Approximately nine years ago, I started attending Hope Fellowship Church. I met a few people, but mostly attended church service and quickly departed afterwards. I lived a busy life with work, cycling, family and many more activities.
As a church family, we spent last week in a posture of prayer and preparation. Prayer inviting God into our ministries, and preparation for the ministry year to come. Over the week, groups of people gathered here, with each evening focusing on a different element of our ministry.
One of the services offered at The Refuge is a program which helps our most vulnerable and at-risk youth to find safe, stable, and independent housing, called "Housing First." The basic underlying principle of this program is that people are better able to move forward with their lives if they are safely housed, first.
It’s Sunday morning. Greeters warmly welcome people as they arrive to worship. Ushers help people find a seat. The praise team begins the opening song, leading us in worship. Together we praise our God, ask him questions, bring him our concerns, and listen for what he has to say to us.