Malissa Watson & Bread of Life

Hello, my name is Malissa Watson, and most of you know me as the little lady on the second row during worship with her hands raised and singing, sometimes way too loud. Others may know me as a servant in the Bread of Life Kitchen Ministry, others through Bible studies or small groups. But, what you don’t know is that I wasn’t always like this, praise Jesus and His precious blood.

I have owned four different beauty shops at various times. I was married to a commercial driver and have a beautiful son. And life was good, so I thought! I always felt like something was missing, and so I started attending various churches and reading Scripture. I read in Matthew 17:20, “Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” With this, I desired to seek this faith. In a small Baptist Church in Chatahoula Parish outside of Ferriday, Louisiana, I prayed the sinner’s prayer. I was baptized and began attending church on a regular basis (every Sunday and Wednesday). Shortly afterwards, my marriage fell apart and my son moved out on his own.

I was devastated, and that’s all it took for me to stop attending church and begin seeking where I fit into this life. So I sold my business and went to work offshore as a cook. In that time, I was nailing Jesus back to the cross, telling Him, “I’ll be with you later!” I never sought that verse in Matthew 17; never even thought of it!

While working offshore, I saved my money and bought a motorcycle. In 2002, I had a near-death accident. I broke my pelvis on the left side and crushed the right side. I had a compound fracture to the right femur, a severed spleen, four broken ribs, and a punctured lung. You would think that that would cause me to go back to the cross, but nope! I was told I would never walk again (God had other plans). The sad and troubling thing is, I still did not return to Jesus. I started walking again after three months of my being told I would never walk again. And not once did I give Jesus thanks for His mercies and grace. I returned to the beauty business and making my doctor appointments (for pain management), and life marched on without a thought of Jesus.

A coworker and I would hang out on weekends and do drugs together, a little snorting cocaine and smoking crack we called recreation. This went on for months. As the months passed by, my addiction to these drugs escalated into an every day occurrence. I began to sell my pain medication to support my habit for these drugs, which led to years of this reckless behavior. By the time Hurricane Katrina hit the New Orleans area, I was a full-blown addict with one thing on my mind and heart; when and where is my next high. In my addiction, my brother came to visit me, and in our conversation he said to me, “Malissa! God wants what is His!” And, instantly, my heart clicked and my thoughts rushed back to the verse in Matthew 17.

Soon after he said this to me, I found myself reading Scripture. I began reading the book of Isaiah and finding myself fearing the Lord and falling in love. I had one more visit with the pain management doctor and one more sale, this time to put cash in my pocket instead of drugs in my system. But God had something else in mind. On this last trip to sell my drugs, I was stopped and arrested for distribution of schedule two narcotics. After being bonded out in the spring of 2006, I began to ponder all these events and really examine myself. I began to read the Bible again and to surrender my life to Jesus. I started reading the book of Isaiah and a fear of the Lord begin to grow deep within me, and I began to spend, really spend time with Jesus. What I mean by really spending time is asking Him to take residence in my life to cause me to openly give my life to Him. As this went on, I found myself deeply and eagerly seeking what is pleasing to Him. I spent the next eight months in the Word of God, daily surrendering and being honest with myself and Jesus. If I wasn’t at work or church, I was drinking and eating Jesus. And this was the beginning of a relationship for me like no other.

Two years went by, and as my relationship with Jesus grew, my faith did too! In my quiet time with my Lord, He spoke to my inner man saying, “You are right in my sight, now I must make you right in the sight of man.” I didn’t understand what exactly He meant, but I trusted Him. I offended the laws of the land. Even though I was forgiven by grace, I now how to give Caesar what was his. I had a court date for these charges and went before the judge for my offence, and God saw favor. My sentence was five years hard labor, reduced to two and a half years. It was my first offense, and I praised Jesus’ Holy Name because He had seen favor. I could hear a still voice saying, “Comfort my people. Comfort my people.” So while in prison, that’s exactly what I did. I comforted, encouraged, and introduced Jesus to countless women while I was there.

This month marks five years since that time. But every day since, I am growing with Jesus. I love Him because He first loved me. He is my life, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. He truly makes all things new. Today I still have favor in my Savior’s embrace. He has blessed me with stewardship over the Bread of Life Kitchen Ministry, where I am enlisted to be a soldier for His Kingdom; sharing the love and hope I have found in Jesus with others. And I am thankful and grateful to the one true King and Lord Jesus Christ. A lot of events in this life have occurred, and I have seen the Lord’s hand in countless ways, too many to many to write. I am thankful to Jesus that I have given Him back this life, because it’s His.

I have been reflecting on the stewardship He so entrusted me with and why does He have me doing what He trusted me to do with the Bread of Life Kitchen Ministry. He brought into remembrance when I was a little girl, how I longed to help feed the hungry children. This was a desire from long ago. Oh how faithful He is! I sit in amazement and awe of His love and how He has designed me for His good pleasure.


Bread of Life Kitchen Update
I would like to thank the hands and feet of Jesus and your obedience to the calling of furthering the Kingdom. Bread of Life Kitchen is growing in Ellis County, and our prayer is that we reach all of God’s people with the Word of God and love on them as Jesus would. This can be possible with the hands and feet working together with Christ at the center.

We have three locations:

• Monday and Wednesday at Waxahachie Housing Authority - 208 Patrick Street
• Tuesday and Thursday at Joshua Chapel - 210 N. Aikens
• Friday at Dallas Inn & Suites - 795 S. Interstate Hwy. 35

On average, we prepare 180-186 meals weekly. On a daily basis, we have 9-20 meals going to the elderly, disabled or shut-in. That’s 720-750 meals monthly, showing that there is a need in our community.

God has blessed Bread of Life Kitchen Ministry with more partners over the past few months. Since October, Dart Containers has provided all of our paper goods. Recently, we partnered with Mission 75165, which is an online ministry that we are now a part of. Sunset Hill Tree Farm has adopted Bread of Life Kitchen, and is donating all of the proceeds from their Old Tyme Christmas. We have partnered with Tuscan Slide here in Waxahachie as well. Owners Jonathan and Josh have already provided us with 2 cases of sausage and pork. They have a desire to give back to the community through Bread of Life Kitchen. On their website, they have publicly announced this partnership, and, through the holidays,Bread of Life will receive half of all gift card purchases. Praise Jesus!

During this past week, I met with the missions pastor at The Avenue, and they too want to work closely with Bread of Life. They will be sending a love offering, along with more people to serve. Waxahachie Preparatory Academy has done a food drive to benefit Bread of Life. Discipleship Ministries has also been in prayer for God’s direction in serving. The pastor and his lovely family came to serve, and they are going to partner with Bread of Life Kitchen for a wish list this Christmas.

I am thankful for everyone’s participation and thankful for God’s faithfulness. The cost of running Bread of Life Kitchen last year was roughly 21,000-25,000. This total covers the cost of operations and food. It does not include the generous giving of God’s children. Our current partners include Waxahachie Bible Church, The Avenue, Discipleship Ministries, Dart Containers, Tuscan Slice, Joshua Chapel, Waxahachie Housing Authority, and Mission 75165.