All posts tagged: fhl international

A Great Week For FHL: ESL Classes, Lamb’s Farm Planting, City-Wide Prayer, Mobile Food Pantry and FHL Week 2009 Planning

March 22, 2009 Merlin Gonzales Projects

merlin

Hello everyone,

It’s been a great week.

We had the Fishers Area churches (FHL Week 2009) meeting at Christ the Savior Lutheran Church, NW area and Greenwood areas. They were attended by several churches and are now planning to meet again in the next few weeks. The week of 3/22, Nora-Castleton and Carmel areas will meet for FHL Week 2009 vision-casting.

The FHL Lamb’s Farm was cultivated and we planted seeds on several garde lambsfarm11 n plots. The Burmese Refugees adopted the gardens. Later the same day, the Lord provided almost 30 jobs for these refugees at Heartland Growers through FHL connections. It is possible that we may have a few more acres to raise vegetables in the near future.

FHL’s ESL (English as a Second Language) has expanded to a Chic-Fil-A restaurant located in the Clearwater area. We will be teaching basic English to the employees at 86th St restaurant starting the first week of April.

team1 On the 21st of March, FHL Mobile Food Pantry was held at Arlington High School. We had more than 100 volunteers including the Arlington High School Baseball Team. We served more than 150 families from several different nationalities including Iraquis, Burmese, and Hispanics. Food was abundantly shared with people but the main focus was the relationships we built with each other. To help these ones build a relationship with their heavenly Father, we also had a ‘Prayer Tent’ inside the building.

Next weekend, 3/28, we will have a ‘Prayer Tent’ at a vacant lot at 10th/Rural from 10a-2p. Through April 2 – 4 is FHL’s Kindness Weekend at Bread of Life in Avon, IN. We will be giving away clothes provided by the church. On 4/4, the 3rd FHL city-wide prayer meeting will be held at Bread of Life starting at 7:30pm.

I am so blessed to be part of this ministry. I have the privilege of witnessing what God is doing in our community. Thank you so much for coming alongside FHL in serving the least, the lost and last. If you have not been to any of the FHL events, try to come to the next few; you’ll witness what God is doing through FHL ministry.

Hope to see everyone at the Outback Luncheon on 3/25; it’s going to be awesome!

God bless,
Merlin

FHL City-Wide (Indianapolis) Prayer Initiative: Saturday, January 24, 2009

January 19, 2009 Merlin Gonzales Prayer Groups

Greetings!

I’m writing to invite you to a very important time of prayer that is being held Saturday, January 24th from 7pm-9pm at Providence Ministries which is located at 1602 East 34th St., Indianapolis, IN 46218.

FHL International, Inc. (Faith, Hope, and Love International) was established as a means to strengthen the work of the local church by providing opportunities for local congregations and ministries to lock arms in service to the city and communities of Greater Indianapolis. Today, we recognize and feel the urgent need to respond and join in with the Lord’s command to “pray without ceasing” and we are partnering with God and His people to do just that.

Jeremiah 29:7 says, “If there is no welfare (peace) in the city to which you have been exiled, pray for the welfare (peace) of that city, and you too will have welfare (peace).”

Through various means over the past few years, God has initiated hundreds across this area to begin to pray for the welfare

of our city and our nation. As a result, prayer ministries have sprang up all over the city; giving believers multiple opportunities to come together in prayer. The FHL City-Wide (Indianapolis) Prayer Initiative is yet another small but critical piece to the ongoing work of helping to strengthen our city and push back the darkness through prayer. Our desire is to host a multi-cultural, multi-denominational, inter-generational prayer meeting on a monthly basis where various individuals, churches, ministries, and organizations come together under the banner of Jesus Christ to beseech God on behalf of our city. We recognize the power of corporate prayer and know that unity in prayer is the prerequisite for God releasing His justice and revival in our streets.

FOCUS:REVIVAL/REPENTANCE –

Israel/Nations
America
Indianapolis Communities
Indianapolis Culture/Society, Business (Marketplace), Education, Government, Family
Indianapolis Churches, Ministries, Pastors/Ministers
Personal people you know (lost, sick, hurting, ect…)

Do you have any specific prayer requests or suggestions for prayer covering? If so, we would love to hear from you do feel free to email those to me as well as to forward this announcement to those that you feel would be interested in participating. Will you join with us in changing the spiritual climate of our city, preparing our hearts, and ushering in the breakthrough of God for an entire region through prayer?

