Participants:
Series Code: UBR
Program Code: UBR210019S
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00:01 Stay tuned to meet a man
00:02 who's focused on the mission 00:04 to make a difference in his community. 00:06 My name is Jason Bradley, 00:07 and you're watching Urban Report. 00:32 Hello and welcome to Urban Report. 00:34 My guest today is Pastor Taurus Montgomery, 00:37 senior pastor of the Harbor of Hope 00:39 Seventh-day Adventist Church, 00:41 located in Benton Harbor, Michigan. 00:44 Welcome to Urban Report, Pastor Taurus. 00:47 Thank you so much for having me, man. 00:49 I really appreciate it, Jason, for the opportunity to share. 00:53 It's great to have you here. 00:54 And I'm excited for you to share. 00:56 So let's start with this. 00:57 What is the mission of Harbor of Hope? 01:01 At Harbor of Hope, 01:03 we exist to empower young people to rise 01:05 and lead through Christ. 01:08 We land on that mission statement 01:11 over a series of over the course 01:14 rather of several months, I'll even say years. 01:18 But within the past six months, 01:20 we've kind of been on this journey 01:22 of really praying and seeking God for clarity 01:25 as to what is our unique mission 01:28 here in this community. 01:30 And we are unapologetically for young people, 01:34 impacting young people, serving young people. 01:36 We believe that that's the call that God 01:38 has placed on us as a congregation. 01:39 Amen. 01:41 And so the whole congregation is on board with this? 01:44 Absolutely. Absolutely. 01:46 I tell people all the time, you know, we have, 01:49 we even have a target age is ages five to 25 years old. 01:53 That's where we focus our resources, 01:55 our time, our power, manpower and womanpower. 02:00 And, and we say, you know, 02:02 that doesn't mean that if you are above that age, 02:05 then you can't be a member at Harbor of Hope. 02:06 If that was true, 02:08 then I wouldn't be able to be a member, 02:09 I'm above, you know. 02:12 But you know, we just believe in this, 02:14 this intentionality, right? 02:16 Yes. 02:17 Those who are above 25 years old, 02:20 God has given you a story, 02:22 God has given you experiences in life 02:24 for you to be able to pour back into that particular age group. 02:28 And so we just want to be intentional about, 02:30 you know, this call that God has placed on us 02:32 to serve in this community. 02:34 Amen, and that's so important. 02:36 You know, each community has its own set of challenges. 02:39 So what are some of the challenges 02:41 that Benton Harbor is faced with? 02:44 Man, um, you know, 02:47 a city that has been impacted by poverty. 02:50 You know, poverty breeds all kinds of issues. 02:55 And one of the things that's really on people's heart 02:57 right now is gun violence. 03:00 You know, we've had our hand a handful of that, 03:04 too much to be honest with you, 03:06 any amount of violence must be dealt, 03:08 you know, the truth of the matter. 03:10 In fact, I have a news clip 03:12 that I share kind of the same thing, 03:14 that if we can pull that out right now, 03:16 I think it speaks to it. 03:17 Absolutely. 03:18 Let's take a look at that right now. 03:20 Pastor Taurus Montgomery, himself, 03:22 thank you for taking the time. 03:23 Sir, good to see you. 03:25 First off, what's your reaction when you heard about 03:27 another deadly shooting in Benton Township 03:29 not far from your church overnight? 03:31 The victims just 18 and 20 years old, 03:33 what did you make of it? 03:35 Well, you know, I was hurt, Brian, I was hurt. 03:38 You know, I couldn't help but think about the fact 03:40 that these are young, young people, 03:43 18 years old, 20 years old, you know, 03:45 whole life ahead of them, but now, 03:48 not able to live that life. 03:51 Because they've been taken, you know, at such an early age. 03:53 My heart goes out to the family, 03:56 and loved ones who are now mourning, 03:58 yet again another death 04:00 of a young person in our community. 04:02 It happens all too often, no doubt about that. 04:04 But your church, the Harbor of Hope, 04:07 has a new mission to help young people 04:09 make more positive choices. 