Faith, Hope and Love's Official Blog

An Article from the National Chrstian Foundation Indiana

merlinfhl — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 14:27:18 +0000

I would like to share with you the article written by Jim Cotterill (permission was approved) regarding his experience with the 2011 FHL Week. It’s reminder to us that we have mission right here in our backyard.

Taking back what’s His

by Jim Cotterill | August 01, 2011

“I’m gonna kill your mom” said the spray-painted van across the street from our inner city mission site.

Welcome to the mission field! Where a house of God had once ministered to the hearts and minds of this south-east side neighborhood, evil and degradation had crept in and set up housekeeping along with mice, spiders and mold. Overgrown bushes hid vandals and illicit behavior from parents and police and we were there to reclaim the church from drug dealers, prostitutes and the ravages of misuse.

The “we” was the dynamic duo of my son Ted and myself. Ted works full time and goes to law school at night. I was thrilled that he was willing to use his very limited vacation days to work with me, so we signed up to do what ever needed to be done to help during the summer mission week organized by Faith Hope & Love.

I had met Merlin Gonzales of Faith Hope & Love several years ago and always thought that his organization’s concept, A Mission Trip in Your Own Back Yard, seemed like a really good idea—helping people right in your own city or area is a concept that is a mirror of much of New Testament ministry.

We received instructions that we were to be part of a team that would rehab a vacant church, located at 1634 E. Minnesota Street. The plan is to reincorporate the site into relationship with the community and eventually to plant a new church within its walls.

When we showed up last Monday morning, we joined a youth group that had arrived the night before from WellSpring Church in Pendleton, Indiana. The first person Ted and I met was our team leader, Facundo “Fac” Cortez, who introduced us to WellSpring’s Pastor Lynn Furrow. We met the others. Then, assignments were handed out, and it became obvious very quickly that Fac and Pastor Lynn lead by example, working tirelessly and supporting our team with true servant hearts.

Ted and I immediately felt the love that our team members showed not only each other but to us as well. Although they had spent Sunday night sleeping on the floor in the parsonage in 90+ degree heat and no air conditioning, there were no complaints only joking references to the situation.

Although the church building had been vacant for two-and-a-half years, it has good bones. It’s a solid brick building, but the property was totally overgrown with bushes and weeds, soffits needed to be repaired and windows replaced. The building was full of useless, badly damaged and soiled chairs, couches, broken office equipment, old books and the basement was tainted with mold.

There was obviously too much to do. The WellSpring people thought so. We thought so. But we dug in and soon had cleaned out the office that connected the parsonage to the church. The furniture was incredibly heavy, but the group effort made short work of the project, and Ted and I moved on to the assignment we had requested, outside landscaping. (Note: At the time of our request, we didn’t know how hot it was going to be.) But the work continued. And when we ran out of dumpster space, we called for help and another magically appeared. When extra effort was needed on a job, extra people showed up just in time. It happened over and over again. We could see that God was orchestrating our work and promoting our progress.

In every mission adventure, Christians set out to make a difference for others, to gain a global perspective, to reboot their faith and try to be the hands and feet of Christ, Ted and I were no different. And as others have experienced time and time again, we ended up being discipled to, being initiated into God’s Kingdom as active participants and, most importantly, experiencing how it feels to love like God loves.

We were instructed not to walk outside the fenced area alone. The painted van parked across the street from the church was an ominous reminder of the sadness and danger that lurked in the area. Despite this, a few afternoons the young people did venture out into the community with their youth pastor to pray over the area, to distribute invitations to a Wednesday night block party and to deliver food. They were greeted cheerfully by people telling them how much they appreciated what we were doing, others praying for them and people offering time and money to help.

Over the five days our Anderson/Indianapolis/Pendleton team of 20 was joined each day by others from Evansville, Baltimore (MD) and Springfield (IL). Although the temperature was over 90 degrees every day, and our group, totaling 118 people, had never worked together before, God orchestrated our efforts beautifully.

