All posts tagged: hispanic

The History of FHL Part 2

July 3, 2013 Merlin Gonzales Backyard Missions, FHL Indiana, FHL Week, KIOM

Building a church, Costa Rica 2002

After more than two years of trying and failing to go back to the mission field, I had the thought that there must be many people like me who have the heart to go on a mission, but who don’t have the time or money to go. I thought, why not do something similar to taking people outside the country?—Why not have a mission week in our own neighborhoods that would be available to many community churches in the area? The verses in Acts 1:8 made sense to me that we should reach out first to our own Jerusalem, then to Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

In February 2005, I contacted 35 pastors in two communities and invited them to discuss and explore having projects all around the neighborhoods for one week. I met with about 15 of them individually and proposed the neighborhood missions. In April 2005, several leaders from 12 different churches came for our first group meeting. I was surprised to see how many were interested since an associate pastor in my church told me it would be impossible to bring churches of different denominations to work together. It seems strange, but that’s reality.

Seven pastors from different denominations committed to do a week of outreaches in our neighborhood. We met on a regular basis identifying needs and resources in our communities. Once we narrowed down the needs list, we developed projects and then asked our congregations and the surrounding businesses to provide the resources needed. We did not have any budget so we worked hard to find resources around us. Seven churches and 200+ volunteers performed 10 projects for the first Faith Hope and Love (FHL) Week in Indianapolis.

I was very happy to see a vision became a reality. By November of the same year some of the pastors who joined us called me and asked what we would be doing the following year. I told them I was done. However, they shared with me that their congregations had a great experience and were already looking forward to next year’s local mission. So I developed a plan of action how to share the concept with other communities in metropolitan Indianapolis.

After prayers and encouragement, I shared the vision with several pastors in greater Indianapolis and asked them to be the area coordinators in their communities. The idea seemed very workable and the Lord gave me favor to recruit four more communities to do what is now known as “Mission Trip in Your Own Backyard.” The following year, we mobilized 50+ churches and organizations with 1,200 volunteers who performed more than 30 projects during the entire Faith Hope and Love Week.

To date, this ministry has worked with more than 200 different churches crossing denominational lines in central Indiana. FHL has year-round ministries such as planting self-sustained food pantries, Kindness Days and leadership training. It mobilizes more than 3,000 unique volunteers on an annual basis.

Update for FHL Week 2013:

FHL Week 2013 officially starts on Sunday, July 21 3p with Prayer Celebration at Creekside Ministries The Prayer Celebration is also the start of 24/7Indy More info to come regarding the FHL Week 2013, “The Year of Love”

The only one of its kind

June 10, 2013 Merlin Gonzales Backyard Missions, FHL Mobile Food Pantry

As I was looking today at the FHL web responses that we recently had from around the country, and after researching, I found out that FHL is the only one of its kind that intentionally incubates self sustained food pantries in the US.

Here’s how FHL does it:

Identification of food pantry sites
Classroom and onsite classes (8 sessions)
- Based on:
  - Acts 6 – Organized food distribution
  - Mark 16 – Sharing the Gospel
  - Matthew 28 – Discipling the nation
Provides training and grocery items to the pantries for up to 6 months to help them become self-sustained
In most instances, the food pantries experience more salvations during the food distributions than when the church (a food pantry site) hold their weekend services. For example, one of FHL food pantries, Luz de Vida, (a church with less than 20 members) had 3 salvations in February, 6 in March, 1 in April and 1 in May of this year!

I have written in detail how the “Grassroots Movement in the Kingdom” in my book, The Kingdom in our Midst. I will share with you the details next week.

With the gas prices that continues to increase, more food assistance are needed in our cities. Unfortunately, the poor gets hit the hardest. The income/wages remains almost the same in the past few years, so when you divide the household pie (income) there’s less for food and for other necessities due to increasing fuel prices that jacks up the prices of mostly all commodities.

This year’s FHL Week (July 21-28) theme is “Help feed the hungry in your own backyard”. Below is a list of simple things you can get involved with:

Food Drives/Collections – Your church or your places of work and/or business can do food drives/collections during FHL Week. Another way to be a part of food collection is to help us get your neighborhoods involved. By hanging food collection bags on the door knobs, you can address hunger in our city.
Urban Garden starts or maintenance – FHL partners with organizations who are directly involved in gardening. During FHL Week, you can come alongside us to do some gardening.
Volunteer at a food pantry – You can support some of our pantries through volunteerism or through your financial support.
Volunteer at other food organizations – FHL connects volunteers, resources and needs; you can get involved in serving the FHL food partners and sponsors.

