Our Mission
Is to reflect the love of Christ by providing no-cost meals to the homeless or at-risk members of the NWA community.
About Us
In 2021, after several years of planning, the Benafield’s bought an airstream food trailer, “Tabitha”, and began the process of starting their food ministry. Part of their planning was to visit with the local homeless outreach centers in Fayetteville about what night was needed most for their meals. They learned Saturday nights would fill the biggest void and so the service night was decided.
Cooking from a commercial kitchen began in July 2021 and since then meals have been served every other Saturday night. Each dinner service 150 meal servings are prepared for individuals experiencing homelessness or our food insecure neighbors.
Our Vision
Our hope is to expand our footprint and increase the frequency of our meal services. We would love to be able to provide dinner on a weekly basis in different areas of NWA.
Our Name
We take our name from the passage in Matthew 15:29-39 where Jesus fed 4,000 men along with women and children using 7 loaves of bread and a few small fish. After all had eaten the leftovers filled 7 baskets.
This passage is meaningful to us. First, unlike the previous miraculous feeding, this one was initiated by Christ himself, who said “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me for 3 days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.” Jesus cared about and cared for the people around Him. Second, because the crowd Christ fed was primarily a gentiles, who were not welcome in Jewish society, and were shunned. In some ways, the homeless are today’s version of the 1st century Gentiles of Israel. The upper and middle classes of polite society overlooked them. Christ did not, and His active provision for the 4,000 foreshadowed His new covenant. One that welcomed all the people of His creation as adopted children of God in His Kingdom. Our mission is to imitate Christ and care for people as He did for us. We want to be doers of the word. We seek to love our neighbors as ourselves. All are welcome at His table.
Scripture
Matthew 15:29-39
29 Jesus went on from there and walked beside the Sea of Galilee. And he went up on the mountain and sat down there. 30 And great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them,31 so that the crowd wondered, when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel. 32 Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, "I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way. 33 And the disciples said to him, "Where are we to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed so great a crowd?"34 And Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?" They said, "Seven, and a few small fish." 35 And directing the crowd to sit down on the ground, 36 he took the seven loaves and the fish, and having given thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 37 And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces left over. 38 Those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. 39 And after sending away the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.
A short origin story
This 30 second video gives a little insight into the beginnings of Table 7three.