LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — For over two decades, a local ministry has been helping people in southwest Little Rock. Sadly, the ministry now desperately needs some help themselves.
“First and foremost, we’re the church of the living God," Pastor K-Lay said. "We do God’s work here.”
Serving the Little Rock homeless community for the last 26 years, Pastor K-Lay Parham is doing his part to help make the city a better place for all.
“We feed a meal here five days a week," Pastor K-Lay said. "What we generally do here is have other churches and religious organizations come in, they’ll put on a meal, do a service, and the meal is open for anyone in the city to come to.”
From His Throne Ministry, now being recognized as Rock City Mission, can be found in the southwest part of Little Rock.
“We’re not concerned about where you live at or what your social situation is, all we want to know is, ‘are you hungry and do you want to hear the word of God?’” Pastor K-Lay said.
This mission is close to Pastor K-Lay’s heart as he was once a part of the homeless community.
“Myself, I’m a recovering addict and alcoholic, so my part of the ministry is helping others come back from addiction and help others come to Christ,” Pastor K-Lay said.
During the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rocky City Mission worked hard to make sure citizens on the street were not forgotten.
“We followed all CDC guidelines and mandates and we were open every day. We fed thousands," he said. "Thousands and thousands of people every day who came through our door during COVID-19.”
Now he and a slew of others are continuing the mission, following a string of bad luck over the last few week.
“We had some thieves that came in and they relived us of the compressor for our air conditioner,” he said.
In the 80-degree heat inside of their sanctuary, the self-supported organization can’t operate their cooling center for the homeless.
“It’s devastating to us, it’s heartbreaking to us,” Pastor K-Lay said.
Now, Rock City Mission is facing non-working delivery van, airless Sunday services and foodless days of the week, causing those on the streets to miss a meal.
“We’ve been open every Friday. 52 Fridays a year for the last 26 years, but I’ve been closed the last four Fridays," Pastor K-Lay said. "Unfortunately, sock and t-shirts don’t pay the bills and we want to keep the doors open. We want to keep this thing going.”
If you would like to help or donate to Rock City Mission, you can go find more information about their mission on rockcitymission.org or call Pastor K-Lay at 501818-2528 or Senior Pastor Joe Malat at 501-944-1209.