On Sunday, Nov. 10,, Agape Tabernacle International Fellowship celebrated the lives and the sacrifices of veterans at both the 8 a.m. and the 2 p.m. services. They put particular emphasis on those veterans who are facing difficulties and challenges in our communities. The program was organized with the help and direction of Pastor Dr. Yoreel Fraser Trumpet, who serves as pastor of the Outreach Ministry, and [myself] Bishop Dr. Barbara Austin Lucas, the senior pastor of Agape Tabernacle International Fellowship, located at 8712 Glenwood Road.
Among those who spoke to recognize and honor veterans were SFC Walter Gist, retired U.S. Army, 29 years; Leonie Ulysse Simon, a member of the military for 32 years, as well as a member of Church of The Pilgrim Holiness; George Edward Shoffner, a Navy veteran with 31 years of service who shared a harrowing account of an experience at sea during the Vietnam War; Bernard “Ben” Thompson (the Rev. Sonya Merrill Williams’ brother); and Oscar Robinson, son of James “Rocky” Robinson, founder of Bedford Stuyvesant Volunteer Corps, who served in the United States Army and who passed away earlier this year.
The sermon was delivered by the Rev. Sonya Merrill Williams who serves as pastor of Church Without Walls, in Norwalk, Connecticut. Special recognition was given to the Bedford Stuyvesant Emergency Corps and the Veterans Hospital. The congregants were encouraged to continue to support and to give to worthy and reputable organizations that are working to meet the needs of challenged veterans, as well as organizations in their communities that help to make their communities better and stronger such as the Bedford Emergency Corps. They were asked to do this in addition to presenting personal items such as socks, deodorant, toothpaste and blankets for challenged veterans.