04:10 What led you and your parishioners 04:13 down that path? 04:15 Well, what led us down that path is the reality 04:18 that in communities that are underserved, 04:22 communities of poverty, 04:24 young people are oftentimes going to experience 04:28 what they call ACES, 04:30 or that stands for adverse childhood experiences, 04:33 and the more of those that people have, 04:36 then the more likely 04:38 they're going to struggle in life. 04:40 In addition to the fact that, as you played in the video, 04:44 just down the street from our church, 04:46 we had a young man last summer who was killed, 19 years old. 04:50 So these things, you know, we're saying, 04:52 "Hey, we can sit back and complain about it, 04:54 or we can do something." 04:55 And so that's, that's what took us down this path. 04:58 So tell our viewers about the Final Play 05:00 that basketball tournament fundraiser 05:02 and community wide event next week, 05:05 what's the overall goal with this? 05:08 Listen, our Final Play is a four day community event 05:13 that uses basketball, to bring people together, 05:18 to bring the community together. 05:19 And our overall goal is to kick off 05:22 a positive, peaceful, productive summer 05:25 and a summer where we can, we want to, 05:27 we want to expose young people to opportunities and programs 05:31 that are available in the city 05:33 for them to tap into for the summer. 05:36 How can people support your mission 05:38 and all those nonprofits trying to make a difference there 05:41 in Benton Harbor and Benton Township? 05:43 Are you asking people to get involved? 05:45 Oh, sure, absolutely. 05:47 Well, the first thing 05:48 they can do is go to the website, 05:50 onefinalplay.com. 05:52 That's the number one spelled out. 05:53 Onefinalplay.com and learn more about the event 05:57 and other things that we have happening. 06:00 The second thing they can do is volunteer. 06:02 They'll find it on the website as well. 06:04 And we're also accepting donations 06:06 to take funds to make these kinds of things happen. 06:09 And so they can make a donation on there as well. 06:12 And lastly, they can attend, you know, show up, be present, 06:16 be amongst young people be that positive influence 06:19 when they come around as well. 06:21 And so those are ways that people can get involved. 06:24 Pastor Taurus Montgomery at the Harbor of Hope Church 06:26 of Benton Harbor, thank you for all you're doing 06:28 to make this a safer, less violence summer. 06:31 We certainly appreciate your efforts. 06:33 Thank you, Brian. 06:35 All right. 06:36 Wow, that's incredible. 06:38 I'm so glad that ABC 57 chose to highlight 06:41 what was going on in the community. 06:43 Your church is doing incredible things, 06:45 Pastor Taurus, and thankful for your leadership there. 06:49 You know, a lot of times 06:50 we see problems within a community. 06:53 But we don't address those problems. 06:56 We don't do anything, we tend to complain about them, 06:58 but we don't do anything about them. 07:00 So you're doing something about it. 07:03 But what is your church doing to address those problems? 07:08 Well, a couple of things. 07:10 Man, you know, one of the things 07:11 that you know, as you are saying 07:13 what you just said there, you know, 07:16 it's important to scratch people 07:17 where they're itchy, right? 07:19 If you, if I'm... 07:21 If my back is itching, but you're scratching my head, 07:23 then I'm looking at you, "What's wrong with you?" 07:25 You know, it's not, you're, 07:27 what you're doing is not relevant to what my need is. 07:29 Yes. 07:31 And so just find it necessary for the church 07:33 to listen to the community, 07:34 because the community will tell you 07:36 exactly what their issue is, what the problem is. 07:39 And I believe that God has blessed His church so much, 07:42 with so many gifts and so many talents 07:43 and so many resources. 07:44 And I'm not just talking about my church, 07:47 I'm talking about the Adventist Church period 07:50 to be able to address any problem or any issue 07:52 that we find in our community. 