Losing a job is scary. The bills do not stop. And many people feel ashamed, even though it was not their fault. If someone near you just lost their job, you may want to help but not know how.
There is a story about a hungry crowd that helps.
Send them away
A huge crowd had followed Jesus out to a quiet place. He taught them all day. By evening, people were hungry, and there was nowhere nearby to buy food.
His friends came to him with a plan. Send everyone away, they said, so they can go to the villages and buy their own bread.
Give them something to eat
The Gospel of Mark, one of the four accounts of Jesus's life, tells us Jesus's answer.
He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat?
Mark 6:37 · King James VersionThe original Greek
ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· Δότε αὐτοῖς ὑμεῖς φαγεῖν. καὶ λέγουσιν αὐτῷ· Ἀπελθόντες ἀγοράσωμεν δηναρίων διακοσίων ἄρτους καὶ δώσομεν αὐτοῖς φαγεῖν;
Found in Codex Vaticanus (about AD 325), Codex Sinaiticus (about AD 350).
His friends were shocked. Two hundred pennyworth was about eight months of wages for a worker. They did not have that.
Jesus asked what they did have. Five loaves and two fish. He thanked God for it and started handing it out. Everyone ate, and there were leftovers.
The point for us is simple. His friends wanted the hungry people to solve it themselves. Jesus said, you help.
Ways to help
Bring food without making it a big deal. "We made too much lasagna" is a kind thing to say.
Offer specific help. A ride to an interview. Watching their kids for an afternoon. Printing a resume.
Share job leads. Ask around at your work and church. A personal introduction can help more than a hundred online applications.
Keep inviting them. People out of work often pull back. Keep including them in dinners, games and church, so they do not feel cut off.
Protect their dignity. Help quietly. Do not tell everyone. Treat them as a friend, not as someone you are fixing.
You can start small
You do not have five thousand people to feed. Just one neighbor. Like the boy with five loaves, what you have is enough to start. The Mercy app is being built for this too, so neighbors can ask for a meal, a ride or a job lead, and someone nearby can say yes.