If you had one prayer to be answered, what would you pray for your neighborhood to look like?  Would it look like one of those shows where you get a house makeover?  Would you like it to look like a paradise island in the South Pacific?  These are all things it could look like.  But would you ever pray that your neighborhood would look like someone? Listen today as Merlin interviews the pastor of New Baptist Church and who has prayed that his neighborhood would look like the character of Jesus.

Is it ok to help your neighbor?  Merlin asks Lorenzo, an attender of the Martindale Brightwood CDC town hall meeting, the Kingdom question and his response may surprise you.  Do you have the courage to help your neighbor when they don’t ask for it?

What does the Kingdom of God look like at Graceland and 39th Street in Indianapolis, IN?  Listen in as Merlin interviews two  volunteers who braved the cold and rainy day, a student from Southport Presbyterian and a school teacher from a local grade school, as they tell you how they plan to keep giving the blessings of God’s Kingdom to others to encourage spiritual restoration in their neighborhoods.

4/30/2012

And this follow-Up report from Bill, Lamb, FHL Kindness Day Director:

This is a summary of the Heal the Land Cleanup held April 28, 2012, in the area of 39th Street and Graceland Avenue.

Due to inclement weather, there was cancellation of at least eight volunteers for the cleanup. For most of the cleanup, there were six volunteers. An additional volunteer assisted in the cleanup just before the cleanup was finished. The volunteers were from Midtown Vineyard Church, Vineyard Community Church, Southport Presbyterian Church, IUPUI  and Faith Hope and Love.

During the cleanup, we focused on picking up trash and debris. Fourteen bags of debris were gathered during the cleanup. All of these bags were loaded onto a packer truck that was sent by Keep Indianapolis Beautiful.

The areas cleaned were:

• 39th Street From Boulevard Place through the Intersection of 39th Street with Kenwood Avenue,
• Graceland Avenue from 38th Street through the intersection of Graceland Avenue with 39th Street.

Lunch was provided to the volunteers. Most of thee extra lunches were given to local merchants and their employees and people on the street in the 38th Street area.

There were no known incidents during the cleanup.

A big THANK YOU to all helped with the cleanup in any way!

Bill Lamb
Faith Hope and Love

What does the Kingdom of God  look like to some volunteers from La Familia Christiana?  Listen as they tell you in their native language as Merlin translates.

Listen in as Merlin share more about the special Kindness Day in Plainfeld, IN for a lone woman in great need of God’s tender mercies from a unified body of Christians.  What can unity in the body of Christ accomplish in your own backyard?  Listen to the prayer at the end.

What did the Kingdom of God look like this past Saturday in Plainfield, IN?  Merlin interviewed two members of Marwood  Baptist Church who were doing simple acts of kindness – weeding, cleaning gutters, cutting limbs down – for one of their neighbors in need.  For Jason George, this was a tangible expression of serving God and community and for Don Harrison, this was a tangible expression of God’s love to his neighbor.

Would you like to be a part of showing others what the Kingdom of God looks like?  Then sign up at the FHL Week 2012 web site.  You can be an Area Coordinator and organize projects for your neighborhood, a volunteer and lend your energy time and skills to help others, and you can participate in the opening festivities for FHL Week!  See you there!

This is a redux of Merlin’s ‘What if?’ interview with the Mayor of Westfield.   Please listen to the Mayor’s call to action to the citizens of Westfield and how they can help their neighborhood to see what their neighborhood would look like if the Kingdom of God were there.

From the recent Kindness Day location at the Cloverleaf Baptist Church property, Merlin spoke with a couple of the young volunteers from Arkansas and asked them the ‘What If?’ question.  Listen in today as young ones tell us how they think our neighborhoods would change if the Kingdom of God were here.

This past Saturday, March 18, 2012,  the Pantry of Hope was held again at the Keenan-Stahl Boys and Girls club.  And Merlin was able to interview two volunteers, Bertha (left) and Maxine (right), asking them the “What if?” question.  Listen in to both their answers as they discuss what makes up a real neighborhood and what has to change for the Kingdom of God to be there.