Pouring the Concrete

2-10-09 (Tuesday)
Mike Bevis (Bevis Concrete) along with his crew pouring the concrete slab for Grandma Bet’s home. If we can continue to stay on schedule, concrete block will be delivered on Friday (2-13-09) of this week and Derrick Robinson (TMR Robinson Construction, Inc.) will start laying the block on Monday (2-16-09) of next week.

REMINDER: We have a Kingdom Builders meeting on Monday (2-16-09) at 7:00 PM (First Baptist Church of Lake Placid).

As we continue to share God’s love, he has laid on my heart that we need to to pray for all those (whom we come in contact with through this project) who do not know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior (Acts 1:8). After speaking with Grandma Bet today, we both came to realize the POWER of LOVE and PRAYER.

Permit in Place

1-22-09 (Thursday)

PRAISE GOD! Tom Wren (All American Hallmark Homes, Inc.) has secured the Building Permit for Grandma Bet’s home…GOD IS GOOD.

Site demolition has been completed and Ronnie Hathaway (Hathaway Land Services, Inc.) has said he will start the building pad site preparation on Friday afternoon or Monday.

Last Monday nights meeting was short but sweet. A lot of discussion centered around how God along with this project is touching the lives of many people.

After reviewing the construction schedule we have decided on an official groundbreaking date of 1-31-09 (Saturday) at 1:00 PM. Mark your calendars, all are invited to attend.

As we move forward, remember…John 3:30 He must become greater and greater and I must become less and less (NLT).

Discussing the Demo

1-6-08 (Tuesday)

Yesterday was an exciting day, I had the opportunity to meet Marty Hickey (Hickey Excavation) and Ronnie Hathaway (Hathaway Land Services) to discuss the demolition of Grandma Bet’s existing house. This scope of work is starting today with a dumpster being moved on site and excavation equipment moving on site Wednesday or Thursday of this week.

We also had a meeting last night which was well attended, and a sense of excitement filled the air. Items discussed were: Building permit application (which should be completed this week) and project schedule (including disconnection of power, pumping of septic tank, existing utilities locate request, demolition of existing structure, and site building pad).

We had some discussion about the groundbreaking which will take place after the building pad is in place. We all felt that the groundbreaking ceremonies should be made up of those individuals involved in the project… not some public spectacle! Our concern being that GOD receive all the glory and not man.

I have came to the conclusion that Satan has definitely got a stronghold in the Highway Park community. I spent about an hour and a half with Maurice and Grandma Bet on Monday afternoon; seeing and discussing what goes on in their community on a daily basis. As we get started with this project, please keep in mind the additional prayer needed to combat Satan and his attack on this community and our project.

Thanks again to all those who continue to make this project a success.
Luke 12:33 Sell your possessions and give to those in need. This will store up treasure for you in heaven! And the purses of heaven never get old or develop holes. Your treasure will be safe; no thief can steal it and no moth can destroy it (NLT).

Our next meeting is scheduled for Monday 1-19-08 at 7:00 PM (First Baptist Church of Lake Placid).

Slowly, But Surely

12-30-08 (Tuesday)

Moving slowly but surely…I just got back to the office after setting a temporary electrical pole (with our crew) at Gradma Bet’s house. We are in the final stages of making preparation for demolition. We are still waiting on the property deed to be recorded so that we can finish our permitting. Tim Sheehan said this should be completed sometime next week.

Hope everyone has a great and safe New Years! Do not forget our January 5, 2009 meeting at 7:00 PM (First Baptist Church of Lake Placid).

Shout for Joy to the Lord

11-25-08 (Tuesday)

WORSHIP happened again at last nights meeting, starting with prayer, praise reports and testimony. We had some special guests with us last night, they were Johnnie and Beulah Sholtz (Maurice’s Uncle and Auntie). Beulah is part of the Prayer Band in Highway Park that meets every day from 12:30 – 3:00 PM to praise God, pray, and read His word. Beulah gave testimony that during the two weeks we were praying about whether God wanted us to build Grandma Bet a new home or not, she was also praying with and for Grandma Bet letting her know that she had confirmation from God that he was going to provide her with a new home. What an awesome testimony to see how God was working in the lives of others before this project even started. I am thankful there is a group like the Prayer
Band who realize the importance of praise, prayer and God’s word…worshipping every day.

