Long Beach thrift store supports Fatherless & Widows ministry

LONG BEACH, Miss. (WLOX) - A man from the Gulf Coast was inspired to create a unique ministry from a Bible verse while he was standing on the Mountain of Blessing in Israel.

“The verse James 1:27 jumped off the page to me in the 90′s,” said Charles Wambolt, President of Fatherless & Widows ministry.

He said that 15 years later while standing on the Mountain of Blessings in Israel, he was inspired to create the ministry.

That verse states, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

The ministry has been helping people for seven years, and today they celebrated the one-year anniversary of their thrift store.

God’s Will Thrift Store on Klondyke Road in Long Beach provides much of the support for the Fatherless & Widows ministry that helps those families with whatever support they can.

“We try to stand as advocates for the widows” said Wambolt. “So many contractors will take advantage of widows. We will try to get them a discount, or if they won’t give a discount, at least know that we are watching.”

Wambolt said the non-denominational Christian ministry has helped around 90 widows and a similar number of fatherless.

Wambolt described the thrift store as a tool to support the ministry.

“We would like to see business get better here. But for right now, we try to do the best that we can,” he said.

In addition to Wambolt, the ministry has two part-time employees plus volunteers.

“We’re passing through here," Wambolt said of his work. “We have a short time to do what we can to do. Please take care of the fatherless and widows around you,” he pleaded.

The ministry can be reached at 228-234-4567 and by e-mail.

They also have two Facebook pages, one for the ministry and one for the thrift store.

Copyright 2019 WLOX. All rights reserved.