The next steps to engage the community include starting a food pantry in the building and handing out school supplies. And because they are here in our own back yard, we can continue to be a part of the development of this special place.

Our faith took us into this community. The love of Christ surrounded us, and when Wednesday night rolled around, 250 African American, Hispanic and white neighbors shared food and prayer together with our teams and gave impetus to the plan to reclaim this property for God.

Blessings,
Jim

FHL Week 7/27

merlinfhl — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 03:11:10 +0000

I had the privilege to visit weveral work sites in Noblesville. My day started at Hamilton Co. Fairgrounds by joining the team for the morning worship and devotion. The first work site we visited was the Meal packing at Recd Cross. It was very educational for me how they mix a balanced meal in a plastic bag.
Out next stop was at children’s outreach at a government subsidized apartment complex. They have been reading the Bible and doing crafts and playing basketball. In addition, they also fix some outside wall siding of a few apartment buildings.
Later, we visited another children’s outreach. They were learning how to make Tie Dye shirts. This was my first time to see how they make it.
Nexxt, we went to a house yard work outreach. The man of family has serious illness that prevented him from doing physical work. The local missionaries helped them in weeding the garden, doing minor construction labor and cleaning the surrounding area.
My last stop was at a Neighborhood Block Party near d’town Indy. This FHL group has been rehabbing a church and doing neighborhood makeover.
I am blessed to be able to see first-hand the works of the Lord. It’s humbling to hear the different testimonials from regular people just like you and me.

God bless you,

Monday am, 7/25 Obedience accesses Faith

merlinfhl — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 11:44:59 +0000

My day starts with my daily Bible devotion, tending my garden, checking FHL web, email, etc. I was just reminiscing how the Lord had rescued us from the extreme heat yesterday.
Early Sunday morning, I asked the Lord to provide us cooler weather, with some sprinkling of rain to cool us down and cloudy.

By 1pm, the cloud starting to form and at 1:30p it rained. (Indianapolis had not had rain and it had been in the 90′s in the past several days) I grabbed the mike and asked everyone at University Park to agree with me in prayer that the event will not be stopped by heavy rain. I also announced that we worship the Lord anytime, anywhere, anyhow. Our ministry leader showed me through his iPhone the current forecast with the cloud of rain just circling around the park. Within a few minutes of rain, all of a sudden, the temperature change to 15-20 degrees cooler, with breeze and the cloud lingered.
I heard from others who just came at 2-2:30p that just a mile or two from the park was a downpour and heavy rain.

The Bible states that the Lord gave the Israelites cloud by day to keep them cool and fire by night to keep them warm.

Lord, thank you for honoring our prayer and for showing us your Glory through the changing of the atmosphere and by blessing our land.

Looking forward for more miracles today. “Obedience access faith and faith access grace. Miracles happen because of the grace of God.”

Praise the Lord!

Declaration, Proclamation and Demonstration of God’s love

merlinfhl — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 02:18:28 +0000

What an awesome start of this year FHL Week. Yes; it’s the Year of Faith. Update below but you want to see some videos, pictures of the day/s go to www.fhlinternational.org go to the right side of the site and Click on the FHL Week 2011 Videos and Twitter postings for pictures.

Saturday, 7/23 – Community cook out and tour of the projects in Lamong IN
Saturday, 7/23 – Street Dance Outreach by the Noblesville area and preparation for their projects for 7/24
Sunday, 7/24 – Noblesville area occupied the Lowe’s parking lot to build 3 church frames and to pack 25,000 meals
Sunday, 724 – FHL Week Prayer Celebration at University park

God had provided some showers that cooled down the temperature and we did not miss a beat
Worship and prayer for the 7 Spheres of influence
Dance your shoes off – after the dance, the dancers left their shoes on the ground for the home shoe give away on 7/30
Balloon release with scriptures on it declaring Jesus is Lord in Indianapolis
Gave away 800+ bottled water to the public

You are invited to post testimonials, reports of your projects, picture, videos, etc by clicking on FHLCrowdmap It is simple and fast.

