ROCKINGHAM — Congregants of one local church took their faith to the streets Sunday afternoon.
Members of First Harvest Faith Christian Center in Hamlet had tents set up in the parking lot of the shopping center with Ollie’s and Harbor Freight, spreading the gospel to passersby.
“We’re out here taking it to the streets, helping people, giving them prayer, giving them hope, giving them life — if possible,” said Pastor Anita Riley.
“We had a lot of people that said, ‘No, we don’t want no prayer, we don’t want to talk to y’all,’” Riley added. “But for the most part, most of them are receptive to what we were saying.”
Riley said it’s better for the congregation to be out and about than “sitting in that church, Sunday after Sunday, not meeting new people out there in the streets that really need our help.”
In addition to their spot in the lot, Riley said church members split into groups of three and also went to Food Lion, Roses, Walmart, Lowe’s and the nearby apartments — “just meeting people and telling them the goodness about the Lord” and asking if they wanted to receive salvation.
Church members also gave out bags with Vienna sausages, chips, granola bars and water: “Just something to say, ‘We love you.’” Each bag also contained two gospel tracts.
She said the church has this type of outreach ministry twice a year, and has even extended outside of Richmond County to Laurinburg and Wadesboro.
