HASKELL — Doyle Reed looks the part of a heavy equipment operator. His skin is weathered. His large hands are proof that he worked hard for many years.

And then he speaks. He quotes the 41st Psalm. It’s more than a recitation. Reed’s heart shows through his resonant voice.

He believes it his and his wife Lois’ calling in life to help the poor and downtrodden.

The fire that destroyed their Ezra House Family Life Center earlier this month has been a test of that strong faith for both of them.

One morning last week Lois Reed said she didn’t know if she was up to rebuilding the ministry from scratch. By that afternoon, she was once again feeling ready to resume their efforts.

Doyle Reed said he too has felt that frustration.

“The despair is in looking at what happened,” he said. “But you just look higher and know that God will replace it all.

“No matter what, you just don’t give up. You can give up and go home and set in your recliner, but what good is that?”

The ministry doesn’t have its former building, but it hasn’t closed its doors. A 40-foot container was placed in the shadow of the burned-out building this week and will serve as the mission’s food distribution center beginning this afternoon.

Lois Reed said getting the food pantry reopened has been a priority because area schools are out for the summer and many children won’t have the two meals a day they have been receiving there.

The Ezra House ministry served all the west end of Muskogee County and some areas of Wagoner County — with people coming in from Taft, Redbird and Boynton.

There are a lot of poor people in the area who depend on the mission, Reed said.

State statistics show 21.8 percent of Haskell’s population lives below the poverty level. Statewide, about 16 percent of the population lives in poverty. Taft and Redbird have poverty levels of more than 30 percent.

Restocking the Ezra House food pantry has been an area-wide effort. The Beggs Roundup Club members rode their horses through town last Sunday, collecting food for the mission.

First Baptist Church also held a food drive Sunday, and donations left from a holiday food drive by Haskell students also were given to the mission.