Your Servant,

Jonathan Tremaine Thomas

Interim FHL Prayer Director, FHL International, Inc.

Meeting Minutes: FHL Launching Meeting for FHL Week 2009

January 19, 2009 Merlin Gonzales Ministry, Prayer Groups, Projects

FHL Week 2009

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Thank you for coming to the (FHL Week 2009 Launching) meeting. We had many new potential Area Coordinators! Here are the meeting minutes for the January 15th meeting on Thursday:

The Vision of FHL International, Inc. and the FHL Week (It’s about Relationships)
Identification of NEEDS and RESOURCES in our neighborhoods and MOBILIZE our community to serve
Projects, services and events are tools to reach out to the community
We plan for all our events and projects but we are flexible to the leading of the Holy Spirit-He runs this ministry
We are planning to have at least 10 Area Coordinators from the following areas:

o Nora/Castleton
o Urban-North
o Urban South
o Noblesville
o Fishers
o Carmel
o Westfield
o Zionsville
o Greenwood
o West
o Avon/Brownsburg/Plainfield
o Fortville/McCordsville
o East

The Area Coordinators’ (AC) Training meeting is on Thursday, Feb 5th, 8a-10a at the FHL office. Please RSVP by Thursday, Jan 22nd by calling 317-578-3370 or by responding to [email protected] . Bring your potential ‘Apprentice’ and leaders
Please see your email for the ‘Invitation Letter’ to your area churches. You can fill in the blanks for your first area meeting. If you let me know in advance, I could come and assist you in casting the vision. Here is the One-Page ‘Save-the-Date’ brochure
Together with www.fhlinternational.org these Links will provide you and your prospective area church partner with multi-media marketing and presentation:

FHL International,Inc.’s Splashcast Video Channel

FHL International,Inc.’s YouTube Channel

FHL International,Inc.’s Facebook Page

FHL International,Inc.’s Wiki Page

Pastor Paul Backer of Central Christian Church in Carmel will be our AC Consultant. He had been an Area Coordinator for Carmel/Westfield area from 2006-2008 averaging 500+ volunteers every FHL Week
Paul Bechtold is the Metro Indy AC Coordinator and will assist you for the FHL Week
FHL Int’l., Inc. has several ongoing ministries such as the Mobile Food Pantry, Kindness Days, Prayer Teams, English as a Second Language, etc.
The FHL e-newsletter will give you updates on a monthly basis. I will send you another email with the e-news
You are invited to come to the FHL Prayer Team launching on January 24 7p-9p at: Providence Ministries, Indianapolis, Indiana 46218. I will send you another email regarding this event. Hope to see you there.

During these tough economic times, our churches need to work closer together in serving those in need. I would like to encourage you to continue to talk to other churches regarding this ministry that was birth in our own city.

God bless,
Merlin Gonzales
President, FHL International, Inc.

2008-the “Year of Love” for FHL International, Inc. and its Mission to our City

December 20, 2008 Merlin Gonzales Ministry

nativity3 FHL International, Inc. has opened its heart to allow the Lord to work through us in lavishing Indianapolis with love throughout the 2008 year. Through the Mobile Food Pantry, Kindness Days, ESL, Alpha Classes and FHL International Inc.’s signature event-‘FHL Week’, thousands of individuals were served.

God is doing mighty things through FHL International, Inc. in spite of the current economic conditions. I think the Lord birthed Faith, Hope and Love, International, Inc. during the boom in 2005 as part of our preparation for the current recession.

As I was sharing a vision with one of our partners about using their facilities as a storehouse, someone mentioned how the Lord had used Joseph during the famine in Egypt. Please read Genesis Chapter 41 to see how God prepared Joseph to build store houses around Egypt. This has been the vision of FHL-not to build a conglomerate ministry but a network of centers to work together towards the common good for local areas and their needs. This is what I mean about “building communities of faith, hope, and love around the world.”

Please read Acts Chapter 2, also. The current economic condition is a wake-up call to our churches and ministries to start working more closely together (See our future article: 2009 is the ‘Year of Hope’.) With the addition of Cars Ministry and the employment of Bill Farrar as Missions Director, FHL is now poised to expand instead of shrink in these tough economic times, leveraging our god-given resources and talents in serving others rather than using them for self-preservation. Jesus said, to “seek first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness and everything will be added unto you.”

We just need to be reminded of the second Greatest Commandment – love God and others, Mark 12:29-31, “30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'[b] 31The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'[c]There is no commandment greater than these.”

