Saturday, a local church held the largest ministry of its kind, giving students in need apparel to have during the school year.

St. John’s Church of Christ hosted its WOW event on Saturday at 11 a.m., dispersing over 200 pair of shoes and 100 coats to local students in the area whose families are less fortunate than most. Event chair Charnita Ricks said this is the first year the church has held the event, and it hopes to continue the ministry annually.

Ricks said the church allocated a certain amount of money for the event and purchased new items to give away to students in the community who are in Kindergarten through 12^th grade. It partnered with three area businesses — Walmart, Burke’s Outlet and Shoe Show — to locate discounted or clearance items, allowing the church to give away a bulk of apparel.

“We are hoping to serve about 300 youth,” Ricks said before the event. “ We understand with the times and people’s financial situation, a lot of kids are going back to school and going back, some of our youth are not afforded the opportunity to have new items. With this event, we can help those youth, and they don’t have to go back without what they need.”

The “first come, first serve” event was aided by Beaufort County and Martin County Department of Social Services, giving the church specific families to invite, Ricks said. The partnership with DSS allowed the church to have a preregistration for the event, narrowing the search for families in the county that are in need.

“Martin County DSS, Beaufort County DSS and social workers were instrumental, and they helped distribute information to families in the county,” Ricks said. “DSS gave us the names of families in need in our county. We received numerous calls, and we are super excited.

“The Bible says ‘To whom much is given, much is expected.’ Our pastor really enforces us going out and ministering in the community and giving back. Our goal is evangelism and just being there for the people in our community, and we felt like this was a wonderful way to give back. With students going back to school and not having the same things their peers have, it kind of lowers their self-esteem so having these items will help boost their self-esteem.”

St. John Pastor Russell Wilkins said the church is one that operates outside of the box. It strives to depart from the four walls of the church and ministering to the community. The event is the largest ministry of its kind the church conducts. After the event, the church will evaluate its success and then decide upon the next major event for the community, Wilkins said.

“We enter into the sanctuary to worship, but we depart to serve,” Wilkins said. “This is a great way of showing the community the love of Jesus Christ. We can preach and teach, but when we put things into action, it speaks louder than words. It’s about getting outside the four walls as well as spreading the love of God. I believe loving deeds done by unassuming believers can convince people of the love of God better than all the words in the world. Our bottom line is to show the love of Christ beyond the four walls of the church.”