photo by: Derek Redd

From front, Sister Latisha Cummings of Bethlehem Apostolic Temple, Makayla Cash and Dee King of Bethlehem Apostolic Temple, set out desserts for Tuesday’s lunch at the Soup Kitchen of Greater Wheeling.

WHEELING — The Ohio District Council of Pentecostal Churches will spend this week at the Highlands Event Center for its January conference.

The theme for the week is “Evangelism: The Church At Work.” Members of the district council put that theme in action Tuesday at the Soup Kitchen of Greater Wheeling, helping serve the day’s lunch as well as handing out clothes and care packages to those coming to the soup kitchen for a meal.

As the doors opened Tuesday, the line was down the sidewalk outside the soup kitchen, and district council members were ready to help. They were behind the counter, scooping food onto trays and setting out desserts. They were in the dining area handing out items and praying with those who asked for it.

Elder James Dunigan is pastor of Be Blessed Ministries in Cincinnati and the evangelism director of the Ohio District Council, which is part of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World. He said in talking with Bishop Darrell Cummings of Bethlehem Apostolic Temple in Wheeling, they found that helping at the Soup Kitchen of Greater Wheeling was the best place to turn word into deed.

“We brought our resources together here to show the love of Christ through our giving, through our song and worship,” Dunigan said. “Collaborating with (Cummings), this was the best place to reach the most folks and to the most good for as many people as we could at this time.”

Cummings, whose Bethlehem Apostolic Temple and Shiloh Apostolic Faith Assembly in Weirton both are part of the Ohio District Council, said it was wonderful that Pentecostal faith leaders from cities like Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati could visit the Ohio Valley to help those in need.

He appreciated the Soup Kitchen’s willingness to invite the Ohio District Council to help Tuesday, and said district members hoped their contributions stretched beyond the material.

“Most of all, we want to give people hope,” he said. “We want them to know they are loved, that God loves them and their community loves them and, as bad as sometimes things may seem, we believe God has a plan for their life.”

Becky Shilling Rodocker, executive director of the Soup Kitchen of Greater Wheeling, was grateful for the district council’s help Tuesday, as the kitchen can feed up to 300 people a day on some days. She also felt it was a great way to show those from elsewhere not just the needs of people in the Ohio Valley, but how different groups can come together to help fulfill those needs.

“It’s a chance to show what we can do in a clean, inviting environment,” she said.

The Ohio District Council will meet through the week at the Highlands Events Center with different guest speakers every day. For more information on the conference, visit ohiodistrictcouncil.org.