Va. church teams with oil company to give away 2,000 gallons of gas
A Virginia church partnered with an oil company to give away around 2,000 gallons of gasoline to drivers to help relieve economic hardships created by government shutdowns in response to the coronavirus.
Light of Life Church, a congregation based in Manassas, partnered with Wine Energy to do the giveaway last Saturday, with over 150 drivers coming to a local gas station where the event was held.
Light of Life Pastor Tony Lewis told The Christian Post in an interview Wednesday that his congregation wanted to help those in need because of current events.
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“The reason we did it is because of all of the things that are going around in the country and in our city, especially with COVID-19 and a lot of people are desperate and resources are scarce,” said Lewis.
“So we thought it would be a great way to give back to the community, with being a blessing with 10 gallons worth of gas that they didn’t have to pay for.”
Lewis described the Saturday morning event as going “very well” and “extremely well,” noting that “nobody ran out of gas while waiting in line.”
In past years, the church has overseen similar charitable giveaways, including a free oil change event for women whose husbands were serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“Our church is still functioning,” he continued, noting that while Light of Life has suspended in-person worship, they continue to meet online for services, Bible studies, and times of prayer.
“We hope people took away that the church is still active and still alive. There are churches in the community that are still doing things like this; certainly, we’re not the only ones.”
Across the United States, many congregations and Christian nonprofits have looked to provide charity for those affected by the coronavirus shutdowns and stay-at-home orders.
During Easter weekend, for example, the New Jersey-based Liquid Church partnered with Convoy of Hope to give approximately 26,000 pounds of relief supplies for those in need.
These relief supplies, which were stored at Liquid’s Parsippany campus, included bleach, bottled water, food, hygiene kits, paper towels, and toilet paper.
“As people who love Christ, it’s our joy to serve our neighbors across New Jersey in any way we can during this crisis. When it seems like everything is driving us to isolation, we still get to unite as the Church,” said Brooke LeMunyon, spokeswoman for Liquid Church, in an earlier interview with CP.
“While our weekly new normal is virtual community, we are also committed to loving and caring for the various needs of our church and neighbors during this time.”
