As people drive through the line to collect styrofoam containers of food at Gering United Methodist Church, they stop and ask Melvin Shockley to say a prayer for them, or others in their lives.
Mary Ann Shockley readies rolls for distribution during the December soup kitchen for the First Assembly of God. She and her husband, Melvin, have been heading up the soup kitchen, which is held the third Wednesday of each month, since 2004. MAUNETTE LOEKS/Star-Herald
One woman asks Melvin to pray for her as she has been experiencing depression for some time, especially now that it is the holidays. Another woman asks Melvin to pray for a relative struggling with cancer. He says he will. Fellowship is one of the reasons that Melvin became involved with the soup kitchen, seeing it as a way to serve his faith and the community. He and his wife, Mary Ann, have now been the driving force behind the First Assembly of Godâs monthly âsoup kitchenâ for 16 years.