{"id":93848,"date":"2020-06-12T12:46:45","date_gmt":"2020-06-12T19:46:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theavtimes.com\/?p=93848"},"modified":"2020-06-12T13:44:12","modified_gmt":"2020-06-12T20:44:12","slug":"giving-back-lancaster-ministry-helping-the-community-during-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/2020\/06\/12\/giving-back-lancaster-ministry-helping-the-community-during-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"Giving back: Lancaster ministry helping the community during pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Living Water Worship Center hosts food distribution drives Monday through Thursday, and on Saturday. The drive-through service takes place in front of the ministry at 1111 West Avenue L-12 in Lancaster. [ANTHONY CHEVAL]<\/figcaption><\/figure>LANCASTER \u2013 Living Water Worship Center <\/strong>in Lancaster gave away boxes piled high with groceries to hundreds of residents in need recently as part of an ongoing effort to fill stomachs and hearts during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have been giving [away] food, showers, haircuts, and clothing while the coronavirus pandemic has been in effect,\u201d said Senior Pastor Dwayne Jones<\/strong>. \u201cWe have been continuing to be open to help our community in need.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jones said his 85-member congregation with the help of volunteers have assisted between 3,000 and 5,000 people each month since March, when COVID-19 began to spread across Los Angeles County and into the Antelope Valley.<\/p>\n

The local ministry hosts food distribution drives Monday through Thursday, and on Saturday. The drive-through service takes place in front of the Living Water Worship Center at 1111 West Avenue L-12 in Lancaster.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t make a difference where they\u2019re from, we\u2019ll take anybody who is in need\u2026 They don\u2019t need a driver\u2019s license or anything; if they come here having a need we will service them,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n

Jones, an Air Force veteran who retired after more than three decades of civil service, started Living Water Worship Center on New Year\u2019s Eve in 2011. He said the ministry came out of a home bible study.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe started on our living room sofa. God birthed the ministry and it continued to grow,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n

In 2013, the ministry moved to its current location in Lancaster. Since then, Living Water Worship Center has consistently distributed food and resources throughout the community, thanks to donations from big box stores like Walmart, Costco, and Target, as well as the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a venture,\u201d Jones recalls. \u201cWe started with a small trailer — the wheels were bowed out — sometimes we didn\u2019t know how we were gonna make it back up the hill coming [from Los Angeles] to Lancaster, but by the grace of God we have grown into where we are now and it was a journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

They\u2019re now looking to expand grocery distributions to include \u201chot meals for the community\u2019s homeless who can\u2019t prepare food,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n

Asked why it is important for his ministry to give back to the community, Jones said: \u201cOur community is who we are. If my community is hurting, I\u2019m hurting; if my community is in lack, I\u2019m in lack\u2026 God has blessed us and blessed this ministry so we have to be in the giving business. The bible says, \u2018For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten son,\u2019 so because He gives, we give.\u201d<\/p>\n

To learn more about Living Water Worship Center and how you can help or donate to the ministry\u2019s efforts, visit: https:\/\/lwwcofav.org\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Pastor Jones credits his wife, Tesia, and members of his 85-member congregation “who work hard and consistently help to build a kingdom of God here on earth.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Living Water Worship Center is funded from church tithes and offerings from its 85-member congregation and volunteers. [ANTHONY CHEVAL]<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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Items for distribution come from big box stores like Walmart, Costco, and Target, as well as the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. [ANTHONY CHEVAL]<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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Sen. Scott Wilk assisted volunteers at a recent food distribution drive at Living Water Worship Center. [ANTHONY CHEVAL]<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\n–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LANCASTER \u2013 Living Water Worship Center in Lancaster gave away boxes piled high with groceries to hundreds of residents in need recently as part of an ongoing effort to fill stomachs and hearts during the COVID-19 pandemic. \u201cWe have been giving [away] food, showers, haircuts, and clothing while the coronavirus pandemic has been in effect,\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":93850,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1499,11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93848"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93848\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}