{"id":22616,"date":"2026-07-17T11:57:45","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T15:57:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/?p=22616"},"modified":"2026-07-17T11:57:45","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T15:57:45","slug":"churchs-grocery-giveaway-leads-dozens-to-christ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2026\/07\/churchs-grocery-giveaway-leads-dozens-to-christ.html","title":{"rendered":"Church\u2019s Grocery Giveaway Leads Dozens to Christ"},"content":{"rendered":"
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One church is meeting the needs of its community and that\u2019s leading to some big spiritual decisions being made. Friendship Baptist Church (FBC) in Lawton, Oklahoma hosted a free food giveaway<\/a> on July 11, offering it as first come, first served event. It\u2019s something the small church generally tries to do once a month, typically around the middle of the month because, according to the church\u2019s senior pastor Dr. Walter Wilson, that\u2019s when people tend to start needing help. \u201cThey have to register when they come in. We try to do it once a month, usually about the middle of the month because people\u2019s funds run out by that time \u2014 by this time every month, their funds run out. They don\u2019t have enough and they appreciate whatever you give,\u201d he told a local news outlet<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The church usually receives around 200 to 225 people every month. However, this month\u2019s event saw over 300 people. Event organizers stated they believed the increase was from the rising costs of living, which have been exacerbated by rising gas prices. \u201cOur church, under the leadership of Dr. Walter A. Wilson, saw a need in the community and wanted to help. We had a small food pantry already. However, we soon discovered it was not enough to help those in need,\u201d church administrator Tammi Whittman told The Christian Post<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

While the event served people\u2019s physical needs, Whittman noted that the church did not dismiss its duty to meet the spiritual needs of the people. She reported that church volunteers had prayed with 73 individuals and that 35 had accepted Christ as their savior. \u201cWe hope to continue reaching those in need by inviting them to get to know our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,\u201d said Whittman. Dr. Wilson emphasized that the goal is not to grow the church\u2019s numbers, but to grow others spiritually. \u201cWe\u2019re finding that the more we can give is better, and we\u2019re not looking for members, we\u2019re looking for souls,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Church food pantries open many paths for spiritual connection with members of the community. During the pandemic while many were out of work, churches filled the gap to serve the needs of those suffering not only economic issues, but physical isolation. Lead pastor Kevin Harney of Shoreline Church in Monterrey, California discussed the strategies his church used during the height of the pandemic to ensure the church was going beyond the physical needs of those it served. \u201cWhat we realized was that, before the pandemic hit, our food pantry gave a lot of food and we were kind, but there was not a clear and intentional evangelistic focus to the ministry. If we were going to invest huge amounts of time and energy into a growing outreach ministry, we were going to make sure we were actually having a spiritual impact and doing evangelism,\u201d Harney wrote for the Lewis Center for Church Leadership<\/a>. \u201cWe wanted to do all we could to have spiritual conversations and prayer with anyone who came for food, if they were interested.\u201d By switching to a focus on Gospel-centered conversations, the church increased engagement to 70 percent. The lessons learned were then gathered in Harney\u2019s book, Organic Outreach<\/em>, so that other churches like Shoreline and now Friendship Baptist can meet the pressing spiritual needs of their communities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One church is meeting the needs of its community and that\u2019s leading to some big spiritual decisions being made. Friendship Baptist Church (FBC) in Lawton, Oklahoma hosted a free food giveaway on July 11, offering it as first come, first served event. It\u2019s something the small church generally tries to do once a month, typically…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":22619,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiring-messages"],"yoast_head":"\nChurch\u2019s Grocery Giveaway Leads Dozens to Christ<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Friendship Baptist Church fed 300+ people, prayed with 73 and saw 35 accept Christ through its Oklahoma food giveaway outreach.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2026\/07\/churchs-grocery-giveaway-leads-dozens-to-christ.html\" \/>\n<meta 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