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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

Neighborhood Innovation

September 13, 2013 Merlin Gonzales Backyard Missions, FHL Indiana, Self-Sustained Food Pantriy

Innovation applied to our neighborhoods

You probably have heard by now that iPhone just unveiled 5C and 5S both with iOS 7 and the later with fingerprint sensor and 64-bit processor. Even with all the innovations, some tech experts are saying that they are losing the ground in the smartphone war.

No, I’m not going to lead you to follow this trend, but let me ask you a question, “What If we put as much emphasis on missional community innovation as we do with smartphones?”

Here’s an example: One of the self-sustained food pantries that FHL planted is having a Baked Sale on Sat. 9/14 to raise funds for their pantry. What’s innovative about it? It’s an old concept that was upgraded. The local residents are coming together to sustain their food pantry. Last month, a family did a garage sale and used the money to buy food for the pantry. These methods maybe archaic but they are morphing into neighborhood transformation.

This is grassroots movement in steroids! The local neighborhood has a sense of ownership of their pantry. They now come together not just for food but for camaraderie and relationships.

Unlike technology innovation, grassroots movement is powered from ground up instead of from top down. This approach can create a legacy not a legend. This approach can transform a neighborhood, a city and a country. These neighborhoods will win over hunger, homelessness and crime. Instead of losing ground, they will conquer the land with ever increasing innovation to solve challenges together.

From a vision to reality

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

One of several self-sustained food pantries that FHL incubated

Remember the vision of FHL’s Food Pantry Planting Initiative? Incubating pantries to be self-sustained. In early 2010, FHL did the first Pantry of Hope at B&G Club in Beech Grove, IN. By summer of 2010, FHL held a Town Hall meeting to invite churches and businesses to be a part of the establishment of the pantry. They have become self sustained in 2012.

Here’s a quick story that will bless you. Early this month, they did a community garage sale to enable them to buy food for the pantry. The note below shows that the local neighborhood is pulling together to gather resources as part of their sustainability. Ironically, when you talk to clients and volunteers at Pantry of Hope, they will tell you that it’s not just about food but more about relationship – Grassroots movement in the Kingdom!

Hello, August 23, 2013

I would like to have a Bake Sale September 14th-15th and are in need of item to sell, I want to be able to buy food and have more then just Gleaners . I hope to get enough baked items to sell both day from 12-3 pm. Please let me know if and what you can do . I would also like to have a meeting with all of you on September 8th, may be a pitch in cook out . Please let me know your feeling on both these matters.

Thank You for all you do,

Pantry of Hope

Carrie Holman

This pantry needs freezer and refrigerator; please contact me if you have any leads or suggestions to equip them.

You can help and encourage them by:

Baking cookies, brownies or cupcakes (bring them before noon on the 14th at B&G or arrange a time to deliver to FHL office)
Help us locate donated Freezer and Refrigerator
Volunteer on 9/21 10a – 3p

NOTE: FHL will start incubating the 14th self-sustained food pantry next month (Sept.). Our goal is to plant 24 by the end of 2014. Please let me know if you know of organizations or potential partners to help us in this important initiative.

Changing spiritual landscape one neighborhood at a time. – Merlin

FHL Week 2013: Heal the Land

August 7, 2013 Merlin Gonzales Backyard Missions, FHL Indiana, FHL Week, Kindness Weekends

We were blessed to work with Great Lakes Region INROADS Inc, for the first time to mobilize volunteers for this cleanup. INROADS sent about nine of the twelve volunteers who participated in the neighborhood cleanup. A local homeowner , who owns two homes in the area, helped with the cleanup for the first time as well.

Our thanks to Keep Indianapolis Beautiful for arranging to have a thirty yard dumpster placed in the cleanup area. This dumpster is being used to store trash collected during the cleanup until the dumpster is removed from the area.

The following areas were cleaned:

Graceland Avenue from 38th Street to 39th Street, sidewalks medians and street gutters;

West 39th Street from Boulevard Place to Capitol Avenue, sidewalks and street gutters;

Kenwood Avenue/Illinois Street alley, 38th Street to 40th Street, large items removed;

Capitol Avenue/Graceland Avenue alley, 38th Street to 40th Street, large items removed.

The dumpster provided through KIB was filled to about two thirds of the dumpster capacity with trash collected during the cleanup. Water and snacks were made available to all volunteers, who worked for about two hours to help to continue to clean this neighborhood.

There are at least two homes in this neighborhood that are being renovated.

We continue our relationship with the Tree of Life Church at 40th Street and Boulevard Place. The resident of the house that is adjacent to our meeting place came out of her home to see us and spend time with us. We are thankful to serve her and other residents of this area.

After the cleanup was finished, the area where we had worked was checked for stray tools, trash bags or piles of debris. None of these items were left behind by the cleanup crew.

It seems that I do not have have the words to adequately express my thanks to the Lord for all I have seen him do in this neighborhood. Even so, I give Him my thanks.

My THANKS!!!!!!!! to all who have supported this neighborhood through: prayer, street ministry, local congregations, cleanups, city services and home renovation.
Bill Lamb
Faith Hope and Love

No fear, be at peace

August 2, 2013 Merlin Gonzales Backyard Missions, FHL Indiana, FHL Week

What happened next was the manifestation of God’s love over His children

Luke 10:21, “...I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to the babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.“

It would be overwhelming to share with you all the stories I have received and still receiving. Here is a story of an 11-yr. old girl who came to the 24/7Indy with my friend Maria, her younger brother and her mother. At around 10:30p on 7/22, I was asked by Maria to pray and to anoint the family. Within a minute, I sensed that God was working on Ariana, so I asked what’s happening. She said that God spoke to her and said, “No fear, be at peace.”

Meanwhile, her mother told me that at the previous prayer meeting they had just before visiting the 24/7Indy, Ariana asked her how she can hear from God. Then I noticed that her hands were starting to shake. What you are about to view is the video and her narration after encountering God.

I was so blessed to witness God’s presence. The startling thing is that God had given Ariana an assurance to have no fear and be at peace because He was about to do something that she had never experienced before.

Don’t limit God with our logical thinking and miss what God is doing in our lives.

Are you a resource partner? Would you like to know more?

Merlin Gonzales, FHL International, Inc.