At the heart of fellowship
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on August 15, 2017 5:50 AM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
A weekly prayer lunch is held each Tuesday at Two Mama's Gift Shop in Pikeville. The weekly lunch is open to whoever wishes to attend and they even have people stop by and share a testimony.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Chris Marcoux, center, serves chicken and pastry during a weekly prayer lunch Tuesday at Two Mama's Gift Shop in Pikeville. The weekly lunch is open to whoever wishes to attend and they even have people stop by and share a testimony.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Each week regular attendees take turns preparing lunch for the group.
Gayle Peele believes in the power of prayer.
So much so that it has become the centerpiece of her Pikeville business, Two Mama's Gift Shop.
The store name is a tribute to her own mother, Ellen Blizzard, who died in 2006. The two had made jewelry and purses together, but Blizzard did not live to see the business come to fruition.
Peele opened the store three years ago, with more than profits and sales receipts in mind.
It was prompted by her heart for mothers and a desire to pray with them for their children.
"There's the two mamas -- me and you," she said with a smile.
The ministry just needed a home.
"We tried it in a house. No. This is not a church, it's not a mission, but it's just a place that I can come and pray and anybody that wants to come can come," she said. "I was stirred. I had to find a resting place."
She found it in a back room of the little shop where she worked.
It makes perfect sense, seeing as how she was born in a store. Or at least a room in the back of an old store in Fremont, formerly Old Sand Hill.
"It was an old grocery store," she explained. "Mom and Dad were back there with their mom and daddy. It was like an apartment. We didn't go to the hospital (for me to be born). I just found this out a couple years ago."
Peele admits she has always liked to do things a bit differently.
So instead of a prayer breakfast, or the typical church-type meetings on Sunday and Wednesday, she chose Tuesday and the midday meal for her ministry setting.
The idea of a "prayer lunch" started about seven months ago, she says.
It was such a priority that it is featured in all of her advertisements.
"This has to be included," she said. "I get so teary-eyed every time I think about it. I have been working real hard for the store but I want to have more time for the ministry and prayer ministry.
"God told me, you take care of the prayer room and I'll take care of the store."
She does a lot of work behind the scenes, sewing, monogramming and creating crafts like wreaths, while her oldest son, Jamie, does woodworking. Chris Marcoux works up front, handling the customer end of things.
Peele also has two other sons, Donald and Paul.
The weekly prayer lunch, Tuesday at noon, started out small -- a couple relatives and church friends -- and has grown to a faithful few.
The concept is relaxed and homey -- members take turns bringing lunch, then they share praise reports of answered prayers, concerns and a time of prayer.
As the noon hour approaches, the women begin to arrive, exchanging hugs and warm greetings.
"There's my soul sister," Peele said as pastor Mary Bunch, of Abundant Love Ministries, walks in with Ella Spruill of Goldsboro.
Peele's sisters, Laura Jones and Ann Potter, have also been big supporters.
Debbie Hardison and Frances Mooring are regulars, along with Debbie Sullivan, pastor's wife at the church Peele also attends, Fremont Holiness.
"We're here to pray for people that need it," Sullivan said. "Somebody prayed for us.
"The more prayers go up, the more blessings come down."
"I don't know about anybody else but I need it every day," Mooring said. "There's power in prayer."
Jamie comes often, and not just for the food.
"I like to hear them talk about the Lord and other things," he said. "We're like family."
Over a southern meal of chicken pastry, potato salad and hush puppies, the group welcomes anyone to join them.
"We have had people stop by and give us a testimony," Jones said. "It just lifts us up because we know if He'll do it for her, He'll do it for us."
Prayer changes things, the group agrees, and they are thankful for a place to bring their petitions.
"Maybe this will grow to get bigger and bigger," Mooring said.
"We might have to cut the wall out," Jamie said with a laugh.