"As Yourself" is the name of a project that motivated young Adventists of the Blessed Israel Seventh-day Adventist Church in Santiago, Chile, to help people in extreme poverty. This initiative began in July of this year and seeks to help needy families and homeless people with food.

“The objective of this project is to be able to reach people, to be able to supply their basic needs in some way, but also their spiritual needs. To [win] their confidence [and be able to] tell them about Jesus and about our experience with the gospel, ”said Pamela Pino, one of the volunteers.

Testimony

This project "As Yourself" was driven by the story of Daniel, who lived on the street and came to the Seventh-day Adventist Church during his childhood the book "The Great Controversy" by Ellen G. White, a co-founder of the Adventist Church. Through this book, Daniel met Jesus and after being visited by church members, he had a growing desire in his heart to place himself in the hands of the Lord and be a part of His people.

“About 50 years ago I bought a book called “[the] Great Controversy” and from that book, I learned that Jesus died on a tree on the cross. This book has information for this time...”, declared Daniel.

About the project

So far this year, a record 1,000 lunches have already been delivered and the volunteers have had many wonderful experiences participating in this project. 

Michael Saldias, kitchen manager, commented on his experience with this project: “We have already [served] approximately 1000 lunches. The experience has been pleasant, in the sense that, when you finish [distributing the lunches], you realize how you’ve impacted the lives of [the] people, making them feel good, with a meal made with love. [After all], we remember what our motto is, love your neighbor as yourself”.

The Covid-19 pandemic facing the world was not an excuse for these young people to not go in search of those in need.

Pamela Pino also highlighted that it is possible to do something for others even with few resources: “Sometimes we believe that we need to have many resources to be able to help someone, and this project has shown us that this is not the case, that sometimes we can do very great things if we join together. A lunch costs 1,500 pesos, 2,000 pesos at the most, sometimes we receive donations of 5,000 pesos and you can feed two people, three people, and so on”.

So, whether it is cooking, delivering lunches or raising funds to continue this project, any contribution no matter how small, is already a great help to help those who need it the most.