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Several high school boys from Grace Orlando connected with teens from Grace Edgewood this past Saturday to paint a wall in Pine Hills with a message of hope.

The wall at Hiawassee and Balboa was covered with graffiti back in the late 90s when Grace member Jerry Owens assembled a team to paint mural to encourage the community. This weekend, students from Grace Edgewood and Grace Orlando joined forces to make it like new again.

The painting was done in several stages. The wall was painted white, then the image was projected on the wall and traced, then the students painted in the fish colors and the ocean color, and finally the black outlines were drawn in. A total of about 18 hours was put into the project, with the students completing 80% of the work.

“Many cars that passed by honked in encouragement, and there were several cars that slowed down to tell the teens ‘great job’ and ‘thank you for helping our community,’ ” says Norm Tumlinson, Pastor to GraceStudents. “We had several people ask questions about the two campuses and about our mission.”

Mr. Owens also loved seeing the community respond. “It was rewarding to see this group of guys from both Grace Orlando and Grace Edgewood, working together on this service project. The act of painting a wall with a Christian message and scripture, and watching the community respond immediately by honking car horns, shouting ‘good job!’, and even stopping with one drive-by cash donation, shows the hunger for the gospel in this area. ”

“I’ve seen this wall for nearly 20 years now, but never knew the history behind it,” says Dan Hoyle, student volunteer. ”I am thankful that we were given an opportunity to preserve this local treasure for others to enjoy.  Now each time I drive by it, it will bring joy knowing that God used our hands to honor him and witness to the many people who pass this wall daily.”

One of our main goals for our Edgewood campus is to help the kids who live there see themselves as people who have something to give and someone else to serve. This project was one more step in the right direction.

“All the students were glad to be able to do a project with immediate results,” says Norm. “They want to continue serving in different areas near the Edgewood Ranch.”

Rod Hubert was just looking for a place where he could belong.

“I drove by (a church) one day and the police were directing traffic to go to a service. It was crowded and complex, so I drove on. I just wanted to belong to a group that was less complicated.”

Enter Grace Conway. Through our vision to plant smaller churches to reach the needs of specific neighborhoods, this new community met Rod right where he was. “I received a postcard with the invitation to Grace Conway, and I decided to go. The invitation felt genuine, and thank God I did go. This was the best decision in my life.”

We agree: Rod accepted Christ at Grace Conway’s first service. “For many years, I had excuses why I could not serve Jesus and why I was running away from God,” he says. “I was trying to do things my way and failed at many things — my family, my marriage, financially.”

But things have changed. “Jesus has come into my life like waters in a cascade. I have fresh ideas, new energy and a new outlook for life. Since I started Grace, I have started a new page. Jesus is with me at all times, and with Him, nothing is impossible. At Grace Conway, I feel at home and like am welcome in a family of friends that are all there because we want the same thing — to spread the good news that Jesus loves you.”

Rod has started new spiritual disciplines, including reading the Bible and going to the men’s leadership group. “I go to get close to Christ and understand the scriptures. It’s very challenging living in today’s world to stay away from earthly thoughts and actions. But with Jesus in my life, these challenges are overcome.”

Rod took another step, too — entering the water for our fall baptism. “I had to make a public commitment once and for all. When I came of the water, I felt good and refreshed. But I also did not feel alone anymore.”

Ginnely Carrasco and her family started attending Grace the day we moved into Edgewater High School, Easter Sunday 2011. Ginnely’s mother-in-law works at Edgewater, and she invited them to attend after hearing about Grace’s move to the school.

“Before coming to Grace Orlando, I was what Pastor Mike once referred to as a ‘twofer,’ attending church only on Easter and Christmas Eve. The last few years, I was even a ‘onefer’ and only attended on Easter. I believed in God and his existence, and I wanted to step into His home, but I hadn’t felt like I found the church that was for me or my family. We decided to attend service on Easter Sunday, and I am happy to say that we are no longer twofers, we have been attending ever since.”

Ginnely, who works as an outreach advocate for Harbor House, is overwhelmed by what God has done in her family’s life this year. “What hasn’t God done!?! Since coming to Grace my family has become so much closer. We have open discussions about God and the way Jesus lived and how we can apply it to our everyday lives. We spend every Sunday in church and then just enjoy each other’s company with family dinner. My family looks forward to going to church every Sunday!”

After a few months at Grace, Ginnely and her boys both chose to follow Christ, and she couldn’t wait to be a part of our fall baptism. “It was the right time in my life to accept Jesus Christ. I had been dedicated when I was younger but not baptized, and I am glad I was able to make such a profound decision.”

