Family's faith gives others body and soul food
Aleesa Mann/Contributing writer
Issue date: 5/31/09 Section: Cover
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Wedged between a church and an organic food store, the restaurant features a lineup of ribs, steamed spiced shrimp and BBQ pork chops. Side items include potato salad, cole slaw and macaroni and home-made cheese.
She and her husband, Robert Wright Sr., and their two sons, Richard and Robert Jr., co-own and operate the carryout. But besides being a restaurateur, Wright is associate pastor at Victory Church International in Fort Washington.
The Israelites journeyed through the desert and suffered debilitating hunger pains, she recounts. Their pain was satiated only when God sent down manna. She, too, faced devastating depression and alcoholism. Like the Israelites, her miseries were relieved when she started following the Lord.
I had a pretty sad childhood, but at least now I can smile even though we¹re going through this tough time, said Wright in a gentle voice. I'm still holding on that it is all going to work. I know He can do miracles because He has already done them in my life.
The miracle Pastor Wright is praying for is turning the four-month-old restaurant into a solvent eatery. It started by smoking turkeys for our friends, Pastor Wright said. ³We started getting so many requests around the holidays that we felt we needed to make some money because this was hard work.
That was about 20 years ago. But, in 2004, the Wrights decided to jump into the catering service. Two years later, they purchased a mobile kitchen for $50,000, spent $20,000 on an engine for the kitchen's truck, and were ready to open shop.
A zoning law, however, shot down that dream. Their attorney had not researched Prince George¹s County laws, which prohibit operating mobile kitchens. It was a set back for the Wrights, but having already sank $70,000 into their investment, they refused to give up.
They tried relocating the mobile kitchen to Maryland's Charles County. The zoning department shut them down there, too. Then the family moved the business to Calvert County, but the commute, and gas prices did them in.
Every time something gets off track, that's when we know it's time to start praying again. And everything falls into place after that, said Richard Wright.
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