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Joliet church giving away free gasoline on June 24

Pastor Jonas Jones: ‘This is just something God has put on our hearts to do.’

By Denise M. Baran-Unland
Cars wait in line on Republic Avenue in Joliet on Saturday, September 26, 2020, for their turn to receive $20 in free gas at Marathon Gas in Joliet. New Covenant Worship Center in Joliet gave away $20 in free gas to the first 150 cars on that day.

Cars wait in line on Republic Avenue in Joliet on Saturday, September 26, 2020, for their turn to receive $20 in free gas at Marathon Gas in Joliet. New Covenant Worship Center in Joliet gave away $20 in free gas to the first 150 cars on that day. (Denise Unland)

A Joliet church wants to bless 200 people with $20 of free gas on June 24 on a first-come, first-serve basis until 200 people have received gas.

New Covenant Worship Center in Joliet will host its gas giveaway at 10 a.m. at Marathon Gas, 2314 Glenwood Ave. in Joliet. It’s the fifth time the church has hosted this event. It’s the second gas giveaway at this location, said the church’s pastor, Jonas Jones.

“It’s just to show people the love of God and to help people where they’re at,” Jones said. “A lot of different people have different things going on,” New Covenant Worship Center Jonas Jones said. “The prices of things are going up the last couple of years. Food prices are going up. General merchandise prices are going up. We felt the need to just help people out and give them relief financially.”

Jones said members of New Covenant Worship Center will distribute numbers to people waiting in line. That way, no one waits a long time only to find out they can’t get free gas, he said.

“But if there’s just a couple people left – two or three or four people – we just pull out of our pockets,” Jones said.

Previous events were held in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2020 and totaled more than $12,500 in free gas, Jones said. The first three were held on Joliet’s East side, where New Covenant Worship Center was previously located, Jones said.

New Covenant Worship Center gives away more than gas. Through the years, New Covenant Worship Center has has given away laundromat services, school supplies, coats, scholarships, turkeys, and gift cards for food and holiday gifts.

Once a month and at random, members of New Covenant Worship Center give away four $50 gift cards at the Walmart in Joliet, Jones said.

“You never know when our team will be out there,” Jones said.

“It’s just to show people the love of God and to help people where they’re at. A lot of different people have different things going on.”

—  New Covenant Worship Center Pastor Jonas Jones

Jones said New Covenant Worship Center also plans to give away 10 $500 college scholarships later this year.

The giveaways are part of New Covenant Worship Center’s expression of their faith and as part of “purpose-driven giving,” Jonas said in a 2019 Herald-News story.

“It’s given above and beyond tithes and offerings – after we take up tithes and offerings at the end of the service,” Jones said in 2019. “We give on purpose. People think we’ve got sponsors and maybe organizations and different things, but all of our events have been sponsored from the people through free will giving.”

Jones said church members may pray with attendees at events. But they don’t proselytize, he said. Occasionally, the giveaways do attract new members to New Covenant Worship Center, Jones said. But often those are people who didn’t receive anything free, he said.

“This is just something God has put on our hearts to do,” Jones said. “It’s just something we do to give back to the people in the community to let they know, ‘Hey, we appreciate you,’ and to help the business on that particular day. So it helps all the way around. It’s just to share the love of Jesus. That’s the biggest thing.”

For information about New Covenant Worship Center, visit newcovncwc.com.