Loving Their Neighbors
As a young boy in San Antonio, Angel Delgado learned to cook in order to survive. Homeless at age seven, he lived under a bridge and panhandled on the streets, pooling his resources with other homeless children and adults, cooking the food they scraped together over an open fire.
Today Angel and his wife, Christy, live in a Section 8 apartment complex in Kearney, Nebraska, where, despite a limited income, they generously share their resources with their neighbors. Every few months the couple invites all the residents in their building to a home-cooked dinner – an idea that was sparked three years ago at Thanksgiving when Angel realized many of their neighbors didn’t have anyone with whom to share the holiday meal.
More than 30 people showed up at that first Thanksgiving dinner, which Angel and Christy, who are both disabled, paid for with their food stamps. When staff at the Kearney Salvation Army Corps heard about the Delgados’ community dinners, they donated additional food to help offset the costs.
“Even in the midst of their own financial poverty, Angel and Christy are so rich in heart,” said Carrie Carpenter, social services case manager for the Kearney Corps. “It’s been a privilege to partner with them in offering God’s hope through this gift of hospitality.”
The dinners are a lot of work, Angel admitted, but the rewards are worth the effort. “I like to watch the faces of the people as they eat,” he said. “It warms my heart to see everyone together.” He appreciates the fact that the dinners draw residents, many of whom are elderly and isolated, out of their apartments to connect with each other.
The Delgados’ neighbors always know when Angel is preparing a community dinner. “I don’t have to post notices in the elevator or the laundry room anymore,” he said. “People just smell the food and they show up.”
Angel has come a long way from cooking his meals under a San Antonio bridge, but he doesn’t like to take any credit for his community initiative or his gift of hospitality. “It’s not me; it’s all God,” he insisted. “It feels like God brought us here for this.”