Share
An N.C. pastor is teaming up with a key figure in Columbia's evangelical community to deliver thousands of pounds of food next week to those in need.
The Rev. Eddie Guess compares next Saturday's food donation by the Rev. Christopher Cookhorne and his Charlotte-based Bethel Worship Center to that of the charitable work of first-century Christians.
“I've been teaching what caused the early church to be so successful, and one of the main reasons is the unity,” said Guess, pastor of Good News Global Ministries in North Columbia.
Cookhorne's church has an ongoing food distribution ministry, with donations supplied by companies and farmers. Guess heard about it through a relative.
There will be about 25,000 to 40,000 pounds of food for the event, including canned and packaged foods, beverages and at least 10,000 pounds of fresh vegetables, including tomatoes, corn, squash and zucchini, Cookhorne said.
“We have been doing this for approximately 12 years,” Cookhorne said. “We have never had to turn anyone away.”
Guess anticipates 700 to 800 families will come to the former Stone Manufacturing facility on North Main Street, where Cookhorne plans to set up tables in a horseshoe formation for orderly distribution.
Guess is working with the city police and fire departments on security for the event.
Guess, who coordinated this year's National Day of Prayer event and remains active in the evangelical group City Light, said he has notified North Columbia pastors about the food distribution.
That effort already has borne fruit, he said Thursday.
A downtown church gave him a check to purchase meats to supplement the vegetables and canned goods. Guess is hoping to add poultry to the food bags.
He hopes pastors will come out next Saturday to witness the needs in the community, which he said extend beyond simply providing a meal.
“There are actually people who are having a rough time even before the downsizing,” Guess said. “It is the church's role to fill in the gap. We are in a community that is a rich ground for harvest.”
He lamented that the poor “stay away from places of worship as much as they can and depend on the government.”
“We'd rather they depend on the Lord. If you depend on the government, you get in a place of dependency. When you depend on the Lord, it will show the way.”
Cookhorne said Guess' spirit of Christian outreach prompted him to come to Columbia.
“We need churches out there demonstrating love in a tangible way,” Cookhorne said. “This is one of the things that Pastor Guess is trying to spark.”
