98-Year-Old Woman Pioneers Feeding Ministry

Story by Benia Jennings

On an early morning in Cleveland, Alice Mae Jones (pictured) begins her drive to the nearby Salvation Army in search of bread. After collecting several loaves, she returns home to wrap the slices and sets some aside to help church members in need. She saves the rest for the hungry in her community. In her neighborhood, she offers prayer, encouragement and Bible studies.

Jones, a second generation Seventh-day Adventist, has been active in ministry in Northern Ohio since moving to Cleveland in 1946. Armed with loaves of bread and her Bible, this one-woman feeding ministry has impacted the lives of many in her community.

“We need to show people love, that’s it. They just want to know that somebody cares about them; that somebody loves them,” says Jones.

A pioneer in Prison Ministries and Health Ministries, a deaconess, choir member and Sabbath School teacher at the Glenville Present Truth church in Cleveland, Jones has been active and thoroughly engaged in practically every ministry. At age 98, she still drives unassisted, leads Bible studies, feeds the hungry and regularly visits the local prison.

She attributes her longevity and vitality to a steadfast faith in God and a disciplined lifestyle. “We don’t teach our young people to have love for one another,” Jones says. “I’m always ... trying to learn new ways to teach, reach and love people.”