07:55 And so what we, in addition to, you know, 07:58 trying to address this gun, 07:59 this gun violence issue, we created programs. 08:04 So for young man, we have a men's group 08:06 where we want to provide, 08:07 where we provide mentorship for young men. 08:10 For young ladies, there's a women's group, 08:13 we turned our Sabbath school 08:16 into what we call Now Rise Up School 08:19 to be in line and in harmony with our mission 08:21 to empower young people to rise and lead. 08:24 And so we're teaching the Word, you know, of course, 08:28 during that time and giving them 08:29 that firm foundation that's going to help them 08:32 to make it out of poverty, 08:34 and also be able to walk on the streets of gold. 08:37 And so, those are some of the things that we're doing. 08:41 We have a life skills program, you know, 08:43 what we're talking about how to change a tire, 08:46 you know, how to change your oil, 08:49 how to tie a tie, you know, 08:51 we've got them actually to get them involved 08:53 in to be able to serve. 08:55 We have a community garden to teach them agriculture. 08:59 Just a number of things that that are practical 09:01 and hands-on for young people to be able to partake in. 09:05 Main attraction is basketball. 09:07 You know, basketball is something 09:09 that this community gravitates to. 09:13 A lot of them, you talk to them, 09:14 they don't call it Benton Harbor, 09:16 they call it Ball Harbor, 09:18 and that's for their love for the game, 09:20 their love for sports. 09:21 And so those are some of the things 09:23 that we're doing. 09:25 And so that they call it Ball Harbor, 09:26 that must mean they have skills, 09:28 that they must have some skills on the court. 09:32 If you're, they do, let me just say that. 09:34 Benton Harbor is a basketball city 09:37 and which is why everybody loves the game here to see. 09:40 Nice, nice. 09:42 We actually have some pictures of some people 09:44 that have you know, 09:45 attended and played out there and all that stuff. 09:48 Why don't you tell us a little bit about that? 09:50 Sure, sure. 09:51 So this, this was the first event 09:54 at our grand opening 09:56 that we did where we had about 200 people come out, 10:00 you know, it was a... 10:01 This I know basketball, you know, 10:02 basketball is a big deal. 10:04 It was a last minute kind of thrown 10:07 together type of thing, 10:08 because we were trying to respond as quickly 10:10 as we could to, you know, 10:12 the issues that was happening last summer, right? 10:15 And so, man, people showed up with little advertising, 10:18 we had a great time. 10:20 Here's some young boys right here, you know, 10:22 coming out and participating and playing. 10:25 And, you know, it's an attraction, 10:27 a lot, what a lot of people don't know. 10:30 And I learned this, you know, over the course of time, 10:33 is that even the origin of the game of basketball, 10:36 it was created to help keep young people, 10:38 young men in particular off the streets. 10:41 The guy who created, 10:42 his name was Dr. James Naismith. 10:45 And he was a gym teacher, he was a minister, 10:48 he was a physician, 10:49 and the director of the Boys and Girls, 10:52 not the Boys and Girls Club, 10:54 the YMCA at the time came to him and said, 10:56 Hey, we need to do something to keep these young men 10:59 off the streets during the wintertime, 11:01 and that's the origin of the game of basketball. 11:04 And in fact, in fact, in his prayer journal, 11:08 it was written in his prayer journal, 11:10 he said, you know, "God, give me a game 11:13 to win men to the Master." 11:15 And that is the origin of the game of basketball. 11:19 So I tell people, it's the holy sport. 11:22 You taught me something new. 11:23 You just taught me something new on that. 11:25 So how do you use basketball to spread the gospel? 11:30 So here's a couple of things. 11:35 The first thing is that, you know, 11:37 embedded within the game 11:39 is the ability to mingle with people, right? 11:43 Whenever there's a basketball game, 11:45 you're on a team with somebody, you just kind of out there. 11:47 So we, as we have these events, 11:49 you know, we're intentional about 11:51 mingling with young men and young ladies. 