Allegheny East Conference

AEC Calvary Church Elder Rudolph Ortega on left

Story by LaTasha Hewitt

With the newly renovated Dorcas building, the Community Services Department at the Calvary church in Newport News, Va., recently reinstituted their community grocery giveaway, providing bags of groceries to many local residents. At the relaunch, members served more than 29 families and distributed 70 bags filled with groceries and literature.

Members welcomed representatives from the Newport News Police Department, as well as several volunteers. They also met many neighbors and extended a special invitation to worship at the church. Calvary plans to maintain contact with each participant.

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“A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps” (Prov. 16:9, NKJV).

Years ago, I started college in Alabama. The degree I chose forced me to transfer to a sister school in California for nine months. An East Coast native, I told God that I would never end up this far away from home again.

A few years later, I was working in Massachusetts, feeling quite at home. My then girlfriend was in graduate school in Maryland. The only way we could plan for our future together, without disrupting what she had started, was to transfer to a school in California. I couldn’t believe that I was willing to return to the place that had me homesick.

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“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Eph. 6:11, NKJV).

“The term ‘armed to the teeth’ originated in Port Royal Jamaica in the 1600s when pirates were constantly looking for ships to loot and their guns were very primitive. As a result, pirates could shoot only once before a long reloading process. Consequently, they needed to carry a gun in each hand, and perhaps in each pocket. For extra power, they would also hold a knife between their teeth. To be ‘armed to the teeth’ means to carry the maximum number of weapons possible.”*