by Oscar Garcia ’22
“Have you heard of the Dunkirk approach?,” Larry Lakey asked me. “It wasn’t the big players that saved all those troops; it was the group effort of the small boats that saved so many.” Pastor Lakey used this example to explain how much influence individuals have in responding to poverty in our community. Ultimately, it is the will of these people that keeps this community strong and cohesive. Pastor Lakey’s position and work would be difficult if it weren’t for them.
As senior pastor at Winslow Baptist Church, Larry Lakey oversees the entire church ministry. When he arrived in Winslow in 2005, Lakey had a “leap before you look” mentality: “You can look, but you can only learn so much from afar.” He takes a similar approach to poverty in the community. “In any charitable work, you have to be willing to make a connection. You have to plant yourself there before you can fully understand what the reality is and the needs are.”
One of the ways Pastor Lakey initially connected with people in need was by partnering with the Mid-Maine Homeless Shelter. Every month, members of Winslow Baptist Church would give out breakfast at the homeless shelter and converse with the people there. Because of the temporary nature of shelter residency, however, there was inconsistent attendance and few opportunities to develop lasting relationships. Volunteers also hoped to share the faith in Jesus that is so important to their lives, which they believe can empower and inspire those in poverty. Since the shelter is not religiously affiliated, this wasn’t the best setting for them to share the Gospel. The partnership ultimately came to an end.
Pastor Lakey found that instead of developing new initiatives, his small church could make more of an impact by support initiatives run by other organizations. He now looks for partnerships through which church members can address immediate needs. For example, Winslow Baptist Church provides volunteers to staff the soup kitchen during the month of July when the Sacred Heart regulars take their annual break.
Winslow Baptist Church has also seen success in its mission to support the foster and adoption community. Just as Jesus adopted everyone into his family, Pastor Lakey explained, Christians should also make efforts to adopt people into their families, especially vulnerable children. The church has supported three families through the adoption process, advocates and provides resources for other families looking to adopt children, and transformed its children’s ministry to address the hardships faced by children in the foster care system. The church works with Project Sparrow and Winslow Elementary School to provide Christmas gifts for children, particularly those in foster families. It also partners with the Maine Children’s Home for Little Wanderers to do on-site work projects and provide toys for kids.
Pastor Lakey emphasizes that no one makes it through life alone. If you live a life where you serve others, where you help others, it will make you and the people around you better. He takes the process of working things out as “rebuilding the ship as it sails”: leaping into the unknown, assessing what the needs are, and going from there. If there is anything Larry Lakey loves more than boat analogies, it is serving his community through the Gospel.