11:54 Right now, as we speak, 11:56 we have a program out in the community, 11:59 where we're going to places 12:01 that have basketball courts already, 12:03 and we're mingling, we're playing ball with them. 12:06 Last, the first night, we had about 50 people show up. 12:10 The second day, we had about 70 people show up. 12:13 And so tonight, when we go back out there to play ball, 12:17 I'm suspecting that it'll d be even more. 12:19 But after playing basketball with them, or rather, 12:21 before we play with them, we share the Word. 12:25 And so even so when I told you tonight, 12:27 that I have a presentation, I'm going out there, 12:30 we have the TV, we take the TV out, 12:31 so I'm using PowerPoint, the young people gather around, 12:35 and they're watching, you know, the Scripture's on the screen. 12:39 And so we're preaching the Word, 12:41 sharing the gospel, we're playing basketball, 12:43 we have some fun and games, you know, 12:46 we play stuff like capture the flag with them. 12:49 Adults get involved, teenagers get involved, 12:51 kids get involved. 12:53 And we're just having a great time. 12:54 After that, we sit down together, 12:56 we eat some food. 12:57 But you know what? 12:59 You know, once I'm preaching the Word, 13:01 I'm also making appeals, I'm appeals. 13:03 I'm making appeals for giving your life to Christ. 13:05 I'm making appeals for Bible study. 13:07 You know, I'm making appeals for come join us, you know, 13:11 go to church with us this Sabbath. 13:13 You know, it's holistic approach, man, 13:16 where it's almost like 13:18 we're doing a week of prayer in the community on site, 13:22 using the game of basketball to be able to pull it off. 13:25 Yeah. Amen. Amen. 13:27 That's, that's a very unique approach. 13:29 How did the grand opening of the court, 13:32 how did all of that come about? 13:35 Man, you know, well, you know, I have a... 13:37 I have a love for the game, you know, 13:38 basketball, I play basketball. 13:41 As a young man, I had hoop dreams, 13:44 wanted to go to the NBA 13:46 and all that kind of stuff, you know. 13:47 And so I had this, this connection with the game 13:52 and I began to see that basketball was a tool. 13:55 You know, I'll be honest with you, man, 13:57 I wrestle with it, 13:58 because of the competition part, you know I'm saying. 14:01 Sometimes, you know, I would allow it 14:04 to get the best of me and, you know, 14:06 it turned into something that it shouldn't turn into, 14:08 but the Lord began to show me 14:12 that if I would allow Him to be in control of me, 14:15 you know, and surrender myself as I'm even playing the game. 14:19 Then He, and He helped me with that, right? 14:21 And so then I began to realize that you know what? 14:22 This is a tool. 14:24 This is a tool. 14:25 Young people love it. 14:27 And I began to ask myself, 14:28 what if we put a basketball court 14:32 on the church lawn, right? 14:34 And to be honest with you, man, 14:36 I wanted to put something small, 14:38 something simple, just one little hoop up. 14:40 And when I began to share 14:42 that vision with the church board, 14:44 they were like, "Well, pastor, 14:45 I think we should probably put it in the center 14:48 and make it a real deal basketball court." 14:51 And I said, well praise the Lord. 14:54 Right? Amen. 14:57 We ended up getting some donations. 15:00 You know, some people blessed us, 15:01 you know, the Lord blessed us through these individuals, 15:04 we were able to get the funding and the court went up, 15:07 and the community came out. 15:09 That's, that's huge. 15:11 Tell us about the Final Play? 15:14 Man, the Final Play. 15:16 The Final Play. 15:17 It was, it just happened in June. 15:20 It was a four day event that involved a basketball, 15:25 we had a stage play, we had resources, 15:30 and food, of course, right? 15:31 In fact, I think we have some shots right here. 15:34 Some pictures of the, 15:36 the resource booths that we had, 15:38 were again, you know, we're using basketball, it may, 15:43 it drew the community out. 15:44 And with the community came out, 15:46 we had these about 20 different organizations. 