See you tomorrow at one of the projects. God bless!

Giving and Serving from the hands of God

merlinfhl — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 11:29:36 +0000

If you were given a chance of a lifetime, what would you do for your neighbors and for your city? This question has been in my heart even before the Lord had birthed FHL in 2005. It is now happening right in front of our eyes.

This coming FHL Week (July 24-30), our city will see the unconditional love of God through the unselfish acts of kindness from the all sectors of our society. A national-chain restaurant providing thousands of dollars worth of food for the volunteers, ministries who invest their own money even though they are not in their “line item” or in their budget, our local government providing resources to the neighborhoods and individuals taking the entire week as their vacation to serve those people that they don’t even know. All these testimonials are blessings to hear but they are extra blessings for those who are serving. Literally, God gives through hands and He takes care of His people through the “Local Missionaries”.

In Hebrews 11:2, “This is what the ancients were commended for.” I would like to mention that the people who serve unconditional will be commended by God for their ‘faith in action’. As one Bible commentary says, “True Bible faith is confident obedience to God’s Word despite circumstances and consequences.” “The circumstances may be impossible and the consequences frightening and unknown, but we obey God’s Word just the same and believe Him to do what is right and what is best.”

I would like to extend my sincere appreciation to all of you for serving others unconditionally. You are a part of the history of the transformation of our city. I am privileged to work alongside you in the declaration and the demonstration of God’s love.

Please contact us at 317-578-3370 or info@fhlinternational.org Sign up Online to volunteer and participate.

Ephesians 3:20, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,”

May the Lord bless you abundantly and be a blessing to others,

Merlin

The next stage

merlinfhl — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 18:00:00 +0000

2 Chronicles 30:12, “Also in Judah the hand of God was on the people to give them unity of mind to carry out what the king and his officials had ordered, following the word of the LORD.” - NIV

Only by God’s blessings can we experience the true meaning of UNITY and we can carry out what FHL was called to. If we are to teach and preach unity, it needs to start from within us and from our leadership. We model who and what we are for.

Since early part of this year, my spirit has been anticipating new things coming in May (ministry-being more focused, resources/financial blessings):

in May and June we received 5 donated cars and in June alone, our income/donations was 3 times more than normal.
I sense that after our 7th FHL Week, we have to be ready for unexpected blessings and increased harvests from the years of sowing. We have been proven and tried. Our new season is coming. However, there is price to pay and we need to position ourselves for the growth and for new assignments.
2011 is the preparation for 2012 – (I’ll expound later in this)

Be ready. We will be harvesting where we did now sow and the reaper will overtake the harvesters. From the mountain of the Lord will flow Rivers of Living Water. Streams of Living Water will flow through us and we will continue to be conduits of God’s blessings to His people.

I’m looking forward to this upcoming FHL Week. Although the Official FHL Week is July 24-30th, our Noblesville area area starting early on Thursday, July 21st and a couple of other areas are extending till July 31st.

Thank you for coming alongside FHL, the ministry that God had birth out of His love for Indianapolis and beyond.

A Few God stories

merlinfhl — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 22:04:20 +0000

Here are a few stories how God used the FHL ministry to share the tangible expression of God’s love:
• In the past 6 weeks, we have received 5 donated vehicles; 3 were already donated to those in need.
• The largest single project (self-funded) during FHL Week is the 3 church build for Haiti (parts are gping to be bought and constructed in Noblesville FHL Area) plus 25,000 meals pack costing about $22,000+
• We are planning to have our biggest-ever Prayer Walk/Celebration on July 24th 3p at University Park. Please join us if you can, you will be blessed.
• We are planning to do foot washing and 500 shoes giveaway on July 30th 4p at HHOOT to the homeless
• We have planted a self-sustained Food Pantry at Boys & Girls Club at Troy Ave., Indianapolis. The pantry is open every 3rd Saturday from 2-4p. I would like to invite you to join us this month.
• We are now looking for creative ways to reach the hungry through a ‘village pantry’ model. We are aiming to start 2 of these pantries during FHL Week.
• 24/7 Prayer Room available at My Father’s House church in Broadripple during FHL Week.
• Our partnership with a non-profit organization for a 4-acre land Grassroots farm right in the Lafayette Sq Mall vicinity. We are expecting 7-10 different nationalities to farm.
• Check out my Podcasts to hear more how the Lord is blessing others through our ministry

