In a little more than two hours, the membership at Holiness Tabernacle Church Of God In Christ distributed over 700 turkeys to those in need, on November 17.
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Lines began forming to receive this holiday blessing well before 9 a.m., as the parking lot filled to capacity. A host of Holiness Tabernacle volunteers helped with greeting and passing out turkeys while Pastor Eddie B Pruitte and First Lady Vivian Pruitte shook hands with each and every person who came through the doors of the church.
“This is what God has called us to do. We want to be a blessing to the community. So anyone who comes through our doors on this day gets a free turkey” said Pastor Pruitte, who heeded the call of God to start distributing turkeys to the Woodbridge and Occoquan communities four years ago.
Gratitude ran throughout the church as family upon family arrived to receive a turkey. “This is such a wonderful blessing,” said one mother who arrived early for the distribution. “And it was right on time.”
When commenting on the ease and efficiency of this year’s give away, Minister Andre Powell turned to the church’s 2012 theme. “This is the evidence of God’s overflow.”
When the final turkey was distributed, volunteers from Holiness Tabernacle and the Sherriff’s department posed for a group photo, a tradition that began last year to commemorate the success of the event.
Following the group photo, Pastor Pruitte conducted a telephone interview with WTOP, the leading all-news radio station in DC. “Being a blessing for the community is not new to our church,” he explained. “We’ve been reaching out to the community since the days of our founding father, Bishop Charles Mason, and we’re going to continue doing this, because it’s what God has called us to do.”
At the completion of the interview, Holiness Tabernacle sounded off with a “Happy Thanksgiving from Holiness Tabernacle!!”
All in all, Holiness Tabernacle’s 2012 turkey give-away was a perfect example of a simple truth: when the church sacrifices to help those in need, God provides the increase.