15:48 Here you have Spectrum Health Lakeland, 15:50 which is the local hospital, and health care system here. 15:54 You had Express, which is a hiring agency 15:58 in the community where individuals were able 16:01 to go around and visit these different booths. 16:04 We had the army recruiters. 16:06 They came out, and they began to share, 16:09 you know, recruit young men to come join the army. 16:13 Another cool thing about it was, you know, 16:15 we were able to raise some funds 16:17 to get to provide assistance for other organizations 16:21 that are serving young people. 16:22 And here, organization called 400 Men, 16:26 and they were, you know, 16:28 catering to mentoring young boys 16:30 between the ages of 10 and 17 years old. 16:32 And so we were able to bless them 16:34 with some funding to be able to do that, 16:36 with the funds that we raise from local supporters, 16:39 you know, who were giving. 16:41 And then the last one that you saw there 16:43 was a check for $2500 16:45 for another organization called Peace for Life, 16:48 which started as an anti bullying organization. 16:52 You know, at the end of every school year, 16:55 there used to be fights. 16:56 It was just kind of a part of the culture 16:58 at the end of the last day of school, 17:00 there's gonna be a fight. 17:01 And so this organization formed to combat that, right? 17:05 And so they will do peace marches. 17:07 And we, we've been a part of those 17:09 before as well. 17:10 They were rallies at the park and, you know, 17:13 trying to do things that are just, 17:15 you know, positive and productive 17:17 to some kind of, you know, 17:19 peaceful transition into the summertime. 17:21 And so being able to, you know, 17:23 be a blessing to those organizations. 17:26 And listen, again, 17:28 it was all a tie to basketball, right? 17:31 So the teams were the organizations 17:35 where the, that you just saw there, 17:38 a part of them being able to apply 17:42 for and participate to be able to, 17:44 to get the, what we call the community impact grant, 17:48 was they had to, you know, 17:50 there was a requirements or whatnot. 17:52 But the teams that were playing in the tournament 17:55 were represented or they represented 17:58 one of the organizations. 18:00 And so the organization team that won was the team 18:05 would determine what prize they got. 18:07 So in other words, 18:09 the players got a chance to play 18:10 for something bigger than just winning a game. 18:13 I got you. 18:15 Playing for charity. 18:16 And so, they think it's pride, 18:18 a sense of like giving back and supporting my community, 18:22 as a result of the work we try to, you know, 18:26 interweave, you know, the charities into the game. 18:30 So it all worked out. 18:31 Yes, yes. 18:33 That's huge. 18:34 So what happens after this four day event? 18:39 So you know, that was a... 18:41 That's a good question 18:43 because I was telling my church that, 18:45 hey, guys, you know, 18:46 we've been planning this event for seven months, 18:50 praise God, it went well. 18:53 But it's over. 18:54 And it's just four days. 18:56 And guess what? 18:57 The devil is still busy, 18:58 he's still gonna be attacking young people in our community, 19:01 he's still going to be causing arguments, 19:05 causing fights. 19:06 And, you know, we hope nobody else dies 19:09 from violence or whatever. 19:10 But we live in a sin sick world. 19:13 And so, just because the event is over, that doesn't mean 19:17 that we have to stop now, right? 19:18 There's still more work to be done. 19:20 So what we decided to do was, 19:22 we looked out into our communities 19:23 and we say, okay, well, what complexes, 19:27 what housing project areas, 19:29 what apartment complexes 19:31 already have a basketball hoop, right? 19:35 Already have a basketball court. 19:37 And we found out that there were four of them, 19:40 now two of them, 19:43 the basketball hoops was actually missing. 19:46 So then we had to try to, you know, 19:48 fundraise to be able to buy some hoops 19:50 to be able to put the hoops up on those locations. 