Ginnely was honored to be baptized alongside her sons. “Baptism was one of the most emotional and happiest moments that I’ve had in my life in a very long time. My children and I were all baptized together, and it was such an amazing feeling to know that they wanted to be baptized because they wanted Jesus in their hearts. I was so proud of my two boys for making that decision, and I have Grace Orlando to thank for helping them understand how Jesus wants us all to live.”

The videos below tell the stories of just a few of the kids and adults who were baptized at our Fall Baptism on Sunday, October 16th.

Grace’s medical team’s trip to the Dominican Republic was amazing — the team worked seamlessly together to serve the people in two villages in the El Seibo region.  We set up a clinic in the school house of each village and saw over 100 people in each place. Here are some of the team’s stories:

Chad Wyatt, Worship Pastor at Grace Orlando and Trip Leader
“It was a blessing to watch the medical team worship God by serving the people of El Seibo. They all understand that medicine is their purpose on this earth, and they use it to glorify the name of Jesus.  We realized after our first day of clinic that God was using us to answer the prayers of these people — prayers that they have been praying for months, possibly years. What we see as everyday modern medical treatment, such as pain relievers, antibiotics and multi-vitamins are so much more to these people.  They are proof that God is real, and that He hears them, and He loves them.”

Dr. Scott and Cissy VanLue
“Imagine life with no electricity, no indoor plumbing, no birth certificate and no education past the eighth grade. Meet 19 year old Felix. This is his reality living in a Haitian sugar cane village deep in the heart of the DR. He came into our clinic with leg pain and lots of attitude. I watched in amazement as Scott took Felix under his wing and encouraged him to not just follow his dreams of playing professional baseball, but to be a servant leader first and foremost. Scott treated his knee, gave examples of strengthening exercises he could do, and best of all prayed with Felix. We watched a surly, angry young man transform before our eyes. He stuck close to our group after that, even offering to help load the trucks. Here in this community men cut sugar cane from adolescence till death. Baseball can be a way out of the fields for a lucky few, but Felix is on his way to leading as a servant regardless of where he ends up. Felix was injected with hope, health and spiritual healing from a few “Americanos” that day. Please continue to pray for him as God brings him to mind. Dios les bendiga!”

Melanie Confusione, RN
“This woman walked into our second day of clinic radiating Christ.  She was shining in white from head to toe without blemish (and it was pouring rain outside).  She was full of joy, though she had waited awhile.  I told her in my fragmented Spanish that her outfit was incredibly beautiful, and then I had translated that she shined Christ and righteousness, and I wanted to look like her when I am 87.  She explained that her husband had died, and her son was killed.  She was VERY angry with God, but then she asked Him to forgive her for her anger against Him, and He did. She said, ‘Now I walk with JOY in his glory.’”

Jenna Wimmer, NP
“A family of five piled into my small corner of the one room schoolhouse. I slowly made my way to the grandmother of the family. It became clear she was the one who still ran the family and made sure there was enough to go around — not an easy task when you live off of $2-3 a day and are dependent on the older men in the family to make the wage. She suffered from hypertension, anemia, and chronic pain  — most likely arthritis in her hands from working her entire life. I knew there were limited things I could do for her, only basic medication. But along with the meds, I was able to just pour life into her — sharing with her how beautiful I thought she was, how Jesus had designed her perfectly. It was simple, small, non-extravagant. No gaping wounds to clean, no surgical stitching, no cysts to drain (all of which we did there), just simple primary care.

As she got up to go she hugged me, held my face, kissed my cheek and just said in her language, ‘Thank you my daughter, you are beautiful my daughter,’ and she hugged me for what seemed like 10 minutes. I embraced back and didn’t let go. There was something so sweet in her embrace — something so sincere. I wasn’t saving her life, I wasn’t drastically altering her course of health, it was purely an interaction the Holy Spirit designed to pour life into me, and I hope pour life into her. And I was struck by the idea that we are all in the same family. We are both women, and I will soon join her group as a mother. We are so similar — we are both loved by a passionate God who designed us as lovely vessels to share His gospel. I am grateful to be reminded by this dear grandmother of the love Jesus has for me — even if it takes getting me to the DR to show me.”

Grace Orlando invita cordialmente a la Comunidad Hispana.  A pesar de que nuestros servicios son en ingles, nos encantaría que formara parte de nuestro ambiente multicultural para dar el próximo paso hacia Cristo.