Wheel of giving

Church program emphasizes sharing of blessings

The church house was rocking, the crowd was cheering and the wheel was spinning.

When the wheel stopped on the $100 mark, Vivian Rogers raised her hands in praise and shouted, “Thank you, Jesus!”

Earlier this month, Rogers was one of 87 members of The Ministry of Love Church on Hooper Road who spun a game-show style wheel marked with categories ranging from $100 to $1,000. By the time the seventh annual “Giving Back” event was over, church members had won more than $13,000 in $20, $50 and $100 bills.

In keeping with the spirit of the name of the ministry, many of the winners gave some — or in some cases all — of it right back to the pastor, the Rev. Bridget Steib, so someone else could spin the wheel and benefit as well.

After a bank envelope containing $13,400 was emptied in the first go-round, Rogers was the first to give back, and she gave her entire $100. Dozens of other winners followed her lead which began a second round of spinning, giving and receiving.

“I was blessed, and I want to bless others,” Rogers said when asked why she gave it all back. “The Lord says ‘Where there is faith there is love’ and with us, here is the love of God.”

Rogers’ family was also blessed at the event, she said. Her daughters Candice Rogers, 16, won $500 and gave $100 back, and Chasity Rogers, 21, also gave some of her $100 back — money that later went to someone else.

“Seven years ago the Lord just laid it on my heart to do this,” Steib said shortly before the give-back event which brought more than 200 of the church’s approximately 400 members into the sanctuary on a Friday night. “I heard his voice. He said, ‘Seek out ways to be a blessing.’

“If every church leader would do something like this — give money back to the people — I believe many, many people would turn their hearts to Christ,” Steib said.

Since the Ministry of Love began giving back to the community, $126,900 has been disbursed, according to Bernetta Knighten, executive assistant to Steib.

That amount includes several new cars donated to needy people in a related program called MEAD (Motivate, Excellence, Academic, Divinity.)

In order to play the give-back ‘game,’ a person had to qualify by giving money during the past year specifically for this event, Steib explained. There are several large, brass cans on the church’s platform marked with various collection categories such as “Seed,” and “Give-Back,” and that money is saved during the year for this, Steib said.

“Wherever the spin stops, that’s the money they get,” Steib said. The name of everyone who gave as little as a dollar was written on strips of paper she drew from the “Give Back” can, held by her husband the Rev. Joseph Steib. Then she called the names of those who could come spin the wheel.

The Ministry of Love is a full gospel church — meaning such gifts of the spirit as speaking in tongues are emphasized. The Steibs started the congregation in their home in 1994. Since then it has steadily grown from 20 to more than 400 members and expanded to include two day-care centers and a school of ministry, she said.

Bridget Steib also hosts local radio broadcasts and women’s conferences, writes books and has appeared on numerous Christian television programs, most recently with Paula White on Trinity Broadcasting Network.

As Steib called names and happy people ran to the platform to spin the wheel, the crowd’s energy steadily increased. The Christian rapping of Carlos Vaughn’s “Joyful Noise” boomed in between Steib’s enthusiastic name calls.

When Carol Veal’s spin stopped on the $1,000 mark, the crowd went wild and she jumped up and down, waving her hands over her head.

“Joy! Joy! Joy!” declared Veal after she collected a handful of $100 bills from the treasurer’s table, guarded by an armed sheriff’s deputy. The 56-year-old grandmother of four said she would “seed 10 percent back into the ministry” and use the rest to pay bills and clothe her grandchildren.

“This tells me kindness pays off,” Veal said. “It is better to give than to receive.”

Donte’ Johnson, 20, is a lifelong church member now attending Tuskegee University and majoring in electrical engineering. He was home for the holidays and his spin stopped at $400.

“I will give 10 percent back,” Johnson said, “and will use the rest to help my Mom and Dad” who were in the audience.

Jeremy Fisher was holding his 2-year-old son, Jeremy Fisher Jr., on his lap when his name was called. He won $300 and a few minutes later his wife Laquica won $400.

They both gave 10 percent back to the pastor who later gave it to another spin winner.

“That’s what this is all about,” Jeremy Fisher said. “I wanted to bless somebody else. I didn’t expect to win.”

He said they would use the rest of the money to take the family to New Orleans.

A few minutes later Adrienne Vallet’s spin stopped on the $1,000 slot and she fell to her knees, pounding her hands on the floor. After being helped up, she collapsed again in front of the treasurer’s table.

“I’m just overjoyed,” Vallet, 35, a mother of two daughters, said later. “I’m giving back $100 and will pay some bills with the rest. It’s going to help!”

“This (event) makes everybody want to give some more,” Vallet said. “It helps bless everybody, and it’s a way to express our love for each other.”

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