19:53 And then we said, you know what? 19:55 We're gonna go to each one of these locations 19:57 for one week, and this 19:59 is what I was referring to earlier, 20:01 and we're doing what we call 20:02 a community non violence initiative. 20:04 Wow! 20:05 And we're going out. 20:07 And I'm talking about the story of Cain and Abel 20:09 and how these two brothers, 20:11 one brother killed the other brother, 20:13 and just kind of using that as a springboard to talk about, 20:17 you know, love God, 20:18 love people and essentially preach 20:21 the gospel from that, right? 20:24 And so, so we're spending one week in one location. 20:28 And then after that, 20:30 we spend another week in the next location. 20:31 We do a basketball tournament, 20:33 we'll do food, we'll do fund, we'll do games. 20:36 But we're definitely going to preach the gospel, 20:37 call people to make decisions for baptism, 20:40 people to make decisions to study the Word of God, 20:43 people to make decisions for Christ, 20:45 and so on and so forth. 20:46 And so for the next four weeks, that's what's going on. 20:50 That's where I'm preaching at tonight. 20:52 And I'm looking forward to making 20:53 that happen tonight again. 20:54 Yeah, that is, that is awesome. 20:56 So tell me, what has been the result 21:00 of your basketball ministry? 21:03 Man, the Lord has been blessing, man. 21:05 The Lord has been blessing in so many ways. 21:08 I'll tell you, I'll tell you two different stories. 21:10 The first one is when I first started 21:13 doing basketball ministry, um, 21:16 I was connecting with, again, young men, you know, 21:19 young men love to play ball. 21:21 And it led to them coming to church. 21:24 It led them to come into the Sabbath School, 21:26 it led them to doing Bible studies, 21:29 it led them to getting baptized. 21:32 In fact, we had four young, four young men to get baptized, 21:38 I'm sorry, it was, it was two young men 21:39 that got baptized. 21:40 Three young men that got baptized, 21:42 and three young ladies. 21:43 And then eventually we took these, 21:46 this small group of young people 21:48 who have never flown in an airplane 21:50 ever in their lives, 21:52 who never really traveled out of the state of Michigan. 21:54 We actually took them 21:56 on a mission trip to Guyana, South America. 21:59 And while there, we partnered with the organization 22:01 that I was a part of, that I'm sure you guys 22:04 are familiar with, called NAPS, 22:05 The National Association for the Prevention, 22:09 which is really where I got my foundation 22:10 for outreach and community ministry from, right? 22:14 And so we took these kids, man, 22:17 you know, to Guyana, South America, 22:19 while there, we did an evangelistic effort. 22:22 While there, we also built the home 22:24 for this widow and her small children. 22:29 And so they got a chance to, you know, 22:31 go beyond the norm for their lives, you know. 22:37 You know, they didn't even know what a passport was, right? 22:40 And so, so that's, 22:42 that's the first blessing, right? 22:43 Yes. 22:45 And they were sort of the firstfruits, right? 22:46 And then, just recently, man, 22:48 I got a phone call last week, Thursday. 22:53 We're doing, 22:54 we're doing this 40 days of prayer and fasting. 22:56 And on Thursdays, is our day of fasting. 23:01 And so, there was a young man call me, it's like 9:30. 23:06 And I'm sitting down at the table, 23:07 just kind of like, you know, 23:10 looking forward to eating something, 23:12 and I get a phone call. 23:14 And the phone call 23:16 is from one of my Bible counselors, 23:18 Bible workers. 23:19 And they're saying, "Hey, Pastor, you know, 23:21 the young man that I've been working with, 23:23 I've been working with him for some time now. 23:25 He's been coming out to the basketball ministry. 23:27 He's been coming to church. 23:29 He told me that he's ready to get baptized." 23:31 And I said, "Okay, well, great. 23:35 You know, we're having a baptism this coming Sabbath. 23:37 He could be a part of that baptism." 23:39 And she said, well pastor. 