A Call to Bring Hope and Healing

At THE BEGINNING OF THE PANDEMIC, LIKE SO MANY OTHER CHURCHES AND ORGANIZATIONS, WE AT HOSANNA CHURCH (SHAKOPEE, MINN.) WERE UNSURE OF WHAT TO EXPECT, HOW TO REACT, OR EVEN HOW LONG THIS WOULD ALL LAST. AS TIME WENT ON, OUR UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT THIS NEXT SEASON WOULD BE LIKE BEGAN TO SETTLE.

As a church, we responded with a continued focus on the Word and worship by starting daily devotions along with Thursday evening worship nights, both on Facebook Live. It was also clear to our Hosanna staff that the Lord was showing us to seek the peace and prosperity of our city (Jeremiah 29:7).

In early April 2020, I had a sense we could be doing more, and specifically I could be doing more. At that time, I had no clue what more would be, but soon found a purpose amidst the uncertainty.

Hosanna has a ministry called HEART (Hosanna’s Emergency Action Response Team) located on our Shakopee campus. Before the pandemic this ministry mostly functioned as a disaster response team that responded to natural disasters across the country. Over time, the focus of HEART became more local, and the pandemic brought even more opportunities to serve.

HEART started to take donations of food and essentials from members of the church, community and local businesses. This led to food distribution drive-thrus open to anyone in need at our Hosanna Shakopee campus.

For 10 weeks, we invited anyone from the community to the food drive-thrus. It was incredible to see people come back, not only to have their physical needs met through food and essential items, but also to have their spiritual needs met through prayer and encountering Jesus. Every single vehicle and family received prayer while waiting in line.

Eventually some of the people came back and praised God for answered prayers. We knew that God had so much more planned. A few members of HEART and Hosanna Shakopee staff felt the prompting of the Holy Spirit to take the drive-thru idea and make it mobile.

We prayed and asked God where He was leading us, and the first place was a mobile home community in Jordan, Minn. We went into our first site with only one expectation: God was going to show up, and He was going to show up big.

On August 20, 2020 we scheduled our first food drop at Valley Green Manufactured Homes in Jordan. With a team of six, we helped close to 60 families receive food and prayer that evening.

We’ve helped feed more than 3,300 people in 2020, and more than 8,000 (and counting) in 2021.

This led to 28 additional food drops in 2020, and 37 food drops in the first three months of 2021. We’ve helped feed more than 3,300 people in 2020, and more than 8,000 (and counting) in 2021.

Teams of volunteers join us as we have traveled throughout Scott and Carver Counties. Our volunteer teams started with 4-5 people at a time, and now have as many as 26 volunteers at each event.

The impact the pandemic had on our community was great, but I believe the Lord is greater than any issue. How He is using this to turn more hearts towards Him is incredible. I am grateful and honored to be a part of His plan to bring hope and healing to those in the South Metro.

— Story by Dylan Olson, BA ‘13, Children’s Ministries Coordinator at Hosanna Church, Shakopee, Minn. | Photos courtesy of Dylan Olson