God had given FHL grace to connect those in need with those who have resources. He is using us to mobilize hundreds of volunteers and to accomplish many projects and services with a small budget. Here’s what Indianapolis Mayor Ballard say about FHL.

God bless you!

FHL Week 2011 Update 6/17

merlinfhl — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 00:21:43 +0000

The Coming of the Kingdom of God – Luke 17:20-21, 20 Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, 21 nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within[a] you.” – NIV

What a privilege we have in Christ. He has chose us to be distributors of the Kingdom treasures and blessings. It’s unfathomable that the Kingdom of God is within us.

Here are the Updates for the FHL Week:

Possible 24/7 Prayer Room in the Midtown area starting 7/24 (Midtown Area)
Several youth and adults from New Castle, Anderson & Pendleton, IN are planning to stay at a church parsonage during FHL Week for a Neighborhood Makeover near the d’town Indy (Pendleton/Anderson area)
The Official Kick off of FHL week is 7/24 at University Park and part of the celebration is Dance Your Shoes Off where hundreds of participants will dance to make God famous and will leave their shoes to be distributed for those in need (FHL Indiana)
FHL is partnering with several homeless ministries for the 7/30 Foot Washing and to give them the shoes that were collected on 7/24 (FHL Indiana)
On 7/28-30 will be feeding both of body and soul in the West side of Indy with unabashed worship, sharing of the Gospel to general public and possible clothing give away (West side Area)
FHL is now recruiting for “Citizen Reporters” who will be simultaneously reporting during FHL Week from different locations. Please sign up on FHL website Volunteer page to find out more about this new initiative (FHL Indiana)
“Hands for Haiti” in which we will construct 3 church buildings and pack 25,000 meals for the people of Haiti (Noblesville area)
Town Hall Meeting in Lamong, In to discuss the plans for the Neighborhood Makeover 6/23 7p at Lamong Christ Community Church (NW Area)

We have many larger projects that could keep many volunteers busy throughout the week. Please contact me if you have local missionaries who would like to join other areas such as d’town Indy, Westfield and ramp building around Mero Indy.

Psalm 115:1, “Not to us O Lord, not to us, but to Your Name be the Glory…”

Focus directs your life

merlinfhl — Wed, 25 May 2011 13:09:10 +0000

Last weekend, I attended a Christian Conference in Youngstown OH. On our way there, we talked about the importance of focus and attention to certain things. When we got to the conference, most of what they talked about was about focus and attention.

Proverbs 23:7, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” – NKJV One speaker said, you become what you think about.

This morning, I was reminded that if we meditate on the goodness of God, we will experience His goodness. The more we focus on Him, the more others see Him in us. We are being transformed to His likeness.
In the Book of Exodus, Moses ask to see the face of God. He waited on Him without any distractions. When Moses went down from the mountain, his face was transformed because God met Him at the mountain.

God, I pray that you give me grace to always be attentive to your Presence. Transform me, re-wire my brain to focus on You instead of the world.

May: Speaking Engagements

merlinfhl — Thu, 19 May 2011 12:49:22 +0000

Sunday, May 29th I will be speaking at the Wellspring Church on Mission Trip in Your Own Backyard. Please invite your family and friends to this service. I look forward to seeing you there.

When: Worship service begins at 10am.

737 E Water St
Pendleton, Indiana 46064
317-491-2319 View on map

“to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” -Ephesians 4:12-13

God bless you,

Merlin