All posts tagged: City-Wide Prayer Indianapolis God Christian FHL International

Simple Kingdom Living

December 30, 2013 Merlin Gonzales FHL Food Pantry, FHL Indiana

Welcoming 2014 with you

FREE PIZZA dinner

There’s a nice pizza place in Noblesville that I visit whenever I want to relax and have a good pizza. Just a few days before Christmas, my wife, my son and myself stopped by to have pizza and to finalize FHL’s Christmas Greetings. When it’s time to pay our bill, the owner came and said that a company gave them a Christmas gift so they can give away some Christmas dinner! My son said, “This always happens to you!”

CHRISTMAS BIKES for children

Two weeks ago, one of my FB friends Inboxed me and said that the restaurant that gave bikes last year is doing it again. They give bikes to children of less fortunate families. I thought of asking one of FHL’s food pantry Directors. Sure enough, her grandchildren do not have any Christmas presents this year. On Dec. 22nd, her 2 grandchildren received bikes. They were so thankful. Here’s the text that I received from the grandmother, “Thank you, this means the world to me.”

UNEXPECTED LUNCH from a FRIEND

On Christmas Eve, my parents asked me to bring them to a restaurant to eat. The temperature was in the teens. However, I sensed that they needed to get out of the house, so I brought them to a restaurant. My mother had stroke 2 years ago and my father has a progressive dementia. They live with us for about 3 years now. We enjoyed our lunch and I asked the waiter to bring our bill. He told us that someone had paid our dinner! I found out that one of my friends saw us coming in the restaurant and he paid for our lunch! I thanked my friend and he said, “You serve many people; you are being honored today!” I gave our waiter tip almost the same amount as our bill. By the way, this is the same restaurant that donate 100 bags a week for use for our food pantries.

ANSWERED PRAYER

The day after Christmas, I went to the office intending to work on some odds and ends stuff (yeah, right). I was getting immersed in cleaning my Inbox when I saw the FedEx man. He is the same man who asked for prayers a few months ago for the issues of his life including the selling of his house. I greeted in outside of the lobby and asked him how’s the selling of his house. All of a sudden, his demeanor changed and said that his house was just sold after 2 years in the market. He was praise God for answering his prayers.

It’s SIMPLE

I wanted to share these short stories with you to encourage you that Kingdom living is simple. Just be yourself and as a saying says, “Be supernaturally natural.” You don’t need to be weird to be spiritual. Just be yourself. You’ll be surprised when you see the unexpected things happen in front of your eyes…without striving. Those are the miracles! Kingdom principles applied anywhere, anytime.

It’s fascinating to see the supernatural becoming an everyday occurrence in your life…which is supposed to be. We are created to be Kingdom people, to spread the Good News and the freedom we have in Christ including seeing the supernatural in the natural. It’s not complicated; it’s simple.

If you are in doubt, I challenge you to plug in with the creator of the universe. You are the pinnacle of His creation! You are the reason why God sent His one and only Son to the earth to live among us. You are the reason.You are the reason why Christ died on the cross. You have eternal life in Christ. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. You are created in His image.

You are the most WONDERFUL person!

If you agree, then you are the most wonderful person here on earth! You have everything including the endless inheritance in heaven. However, if you have any questions about your identity in Christ, please contact me because you may be being deceived by the great enemy.

God bless you and May you have a Blessed NEW YEAR! Keep in mind, God is continually looking for people who would expand His Kingdom and to redistribute His blessings here on earth. Please check out this video to see how a simple Kingdom living can be blessings to others.

Merlin

07/22/13 Testimonial during the 24/7Indy

August 5, 2013 Merlin Gonzales FHL Indiana, FHL Week

FHL Week 2013

I pray that you will be blessed as you read this story that happened on 24/7Indy. This was from one of our partners, Patty. Send me your testimonial and any encouraging message.

God showed me to divide the time into one hour slots and each hour focus on different topics. We did 20 minutes of worship, 20 minutes of declaring along with a testimony regarding that area from a testimony book from supernatural school at Bethel and 20 minutes of soaking. The time just flew and the Presence of God came in a wonderful way.

