Love God, serve people. God has blessed us a lot with our business. I’m a retired Marine, and this is all that we do. God has blessed us well, so we want to bless other people.”Joe Brown, Devil Dawgs Concessions
CULLMAN – Sometimes, great things can be done with a little faith . . . and ham. On Thursday morning, Devil Dawgs Concessions rolled into the parking lot at Five Points Grocery on Cullman’s west side to offer a free helping of lunch and Christmas joy to anyone who wanted to come by. Supported by partners Daystar Church and LM Plumbing and Electrical, and joined by LM’s Michael Washam, Joe and Pat Brown served ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, rolls and desserts, while others took time to talk with visitors, offering encouragement and prayer.
When asked what led him to do this, Joe Brown responded, “Love God, serve people. God has blessed us a lot with our business. I’m a retired Marine, and this is all that we do. God has blessed us well, so we want to bless other people.
“Food is what we do, so it’s easy to give someone a good hot meal, pray for them, and invite them to church. That’s the only reason why we’re doing all of this. It’s better to give back; it’s better to give than receive.”
The Browns have done this before, giving away around 100 meals at Thanksgiving. This time they decided to try again, bigger and better, with a goal of 300.
Washam talked about how they got started:
“I’m just a brother in Christ with Joe. We both go to Daystar, and we went on a missions trip to Texas together this past fall. We did some work for a church in Mauriceville, Texas for some of the storm relief, and he set up and gave away a lot of food all week.
“And so, Thanksgiving, he decided to do it again. Knowing him from church, I partnered up with him. I just like his generosity, I like the way he tries to come out here and bless the community with what God’s given him.”
Washam continued, “Devil Dawgs, LM Plumbing, Daystar: they’re all a part of it, but we just want God to get all the credit. I know people are, maybe, struggling through the holidays just in their walk in life. There is a God that loves them, and we just want to get out in the community and show His love through what He’s blessed us with.
“Our mission statement through the church is ‘transformation of the community through the love and power of Jesus Christ,’ so we just try to walk that out as best we can.”
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