I give glory to God who provided FHL International, Inc. so much. As you have read and heard on the news, countless food pantries are drying up but FHL International, Inc. is now receiving much more than any other time in its existence. God’s economy cannot be explained by human intellect and reasoning. This is the time to have more faith and to rely more on God’s provision rather than men’s wisdom and intellect. (Psalm 146:3)

christmas-box Someone said “You cannot out-give God” and it has resonated through FHL International, Inc. throughout the 2008 year. 2009 is the Year of Hope. As vessels of hope, you and I can be conduits of God’s grace and come along side Him in giving hope to our neighbors. As 2008 come to a close, it is not too late to bless others through your prayers and tax deductible contributions. When you consider your year-end giving, please keep FHL International, Inc. in mind.

Please send your contribution to:

FHL International, Inc.
8383 Craig St Ste. 335,
Indianapolis, IN 46250

On behalf of FHL International, Inc., its staff and volunteers, we wish you a Merry Christmas and Blessed New Year.

God bless,

Merlin Gonzales

President, FHL International, Inc.

FHL Call Out: Volunteers Needed To Shelter the Homeless + Update

November 9, 2008 Merlin Gonzales Projects

*The following is an Update to the original message below:

God bless y’all!
Last Monday, I went to meet Mr. Ed Figueroa at Lowe’s in Franklin, IN. We purchased several building materials, paint and an electrical box for his house. This is the same house that housed more 500+ homeless in the past few years. Attached is the picture of the bare kitchen floor that needed attention.

It is not too late to bless the homeless through fixing the things that need attention in the house. Ed said that he already fixed the gutters, insulation and I believe some of the roofing issues. We still need an Electrician, handyman and a carpenter and any volunteer to help in the house. My assessment is that we still need ceiling materials, flooring for the kitchen, carpet for the basement, tiles for the bathroom and paint for the rest of the house.

The weather is still nice and we would like to finish this in 2 weeks before it gets cold.

If you are looking for an opportunity to have an immediate impact in the homeless population, please consider donating your time, materials and/finances through:
Faith, Hope and Love International, Inc. (FHL)
Rivers of Living Water
8383 Craig St. Ste 335
Indianapolis, IN 46250
317-372-0371 [email protected]

Please pray for the Figueroa’s who are in the frontline and are continually pouring out themselves in helping those in need. FHL is posting $500 donation towards helping the homeless through the Rivers of Living Water. 100% of your donations will go to this effort. FHL is a non-profit organization and your donation is tax-deductible. Please feel free to forward this email to those who might be able to help the Rivers of Living Water.

God bless,

Merlin Gonzales
President/CEO
FHL

*The following is the original request:

Hello,

I pray that this message finds you well.

A couple of weeks ago, I had an opportunity to visit one of the organizations in Metro Indy whose main purpose is to help and/or house the homeless. The Rivers of Living Water in Franklin, IN had house 500+ homeless people in the last 5 years. They use their own resources including their house to help those in need.

Because of their radical generosity (Ed & Jena Figueroa), their house is now in need of upgrade and some minor repairs. The rain in the Spring caused flooding and some water damage on the ceiling of the basement (see attached). The kitchen needs floor and the inside of the house needs painting. The house was built in the 60’s and I found out that the electrical box is still the original box which had caused a few problems in the past.

There are a few more maintenance that need attention but below is the immediate needs:

· Fuse Box (Needs licensed Electrician)

· 200 sq ft. flooring (preferably tiles)

· 200 sq ft ceiling

· Paint and paint supplies

· Handyman to help in flooring, painting and minor repairs

If you are looking for an opportunity to have an immediate impact in the homeless population, please consider donating your time, materials and/finances through:

Faith, Hope and Love International, Inc. (FHL) Rivers of Living Water 8383 Craig St. Ste 335 Indianapolis, IN 46250 317-372-0371 [email protected]

When I visited Ed & Jena and heard from them the stories of hope, I was humbled and speechless to actually be in a place that housed 500+ homeless people. Please pray for the Figueroa’s who are in the frontline and are continually pouring out themselves in helping those in need. FHL is posting $500 donation towards helping the homeless through the Rivers of Living Water. 100% of your donations will go to this effort. FHL is a non-profit organization and your donation is tax-deductible. If you are available to volunteer, please respond to this email how you could help. We need painters, carpenters, handyman, plumber and electrician. Please feel free to forward this email to those who might be able to help the Rivers of Living Water.

Sincerely,

Merlin Gonzales
President/CEO
FHL