By Karen McBride
Published in the Dunndeal Gazettes March, 2024
In 2020, Mike McBride suffered the unimaginable. He had a stroke at the age of 45 and received the grim news that he probably would not be able to walk again.
He was a Christian, but not giving God 100% of his life. The diagnosis changed his heart and his purpose in life. He began studying the Bible and digging into God’s word.
Over time, he regained the use of his legs. The stroke was caused by a bad aortic valve in his heart and surgery was performed to replace it with an artificial valve. He was sent home, and complications arose. His wife, Cindy, was a cardiac nurse at the time and quickly recognized he was swelling up. She took him to the emergency room, and it was determined the valve was leaking causing internal bleeding. He had lost 7 units of blood (the body holds 8, so that’s how serious it was). He was placed on a breathing tube, his kidneys were failing, and he had to receive dialysis.
As he was in and out of consciousness, he heard the doctor tell the nurse that he had a 5% chance to live. As Mike heard this he thought, “You must not know my God!”
His health turned the corner and after a month in the hospital, he was released. He still was not completely healed, and he remembers during the dark days, he prayed that God would take him home and for peace for his family if his prayer was answered. But God said to him clearly, “No, it’s not time.”
As the owner of a catering company, he was used to preparing large quantities of food. He began to pray about how he could use his talents to serve the Lord. That is when 5 Loaves & 2 Fish began. The ministry serves ministries throughout the area including Idlewild at the Springs (a ministry run by Idlewild Baptist Church), Hope for Tampa (which has a food pantry and a homeless ministry), the Oasis Pregnancy Center, and participate in Teacher appreciation week by providing lunch to 15 schools in the area.
“I love spreading God’s word through catering,” he said. He remembers one gentleman when handed a box of food said he didn’t have any money. Mike’s reply was “it has already been paid with the blood of Jesus.”
Matthew 25:40 NIV: “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”
For more information on how you can help support the ministry through volunteering or monetary donations, visit https://www.5loaves-2fish.org/how-you-can-help/.
Photo caption: Teacher Appreciation Week 2023