When we were in the 3rd hour of praying a group of young people came in from the camp. So I explained to them what we were doing and that they could join us. We all worshipped together and then got in a circle to pray for the government. I shared a testimony of healing I had had and offered individual prayer for anyone who wanted it. Becky, who was praying with us saw us touching each one of them and saying a blessing over them. We had them get in a circle and then 6 of us went around the circle and touched each one of the young people and the 2 leaders and spoke words of blessing and prophesy from God. One young man was on his knees the whole time and was overcome by the presence of the Lord! We were getting some powerful words for him. He is the one who God touched later with the joy of the Lord and he saw Jesus tickling him! God was doing a mighty and glorious work in him.

Then most of them left except for 5 who came to us for more prayer. It was 3 young people and 2 leaders. They each got prayer for specific things and one young man had scoliosis and we saw him get talller and one young girl had back pain and she received healing! The leaders also got prayer and were touched by God!

Jeri, Deborah, Becky, Kathy and Matthew from FHL prayed during this time. It was a wonderful and moving and exciting time with Jesus!

Outpouring of the Holy Spirit

July 31, 2013 Merlin Gonzales Backyard Missions, FHL Indiana, FHL Week

Mid-week FHL Week & 24/7Indy celebration at Creekside Ministries

WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2013

Reported by Facundo Cortez, FHL Anderson/Pendleton Area Coordinator

Today was an extraordinary day as we experience the supernatural pouring out of His Holy Spirit!!!!!!!

We met at WellSpring Church and had our group devo (devotional). We started the day soaking in God’s presence by being in His Word, praying, worshiping & praising the Lord! God’s presence was real! WOW!

Today we had two teams. One team went to Wheeler and another group went to Liberty Christian School to continue the painting project there.

The Wheeler team’s assignment today was to continue doing housekeeping at Wheeler Mission Center for Women and Children in Indianapolis. They cleaned the dining room.

When they were done they went to Garfield Park to enjoy their sack lunch.

The Liberty team continued to make progress painting the women’s bathroom on the first floor. They decided to go to Taco Bell for lunch. While there, one of the team was able to talk to another guest at the restaurant and give her hope since she was going to a rough time. It’s amazing where God can give us opportunities to share the Word about faith, hope and love!

The teams then got together at the ice cream shop across the street from Liberty and eat ice cream together. Then we said goodbye to the Steve Wolverton from Michigan and his two granddaughters. We could not have do it without them.

Then the Holy Ghost Fireworks started!!!

Several churches and ministries from the Anderson/Pendleton attended the 24/7 Indy at Creekside Ministries. It was led by their deaf (ASL) worship team and it was AWESOME! The presence of the Lord was everywhere! The power of the Holy Spirit began to be poured out big time!

(Let me say that my religious/church background is not one that normally feels comfortable with magnification of the Holy Spirit. Some of you reading this may not believe or accept the things I am about to share but I ask that you read with an open mind and heart.)

All of sudden, people began to be filled with the Spirit Holy, slain in the Spirit, shaking uncontrollably, speaking in tongues, laughing for no reason! Some became so drunk in the Spirit that they had to be driven home! Some people were crawling to the altar! Some were healed of physical sickness! Others were healed of broken relationships and broken hearts! Others were set free from bondages, generation curses and so much more!! As people walked thru the prayer tunnel they were also slain in the Holy Spirit. To put it mildly, it was wild!! All of us received the power of the Holy Spirit to do what He wants us to do: Be his witnesses! To proclaim boldly the Good News!

If you weren’t there don’t worry The Holy Spirit is coming to a neighborhood near you! I believe that as the momentum continues we will continue to see an outpouring of the Holy Spirit like in the day of Pentecost! Revival is here NOW! The manifestation of God with signs and wonders is happening NOW! And they will continue from this day forward! To God be the glory!

The History of FHL Part 1

June 27, 2013 Merlin Gonzales Backyard Missions, FHL Indiana, FHL Week, KIOM

Merlin with Bri-Bri Indian family, Costa Rica 2002

A new perspective

Most people like to read the beginning of an organization or a church; how it started, who was the visionary and its progression. In the next blogs, you can expect to read the simple but powerful history how God guided Merlin Gonzales, the founder of an organization that is now crossing denominational lines in expanding the Kingdom starting in local communities. FHL has now evolved in mobilizing thousands of volunteers on an annual basis, has helped plant 13 food pantries, encouraged hundreds of volunteers to pursue their passion and has been instrumental in the salvation of hundreds of people

The history was written by Merlin and was taken from his book, “The Kingdom in Our Midst” which is available at www.merlingonzales.com and at any major book retailers and distributors.

