Ellen.  You know her as Teresa Ellen Wilson….The Chicken Lady.

 

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