All posts tagged: Volunteers

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!

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.

The Kingdom in Our Midst
Ph: 317.578.3370 www.fhlinternational.org

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!

Mid-FHL Week 2013

July 26, 2013 Merlin Gonzales FHL Week

The start of FHL Week 2013

It’s hard to believe that more than half-way through the FHL week! God has been blessing us as we continue to lift up the Name of Jesus.

Here’s a quick update for FHL Week 2013:

On Sunday, July 21st, the Prayer Celebration was joined by musicians, prayer leaders, volunteers, partners and pastors and many more. The shofars were blown to start the event followed by a warm welcome by Merlin Gonzales, CEO/Founder of FHL. The FHL worship team led by Donna Cherry provided a wonderful praise and worship songs. Our Prayer leaders for the 7 cultural moders of society led everyone to prayers and intercessions. Iglesia Monte de Sion blessed us with a drama of the story of the 10 virgins. The prayer celebration ended with drum circle.
Many different ways to worship, pray and praise our Lord
- The praises, worship and prayers continued with the 24/7Indy. All throughout the FHL Week, Creekside Ministries is hosting the 168 hours prayer-worship. We have seen the works of the Kingdom inside the building and out in the community.
The following days, we had youths from MI, OH, PA, NC, and other states sent by Group workcamp. The projects range from moving some FHL supplies to storage, home remodel, food drives, toys collections, neighborhood clean ups, random acts of kindness (bottled water, praying for people in the streets and businesses…), painting a school bathrooms and serving families.
Home remodeling

It’s not too late to join with what God is doing in this region in this hour. Don’t forget to join us tomorrow, Friday at 7:30a at Rick’s Cafe Boatyard with Krish Dhanam.

Express God’s love through prayers, praises, worship and helping others in practical ways. More soon updates to come. Stay tuned.

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”