23:41 He said, "He wanted to get baptized right now." 23:45 I said, "Right now?" 23:47 Wow. 23:48 See, well, I got it. Okay. 23:50 Well, I got to go to the church and turn the water on. 23:54 And it's gonna take about 40 minutes to fill the pool up, 23:57 and then it's gonna take a while 23:59 for the water to get warm. 24:02 He said, Okay, it's 9:30 PM, okay. 24:06 Wow. 24:07 And then he says. 24:09 So I've come over to the church. 24:11 And for whatever reason, 24:13 the baptismal pool is not working. 24:16 And later I found out that I didn't know 24:18 what I was doing. 24:21 But I didn't know, I didn't know 24:25 how to turn it on. 24:26 Yeah. So I called him back. 24:28 I called him back and I said, 24:29 "Hey, man, you know, is not working. 24:32 So the only option 24:33 we have is to go to Lake Michigan." 24:36 Now Lake Michigan, Silver Beach is just, you know, 24:39 seven minutes away from the church, right? 24:41 Uh-huh. 24:42 So, he said, "Okay." 24:46 And man, I grabbed a couple of my other young guys 24:49 who here you know, serving as counselors. 24:54 And man we got in the van and we drove to the beach 24:58 and we got out there. 24:59 We met him out there. 25:01 In fact, we have a picture. 25:02 I think I have a picture here. 25:04 So you know what happened when we got there. 25:05 So that's what's there on Lake Michigan. 25:08 It's 9:30, 9:45 by now. 25:11 And we were praying and you know, 25:15 asking the Lord to be with him and with us. 25:18 And then from there, 25:20 we walk out into the water him and myself. 25:22 And I raise my right hand, in the name of the Father, 25:25 in name of the Son, in name of the Holy Ghost, 25:28 we baptize this young man, his name is Milan. 25:31 And he's on fire for the Lord, man, so. 25:33 Yes. Yes. 25:35 God is showing us that this thing works. 25:37 This thing is for this community especially, 25:42 and thank you for how the Lord has moved. 25:44 Amen. Amen. 25:46 And hopefully our viewers and listeners will keep Milan 25:48 in prayer as he continues his walk with the Lord. 25:51 Real quick, I want to put up your contact page 25:54 and if you would just read that to us 25:57 so that people know how to get in touch with you 25:59 and if they want to support what you're doing, 26:02 they know how to do so. 26:04 So absolutely. 26:05 We are Harbor of Hope Seventh-day Adventist Church, 26:08 769 Pipestone Street. 26:11 Benton Harbor, Michigan 49022. 26:15 Our website is HarborOfHopePMC.org 26:20 HarborOfHopePMC.org 26:23 And you can check us out on there. 26:25 You can donate from on there as well 26:26 if you want to support anything that we have going on. 26:29 Wonderful. 26:30 And what are some of the current needs? 26:32 We're running low on time, 26:33 but what are some of the current needs that you, 26:36 that your church has? 26:38 Man, we need transportation. 26:41 We need, we're looking to purchase 26:43 two 12 passenger vans. 26:47 Because to keep up, 26:49 transportation ministry is a key component 26:51 of our work going out to pick up young people 26:54 who don't have cars, who don't have vehicles. 26:57 It's a vital part of what we're doing. 27:00 And so if you're willing and able, 27:04 please prayerfully consider donating to help us 27:07 to purchase some 12 passenger vans 27:12 that will help our ministry out in a major way 27:15 to be able to go pick up young people 27:17 and bring them to church, 27:18 to be able to nurture them and grow them 27:20 to becoming all that God created them to be. 27:23 Amen. Amen. 27:25 You've been extremely busy. 27:27 I remember, you know, 27:28 I've been able to talk to you 27:30 during different stages of this project. 27:33 And I'm just amazed 27:35 at what God is doing through you, 27:38 and what God is doing through your church 27:40 and what God is doing within your community. 27:44 And I hope to be able to come out there 27:45 and visit some time. 27:47 I want to thank you for coming on 27:49 and sharing with us 27:50 and sharing with our viewers what is taking place, 27:53 inspiring them to get involved. 27:55 Whatever you have in your hand, 27:57 make sure you use it to the glory of God. 27:59 Until next time, God bless. |
Revised 2021-08-30