All posts tagged: Hope

Three Town Hall meetings in 2 days

Last Wednesday, I joined the planning meeting in Pendelton, IN for the FHL Week in Pendelton/Anderson area. There was 2 pastors, 2 church leaders and a Chaplain for the Pendleton Police department. They are planning to something neat for the public servants (Can’t reveal what they are yet until they finalize the details of the project. They will share the same idea with the Anderson churches to see if they would like to do the same. The next step for them is to talk with several other town leaders for a few more projects they have in mind. They are looking to partner with churches, government and businesses. To find out more about the Pendleton/Anderson area, you can contact Wellspring Church at 317-491-2319 and ask for Facundo Cortez.

Later that night, I was at the West Indy Town Hall. It was attended by about 15 people mostly from the Cloverleaf area. Many thanks to our host, Pastor Larry Evans of Cloverleaf Baptist church. We had pizza and drinks and we shared the purpose of the meeting – Neighborhood Makeover). We had a brief brainstorming to identify the needs in the neighborhood. It was amazing to hear what the residents shared with everyone. Needless to say, everyone wants to get involved We were surprised by a Reporter from Indianapolis Star who stayed for the entire 1.5 hours to gather data for an article. The next planning meeting will be on Tuesday, March 20th at 7p. They will be identifying possible projects for FHL Week. For more info about the West Indy area, please contact Pastor Larry Evans at 317-750-1659.

Last night, I was at Martinsville Town Hall meeting held at JK’s Cheesecake Cafe. I did not know what to expect since this was a brand new area for FHL. As soon as I arrived there, we were greeted by our Host Jason & Shannon Suttles and 2 FHL volunteers. We set up the projector and sound system while people started to come. There were lots of finger food and drinks. Just before we got started, the room was full with more 20 people. I share the history of FHL and the purpose of the meeting – to answer the question “What would Martinsville look like we you could say, “God’s blessings is present and active here.” All the attendees answered the question; here are some answers (see the picture on top of this Blog): address the impoverish areas, neighborhood clean up, educating the youth to be more active and healthy, unity of churches, food pantry, prayer teams, etc. Later, I found out that there were Pastors, business people and community leaders present at the meeting. Everyone wants to get involved. The next planning meeting (purpose is to narrow down the possible projects) is tentatively scheduled on Friday, April 13th at JK’s Cheesecake Cafe located at 110. E. Morgan St 46151. For more information, please contact Shannon Suttles at 812-272-5451

For other FHL areas, please contact me at 317-578-3370. Looking forward to working with you in changing the world…in our community. Our next Town Hall meeting will be at Southport City Hall at 7pm on Monday, March 12th.

Merlin GonzalesThree Town Hall meetings in 2 days
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FHL Announcements: September 2009 Volunteer Opportunities!!

FHL Logo

Opportunities to get involved and to volunteer as of September 2009:

Prayer at the Circle on 8/30/09 3pm

This prayer group will have a brief worship, communion and prayer for Indianapolis

FHL Kindness Days

  • on 8/29/09 :00pm

at 10th St & Rural, Indianapolis; There will be 4 Groups reaching out: Passing out cold drinks, picking up trash, street evangelism and Prayer Tent.

  • on 9/11/09

There will be several projects at Martindale-Brightwood area (clean up, light construction) and in Castleton. We are expecting more than 60 volunteers to come together in serving our communities.

  • on 10/17/09

This day will be focused on Cars of Clay Ministry. More details to come.

FHL Refugees & Farm Ministry

FHL has (3) farms that have been producing food for the community. A church in Greenwood, IN is donating 20 acres land for farming. There will be vision-casting luncheon at Midwest Food Bank on Saturday, September 12 from 11am to 1pm; Lunch is provided. There are opportunities to partner and to volunteer. Contact Wili de la Rosa at [email protected].

Street Evangelism 9/26/09

Meet at Cornerstone Baptist Church located at 952 N. Pennsylvania at 11am to 3pm. Please contact Bill Lamb 317-549-5238 for more info.

FHL Mobile Food Pantry on 9/26/09 3:00pm-4:30pm

Experience the blessing around the city!

Volunteer from 1:00pm-5:00pm. Contact Ethan Crane (317) 578-3370 for more info.

Citywide Prayer 9/27/09

Citywide Prayer/Worship.  Contact Donna Cherry at 317-578-3370 or [email protected]

Jehoshua House, LLC

Offender, Re-entry ministry. Contact Bob Irvin at 317-578-3370 or [email protected] | Jehoshua House.org

Cars of Clay

Car Ministry. Contact Jim Raftery at 317-578-3370 or [email protected]

FHL Corporate Office
Located at 8383 Craig Street, Suite 335, Indianapolis, IN 46250.

Exciting and rewarding volunteer positions available. Contact Merlin Gonzales at (317)578-3370 for more info.

Merlin GonzalesFHL Announcements: September 2009 Volunteer Opportunities!!
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FHL Update: New Prayer Groups, ESL Classes, and Kindness Weekends

A few weeks ago, during the Transform Indiana meeting, FHL shared an idea of forming and empowering prayer groups in Indianapolis. If we could agree to pray together and ask the Holy Spirit to speak to our hearts, Christians in Indy would be more open to work together. After only 2 meetings, several prayer facilitators agreed to work together to provide 24/7 prayer groups around the city. We feel that there will be more exciting news to come about this development . If you are interested in getting involved with this group, please contact [email protected]

Several months ago, Merlin Gonzales, FHL CEO, was approached by 21-year old volunteer of FHL International, Inc. regarding leading an English as Second Language (ESL) Class . He asked her to wait until the FHL Week (and the many FHL-related projects) were over. So she approached him again a few weeks later. After many prayers and much planning, the first ESL Class was launched on Thursday, Oct. 16th with 20 students.

The FHL Kindness Weekend in Castleton will be held on Saturday & Sunday, Oct. 18 & 19. There will be dozens of volunteers from various organizations who will be serving the community unconditionally. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact [email protected]

Faith, Hope, and Love, International, Inc. is dedicated to transforming our city, one neighborhood at a time.

Merlin GonzalesFHL Update: New Prayer Groups, ESL Classes, and Kindness Weekends
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