OVER 50 persons from the Albouystown environs in Georgetown were the recipients of food hampers from the Destiny Empowerment Worship Centre, on Sunday, when the church continued its annual drive in giving back to vulnerable communities.

The beneficiaries were provided with grocery bags containing a number of essential food items, and were grateful to the church for reaching out, particularly given the hardships faced this year by many persons due to the COVID-19 situation.

“This year it was rough, rough because the work does be so very hard. So we are thankful for every little bit,” commented one 50-year-old recipient who works as a domestic worker; she is also a mother of three.

A team of members from the church braved midday rain to carry out the activity, which took place on James Street. The exercise was headed by the church’s pastor, Sean Sobers, and his wife, Michelle, and marked the conclusion of the church’s annual “21 Days of Prayer” which began on December 1, 2020.
“One of the hallmarks of being a Christian is we give, Christ gave so we have to give. During this season, we believe this is the best time to give back, so every year we normally do our 21 days’ prayer and then take the time out to give. We give clothing, we give food, in whatever way we can we give, so this year is no different,” shared Sobers, who is also a well-known local singer.

Sobers said the giving back is an important component of reaching out to the masses and finishing their prayer campaign on a strong note. Sobers has been head of the Durban Street church since its inception ten years ago. The church started its giving back as part of its Christmas drive some five years ago.
“Most persons, they normally pray at the beginning of the year, but five years ago God said to us, it’s not only about beginning the year strong, but about ending the year strong. And so we started this and it is said if you do anything 21 times, it becomes a habit, so it’s not just about praying, it’s about re-dedicating your life to God; so when you come to the end of the year you finish strong and then you begin stronger,” Sobers said.

This year, the church was all the more moved to give back as a number of overseas-based persons came on board to make the activity possible.
“There are many persons in the diaspora that have been a blessing to make this a reality, and we are really grateful for their contributions,” Sobers expressed.
He further said that: “Since this whole COVID-19, we placed our service online and the online membership helped us to really grow. We had people from as far as Africa, in the US, in Canada, London, Netherlands and other places. So a lot of those persons have partnered with us, so this is not even the end there is lots more to come in 2021.”

Church Administrator, Nessa Sobers, explained that the church would often visit varying communities but was touched this year to reach out to Albouystown.
“For the past five years, we have been doing what we call a deep outreach where we empower persons by coming out into the communities and giving back to the less fortunate and vulnerable population in different ways. We don’t always come to Albouystown. We have targetted other places in Georgetown and even out of Georgetown, but we decided to come to this community this year. We were here last year and we wanted to come out and support again this year,” she shared.