November, 2022
Dear Praying Friends,

What is the difference between faith and foolishness? That is a question that everyone who has ever purposed in their heart to follow God has grappled with. It is one that I have asked myself many times in the past few months.

Our church seemed like it needed to make a move. Our meeting place was out of the neighborhood, which we have felt for a long time that God was calling us to, was too expensive, and we were not seeing any visitors or growth. There were some promising prospects back in the neighborhood we had started the church in and they seemed like much better options than where we were presently. We felt certain that we needed to leave where we were and confident that if we stepped out in faith God would have a place waiting for us. We gave our notice at the end of June. At the end of August, it still looked promising that we would be able to move right into one of the other options that we had pinned our hopes on. Maybe there would be one or two weeks where we had to meet in a temporary, in-between location, but surely, the Lord would not allow our church to be homeless for long. After all, we had stepped out in faith and declared that the Lord would provide!

I was wrong about that! For the past two months, we have been a “homeless” church. Everything that I thought the Lord was working out fell through. I was left feeling very foolish and the church was left discouraged and confused. We didn’t stop holding services, but they were either held outdoors or in my house. We didn’t really have a good backup plan, because I was certain that God was leading and would provide a smooth transition to something far better. The Enemy pounced and has been trying to discourage and devour.

I am still not certain that our church made the right choice about leaving when we did, but I am certain where the difference between faith and foolishness lies. It lies in what God has said to do. If God has said to do it, then doing it is never foolish. If God hasn’t said to do it, then it is foolish. I wish I could say I always perceive His will correctly, but I must admit that I don’t always. Sometimes the outcome seems to indicate that we heard correctly, sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes following God leads to pleasant pastures and sometimes it leads through dreary lands.

Whether faith or foolishness led us to the place we are, it seems as if the Lord may be bringing us out of the fix we have found ourselves in.  On November 6, we will begin meeting in a new location. It is a Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) hall. It is affordable, visible, convenient to our people and to visitors, and larger than any place we have met up to this point. Because the place has fallen into slight disrepair, I have been able to put some of my skills as a contractor to use and am trading some repair work for rent. I am hoping that this location will be a place where we can be established long term. It certainly has the potential for that, but only the Lord knows the next step. As with all things, we must just stay attentive to where He is leading and trust in Him on a moment-to-moment basis. We are praising Him for His provision and thankful to be moving into what we expect to be the best situation we have had thus far!
Serving in “da Bronx”,
The Hamilton Family
Ben & Andrea, Elaine, Nolan, Liberty, Nehemiah, Henry, Peter, and Finn