Drawn from the Well
Inspired stories and testimonials about our ministry
Finger Pointing
Our Senior Director of Pantry Services, Eric Ocha, is a finger pointer. The adjacent image is photographic proof of this. He keeps this big foam finger in his office and regularly puts it on to signify something. But it might not be what you think at first blush…
On the morning of June 4, 2026, Eric woke up at his usual early hour and began his day with prayerful intentions. Among those that he asked the Lord for was an answer to one of the freezers in our Spring Hill pantry that had just stopped working. The past month had seen numerous operations items, from trucks to lighting and HVAC, unexpectedly fail. Our Well Outreach team was beginning to adopt a What’s Next?!!? disposition.
Part of Eric’s work later that morning involved working with our volunteer team to offer a tour of the pantry to new volunteers showing up for their first service opportunity with us. Included in the tour was a swing past our freezer room, in which Eric noted to the group that one unit was not working.
A few minutes after the tour ended, one of the new volunteers stepped into Eric’s office and said:
“Do you take credit cards?”
Perplexed by this, Eric asked the person to clarify what he meant.
“I want to buy you a new freezer.”
Surprised and grateful in the same immediate moment, Eric thanked the man and suggested we could meet with him to discuss the possibility.
“No, I want to give you my credit card and buy it for you now.”
Three minutes and a $4200 credit card charge later, The Well Outreach was having a new freezer delivered.
This new volunteer had never set foot within our pantry before. In less than twenty minutes, his encounter with our ministry within the Spring Hill pantry so moved him that he wanted to generously and anonymously be the answer to Eric’s morning prayer.
Not long afterward, Eric sent a message to our leadership team about this unexpected gift. Included in the message was a meme – of Eric holding up a foam finger.
We recognized this because Eric is a finger pointer.
But, in fact, at The Well Outreach, we all are. We don’t all have foam fingers like Eric, who is perhaps most outwardly expressive among our team, but we do point fingers. When we do so, though, we are not:
- Signaling that The Well Outreach is Number 1.
- Rooting for our team to defeat the other team.
- Pointing to any scoreboard.
Instead, we are pointing upward to acknowledge the direction from which the grace and divine providence has come. We are determined to be providers of hope, dignity and kinship to those we serve, but that determination is fed by the fundamental faith that the Lord will provide – so bountifully.
Everything we do is in rapt humility and gratitude for the abundance that our Lord brings to us so that we might be the hands and feet of Jesus, serving those who face food insecurity. We are called to work in imitation of Him, and we are witness to the Lord’s blessings that make it possible to do so.
This is one of so many remarkable stories we have to tell at The Well Outreach. The gentleman who surprised us with the gift of a new freezer did not want to be publicly recognized. As such, he is an anonymous donor to our ministry.
And probably a finger pointer.