Maurice gave testimony of the friendship that developed between Margie MacDonald and Grandma Bet while she was in the nursing home (LPHC) recovering from hip surgery. Margie is a widow who attends First Baptist Church and is one of the widows I look after through our Deacon ministry. I have been telling Margie about Grandma Bet and the project, it was interesting how God was able to weave the lives of these two women together during their stay at LPHC. I think what touched me the most (and many others) is when Margie kissed Grandma Bet during one of their times together, stating “that is the first time I have ever kissed a black person.” WOW, look how God has taken this project to a level of breaking down racial barriers and showing us that true love for each other is not determined by skin color. 1 John 4: 7-8 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God, because God is love. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love (NIV). This is a powerful scripture; is race, generation, ethnic, or any other things keeping you from showing God’s love like he has called us to do?

As the meeting progressed we discussed the legal issues surrounding the property, which should be worked out through Tim Sheehan by next Monday, permitting which we can now start since we have now obtained engineered stamped plans from Grif Broach, cash donations and “in kind” donations. As we completed our house takeoff sheet we concluded that we have secured over 70% of our resources through “in kind” and cash donations to build Grandma Bet’s home. It was agreed by all that all things are possible through God, we just have to have FAITH, and as Pastor Rick Nations would say “sometimes more FAITH then SENSE.”

Our intent in two weeks is to have a construction start date and possibly even the building permit pulled. Terry Oleary (Public Relations) wants to do a story to promote the project when we break ground. Lou Canevari has already said he has plenty of gold shovels for the ground breaking. Get ready, God’s blessing is about to take on the physical appearance of a HOME.

Maurice reminded me as we were leaving the meeting about the Car Wash that the kids were going to be doing this week on Saturday (11-29-08) between 8:00 AM and 12:00 Noon at Bank of America to raise money for Grandma Bet. Don’t you need your car washed?

Thanks to all who continue to make this project a success. I pray that everyone has a great Thanksgiving. Psalm 100, 1 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. 2 Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. 3 Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his, we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. 5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever, his faithfulness continues through all generations (NIV). This is one of my favorite Psalms in the Bible.

Do not forget Rick Miller’s pray request; his sister Colleen Postman has been diagnosed with early stages of breast cancer. Thank you Beulah for praying (a powerful prayer) for Colleen at last nights meeting.

Meeting Notes: November 11

11-11-08 (Tuesday)

Last nights meeting opened in prayer that focused our meeting time on a time of worship. Hebrews 13: 15-16 With Jesus’ help, let us continually offer our sacrifice of praise to God by proclaiming the glory of his name. 16Don’t for get to do good and to share what you have with those in need, for such sacrifices are very pleasing to God (NLT). Setting this tone at the start of our meeting, made a difference in the spirit of all in attendance.

I mentioned that I had the opportunity to visit Grandma Bet in the nursing home Saturday. She looks very good and is very much ready to go home. What a sweet time I had with her conversing about her life and spiritual issues. Our discussion concluded with both of us imagining what would the world be like if everyone was to love each other and remove all the barriers of race, wealth, etc….

Maurice will be meeting with Tim Sheehan Wednesday to work out the legal details of the one building lot not in Grandma Bet’s name. This is a must before we can proceed with the permitting process.

Grif Broach continues to keep the project on track by providing us tonight with a site plan. We also have the truss engineering done so that Grif can get this information to his structural engineer (the last hurdle we have to get over before we have a finalized plan set to apply for the building permits).