It is our hope that the story below would encourage you to pursue the seed of desire that God had put in your heart. Today is a good day to start pursuing your calling!

March 17-23, 2002, was the week my life was transformed and launched a ministry that is now reaching the churches, businesses, government and other sectors of our society. I was encouraged by my friend, Tim, to go for the first time on a short-term mission trip to Costa Rica. Our team would be constructing a church building in a community on top of a mountain with no running water or electricity. We would be ministering to the Bri-Bri Indians and we would be putting our tents in a clearing since the only building available to sleep in was the old church building with lots of windows and thousands of mosquitoes.

I wasn’t sure if I would be able to join the group since I didn’t have enough money to go. But as it turned out I was able to take vacation and raised enough money to join the team. The idea of tenting in a wilderness surrounded by mountain ranges and to interact with the natives gave me a sense of adventure. I felt it would give me a chance to help in construction and also practice my evangelism techniques. I thought that I could provide the natives spiritual answers that could change their lives.

It was an adventure to travel to a mountain with no running water and electricity. The pastor met us when we got to our final destination and we started the construction right away. It was hot and humid during the day, but cool during the evening. I will always cherish the memories of that trip—nights alone in my tent looking up at the starry sky while listening to the fascinating sounds of insects and the wild, or the morning when I was awakened by a loud scream from one of the missionaries as she was about to go into the outhouse and discovered a large snake on the roof.

Almost every day it rained hard, making the clay road up and down the mountain very treacherous to navigate. However, it was refreshing to have rain in a hot and humid place. On our third night, we invited the community for a night of worship. The attendees came walking up the dark, unpaved road; some had walked for two hours just to join us that night. The worship was great and it seemed like it went for a few hours. We were able to pray for everyone. I started to develop friendships with my fellow missionaries and the natives. Somehow, I gained the trust of the natives and their children. It was great to interact and play with the children.

As the days went by, we had accomplished very little construction and I was feeling like we hadn’t really done what we came to do. Then, our last night there turned out to be very special. I felt like the Holy Spirit visited us as we prayed for people. Most of them were weeping and were sweating bullets during the prayer time. It was very special to me to see how the natives worshiped the Lord with reckless abandon. One of the natives who assisted in the construction and whom I befriended accepted the Lord in his heart.

Saying good-bye was very hard and I promised the pastor I would be back. When I returned to the states I was a changed man. It seemed like God had provided me new sets of ears and eyes. The things that were important to me in the past had lost their significance and were replaced by a new zest for my life. My perspectives changed and my priorities were rearranged. My heart was altered and my mind was renewed. I started to hunger for God and wanted to go back to the mission field right away.

I was very excited when my church planned a second trip there. However, I was not able to go with them because I couldn’t afford it moneywise or timewise. I was very disappointed; I waited until the next trip, but the same thing happened.

Stay tuned for the continuation of the story. God bless you!

Take the time and be intentional

March 26, 2013 Merlin Gonzales Backyard Missions, FHL Indiana, KIOM

Completed illustration of the KIOM Video Trailer

You are probably wondering what the heck the image above is. Well, check this video to see Take a fresh look at your communities.

In my previous Blog, I asked you to take a second look at your community. What did you see? Did you walk your neighborhood, did you talk to the people in your church or in your school or the Cashier at a grocery store?

If you were not able to, there’s grace for all of us. But if you did take the time to “explore the land”, you should notice some obvious things that became familiar or were neglected – in the physical, emotional or spiritual realm.

Two years ago, I found out that my cholesterol was high. I tried to eat healthy foods and I exercised regularly. However, the busyness in my ministry prevented me from following through what I’ve started. Last Saturday, I found out that my triglycerides was very high. If I wanted to live longer and live a healthy life, I need to take the time to exercise and to be intentional to eat healthy foods. (I’ve started eating healthy foods and did some exercise last night and this morning – shoveling snow).

So the first step in order for us to have healthy neighborhoods, we will need to the take time to see what’s happening and we need to be intentional. In order for a change to happen, we need to know what needed changes. We need to find what the problem, then we can start finding the solution.

BTW, hope you liked the video trailer; please consider sharing it with others as we work towards missional communities.