Our 1st HNB meeting!!

Tuesday, August 25th we had our 1st Hope for North Brevard meeting, where we talked about the vision and where we were in the process, as well as how others could get involved. We had a good turn out and we hope to be able to spread the word to others in town that have the same vision.

We are planning to meet on the last tuesday of every month, at least for the fall as a way to fellowship together and keep everyone in the loop as to how things are progressing. Our next meeting is scheduled for tuesday, Sept. 29th at 7pm at the home of Robert & Joyce Gordon (3712 Glenn Road, Mims, FL). Spread the word and we hope to see you at the next meeting.

One of our goals of the meetings is to find out how you all would like to be involved, so if you didn't fill out an information card, please email or call me so I can help you get plugged in.

Pastor's Prayer Retreat

I was very fortunate to be able to attend a pastor's prayer retreat with 22 other
pastors in town, who decided that it would be worthwhile to take 2 days together to pray for an extended time together. We meet every wednesday morning at Crosswalk to pray for an hour, but this allowed us a much longer time to be together. I can't express how excited I am to see these local pastors care for one another, how committed they are to the expansion of God's kingdom work in Titusville, as well as how committed they are to working together to meet these goals.

They realize that God's kingdom work is bigger than their individual churches and that we need to help one another. One of the things that came out of our prayer time is the visual of Nehemiah and the rebuilding of the wall and as each church in town has it's section of the wall, but when the trumpet sounds and we have a brother in need that we would go to help them.

For me personally, I was encouraged as the pastors prayed over Hope for North Brevard and the startup of our ministry, as well as feeling God's confirmation that I was where he wanted me to be, which gives me great peace and assurance as we step out in faith. In all of this, it leads me to worship, for God is the faithful one and he has been constantly reminding me of that. I encourage you all to pray with us as the pastors try and discern what God would have us to do corporately to build up the body of Christ. My prayer is that HNB would be a part of that, if God's see fit to use us in that way.

The pastors have started the "Joseph fund", which is a fund that a lot of local churches are participating in to help set aside monies for families that have been affected by job loss and they are working with North Brevard Charities to help distribute the funds. If you would like more information about the Joseph Fund, come and see me.

Our role in serving

What the city was asking was if we could help gut the house, so the roofers could come in and repair the roofs and ceiling without all the contents of the house in the way, as well as that it could get damaged during the repair. Ms. Juanita Spells, from the city was trying to do most of this work by herself on the weekends (which is not part of her job, by the way) but she was determined to care for this elderly man.

I am happy to say that I immediately sent the word out to our local youth pastors and several responded, with short noticed for the city was on a time-line. We had over 20 adults and students from: IRC Methodist, Crosswalk Community, Crossroads Community, Christ Community and Redeemer Presbyterian show up. We almost completely gutted his entire house, taking over four truck and trailer loads to the dump, because of all the water damaged. We were able to store his most valuable things, thanks to Steve and Debbie Cox of Cox Discount Storage, who are members of CCC, who gave us a storage unit, while Mr. Shank's roof is being repaired. We also bleached and cleaned everything we could. Juanita was overjoyed with all that we were able to accomplish and this project was a good example of the christian community responding to a local need. Thank you to all of you that participated!

A breakdown in community

When we met with the city to discuss how we could help, we visited Mr. Shank's home, which is on Jackson Ave., right next to Miracle City Mall. When we walked through his home to see the water damage from his damaged roof is was quite disturbing on many levels. One, being that his roof and home had been in this condition for the past 5 years. To be very honest i was surprised that this elderly man was still alive for his home was filled with mold and it was hard to breathe. The other disturbing part of this for me, was the fact that all of his neighbors around him had well cared for homes and yards and it seems that no one had checked in on this man, who could no longer care for his home by himself. To me this is an example of the breakdown of community and selfishness. The few neighbors I did speak to were glad that we were helping fix this community "eye-sore" but didn't feel any real since of obligation to help this neighbor in need. This is why we need gospel-centered community.

Our 1st local Service Project

When you pray the prayer, "okay, God i want to be used by you" you don't have to wait too long for that to be answered. In this case, the city of titusville came looking for us, for they had heard (because of our past work with Project Titusville) that we might be able to assist them with a local project. The city, particularly Ms. Juanita Spells (pictured in the center) of Neighborhood Services asked if we could help her care of a local elderly man, Mr. Roleof Shank. Mr. Shank's roof had been damaged since the hurricanes 5 years ago and it had partial collapsed in on his home. The city had found some grant money to assist with the roof, but they needed assistance with getting his house in order for that repair. This is where we come in!

HNB Prayers

I first want to thank God for his provision and care through our transition and for all of you that have encouraged us along the way. Chrissy and I feel very blessed and energized to get HNB going, and we ask you to join with us in these prayers: 1. That HNB be God's vision and not our own- that he would guide us and give us his wisdom for this new ministy. 2. that he would guide the creation of our board of directors and the vision casting of HNB, how we will operate and function as a ministry. 3. continued care for my family and all others that are in this time of transtion. 4.we pray for favor with the IRS and the creation of the 5013c and that we can get it done. 5.That God would draw the supporters and partners we need to get HNB off the ground. 6. Wisdom to the decision to starting the Thrift Store now, as well as the man power and tools we will need to get it done. 7. Wisdom as to when to pursue the youth outreach center (Goodings building), meaning should we make a push for it now, or wait,learn and develop the foundation at a slower pace. We ask for God's guidance in all these decisions. Thank you for joining with us in prayer!
trey <><

Hope for North Brevard, Inc

thought u might want to see our waiting room. some of you helped paint it. Thanks
Matt, Rachel, Vic, Whitney, Matt, Jim, and the super troop, Mike, Marcey and not to leave out Aiden (our DJ).

Welcome to "Hope Counseling Center"

okay, after much sweat, paint and a large group effort, we now have our new counseling center. this project took a lot of hands, some shopping, some donations from several families, especially my parents, Dr. Robert & Joyce Gordon, Chrissy's sister, Wendy Scotchie and several others. Thank you all for making this happen. Our prayer is that this room will be a place of healing, encouragement and life transformation. The address is: 407 S.Washington Ave.,Suite 4B, Titusville,FL 32796