The meeting progressed to a focus on the following: How can those donating services and materials obtain tax breaks. How can we save sales tax dollars on materials purchased. What type of insurance coverages do we need in place to protect Grandma Bet and all those who are working on the project. Should we install a temporary construction fence around the project site, to help alleviate any liabilities during construction and protect all the children that may wander onto the project site unattended. We finished our discussion with how we were doing with project “in kind” donations.

We closed the meeting with all agreeing that by our next meeting it was time to nail down all of the “in kind” donations for the project, in order to fill in our takeoff sheet and see what was needed financially to complete the project; challenging everyone to pray, pray, pray…

We all agreed with a January 17, 2009 date for the “Betty Wilson Benefit” to be held at Devane Park in Lake Placid. Cathy Britt and Lisa Bellamy will be getting together to start working out the details of the benefit. If you have any ideas, please direct them to one of these two ladies. Our next scheduled meeting is November 24 at 7:00 PM (First Baptist Church of Lake Placid).

Oh by the way I forgot to mention a praise report. Rick Miller could not attend our meeting last night because his daughter Emily made a perfect score on the 5th grade FCAT test and was being awarded by the Highlands County School Board; how awesome is that!

Thanks goes to Maurice (Deacon Wilson) for closing the meeting in prayer. Again may God and God alone receive all the glory!

Meeting Notes: September 29

9-29-09 (Monday):
I woke up this morning knowing that tonight we would be having another meeting about the project with the hopes of enlisting more individuals and companies to help. In my quiet time today, the first thing I prayed was God please provide us with the needs to keep this project moving in a positive direction. I also prayed for him to give me strength to see this project to the end.

At 11:00 AM this morning while working at my office, Keith Lagrow dropped in and said that he had been praying and that the Holy Spirit was leading him to come see me about our project. It was at that time he dropped a check on my desk, and said this is what God had laid on his heart to give. How AWESOME is it to see God at work!

I spoke to Ronnie Hathaway today about site work; he said he would do anything we needed. Ronnie agreed to work together with Marty Hickey (Hickey Excavation).

I called Joe Lyon today who has agreed to provide a window package if needed. Joe also said he could help provide plumbing fixtures.

Again the meeting was a HUGE success. Maurice and I were able to give testimony on the $1,500.00 cash donations given to us. It was a pleasure to have Grandma Bet attend along with many others from her community.

Lou Canevari introduced us to Grif Broach who wants to provide all the drafting and engineering at no cost. He has agreed to generate a preliminary set of plans within a week and working plans for permitting within in two weeks. This is a huge blessing, because we will be able to design our own set of plans to meet Grandma Bet’s needs.

As we went down the takeoff list seeing who we could enlist to help with the project: God is continuing to answer prayers. Some of those who said they would help with the project are:
Donald Clark (Clark Pest Control), Ray Huber (Soffit/Fascia), Tom Wirth (Marlin Marble),
Sharion Hudson (All Around Septic), Gene Lollis’s Brother (to donate slab steel materials),
Bud Whitlock (Whitlock Surveying), and Don Maddox (Central Florida Glass).

Much discussion was centered on the importance of making others within the community aware of this project. While at lunch with my wife (Tracy) mentioned that I should start an Internet Blog to have a place where people can go to learn about the ministry and be updated on the project status. While at our meeting my daughter (Chelsea) and Tracy went on line and set up a Blog (Kingdom Builders), which was up and running when I returned home. It will take some time to enter pictures, notes, etc…, but I am looking forward to using this technology to promote the project/ministry. I also talked to Terry Weaver and his wife Tony is working on providing us with a CD to help promote the project.

A question that was brought up is what are we going to do with any excess money that is left over from this project? What a good thing to be concerned about! It was agreed upon by all that we would shift it to the next project God lay’s before us. It also raised the importance of Kingdom Builders becoming a Non-Profit organization, so that we can continue to do ministry. I told Grandma Bet her project was a launch for more good things to come, as God give us direction for other ministry opportunities.

Our next meeting is scheduled for Monday 10-13-08 7:00 PM at First Baptist Church of Lake Placid.