John Mott, a Nobel Peace Prize Winner once said, “The person who does the work is not as productive as the one who multiplies the workers.” Faith Hope and Love is an organization that multiplies not only the workers but also the resources. I am appealing to you to help us answer the hunger problem by partnering with FHL in incubating self-sustained food pantries. By the end of July 2013, FHL should have planted 13 food pantries altogether. Currently, FHL is directly supporting 5 food pantries.

Please consider contributing or sponsoring a food pantry that provides physical and spiritual food to the least, the lost and the last. You can respond to this Blog or email [email protected] to find out how you can be a part of this innovative approach to feed the hungry.

Living by the Spirit; not by flesh Part II

June 5, 2013 Merlin Gonzales Backyard Missions, FHL Indiana

In Part I, we discussed about Living by the Spirit; here’s Part II

Let’s read, Galatians 5:19-25, “The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;²⁰idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”

In these verses, the Apostle Paul clearly stated the contrasting acts of the flesh and the fruits of the Spirit. But let’s look at this more closely.

Acts of flesh

Based on works
- For example, a machine in a manufacturing plant works and turns out products but could never manufacture fruits. Fruits grow out of life and not out of machines that churns out products. The works of flesh is based on performance rather than of grace.
- The acts of flesh is sinful. As mentioned in Part I, our bodies are not sinful but it does sinful acts if it is controlled by our flesh instead of the Spirit. If we are controlled by our flesh, we act on sinful things based on our minds and emoitions controlled by our flesh.

Fruits of the Spirit

When you think of fruit, you think of
- Beauty, peace and the unfolding life. Fruit grows out of life, it is spontaneous and alive.
- Living by the Spirit means growing in our spiritual life through reading the Bible, prayer, worship and praise

We do not have time to define and explain each of the acts of the flesh and the fruits of the Spirit. I would like to encourage you to spend a few minutes each day of this week and study these verses more closely.

Ephesians 1:13-14, “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.”

We have a sea much more than seal of approval but the seal of the Holy Spirit. Our inheritance is guaranteed for His glory. If you do not have a personal relationship with Jesus and would like to receive Him in your life, please contact me by replying to this article or by emailing me at [email protected]

God bless you,

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

Here’s what’s happening

September 26, 2012 Merlin Gonzales FHL Indiana, FHL Mobile Food Pantry, Kindness Weekends

My last written Blog was in early August. You are probably wondering what’s been happening beside what’s on my Podcast. We had some pretty awesome interviews, real time reporting, and Podcast about FHL’s plan in Food Pantry Planting Movement.

So, in the past 6 weeks, FHL trained and mobilized volunteers for the Food Pantry Planting. The launching (9/22) was simple. There were about 30 volunteers who worshiped and prayed together at the FHL office. By Monday 9/24, we had mobilized around 40 volunteers who passed out about 750 grocery bags to several neighborhoods encouraging them to donate non perishable food items for 3 food pantries. Our fearless volunteers also visited several businesses to encourage them to participate in food collection. In particular, Noodles & Co located at 3450 W. 86th St. 46268 is partnering with 2 of FHL Food Pantries to collect food on Saturday, Sept. 29 from 5p-9p. They are also donating 25% of sales during the hours of collection through FHL referrals. Please drop by and bring some canned goods on the 29th.

FHL had mobilized around 90 volunteers from IUPUI and New Hope Presbyterian Church during the last 2 Kindness Days at 38th/Illinois. The next Kindness Days are on Oct 8th to help a person in yard work, minor construction and house clean up. This project is sponsored by Southport Presbyterian Church. They are bringing their Youth for a short-term mission in our own backyard. On Oct 13-14, FHL is partnering with Northview Christian Church who will be sending around 400 volunteers for FHL’s Heal the Land Project.

On Oct 5-6, will FHL Disaster Preparedness Seminar. Thanks to our Project Manager, Donna Cherry for putting this together. For more info, please visit http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=39cc0dd2d86044c04d68bcf7c&id=7e596cbd9d

My plan was to slow down a little bit to catch up on admin and update our websites and social media outlets. Thanks to our great IT Director who kept up in our technical needs while the rest of our staff were busy out in the streets. Id’ like to also thank Bill Lamb, our Food Pantry & Kindness Day Director, Susannah Francis, my Executive Asst. who is great not only in helping me put procedures on paper but also in many administrative training and operations. Most specially, I am very thankful for our full-time Art Director volunteer, my wife Annie, for helping me run and maintain the FHL office.

I have more stuff to share with you but this one getting long. So until then, keep the faith…in our Lord Jesus Christ!

Life-changing

July 7, 2012 Merlin Gonzales FHL Indiana

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