The seed was planted in me for Rescue
Ministry back in the summer of 1996. As a graduation requirement from seminary,
I was required to work for a summer in ministry. My advisor sent me to the
Waterfront Rescue Mission in Pensacola, Florida, to fulfill this requirement.
Over the course of that summer I worked with homeless men and women leading
bible studies, preaching and teaching life skill classes. That summer I fell in
love with this type of ministry. After returning home, I completed my last year
of seminary and graduated in June, 1997 from Reformed Theological Seminary in
Orlando.
After
graduation I made application to over 80 churches and ministries across the
country. By August that year I still had no viable offers for ministry. With advice
from Pastor Dr. Paul Clemons of Grace Presbyterian Church in Spring Hill, I met
the pastor at Faith Presbyterian Church in Brooksville. Dr. Ron DiNunzio and I
met to discuss working with their church as a staff member to begin a church in
Spring Hill. By the spring of 1998 this effort to form a core group for a new
church had run its course without success.
After this,
Pastor Ron and I met to discuss my future for ministry. He asked me if I could
do anything in ministry, what it would be. I told him I would want to start a
Rescue Mission for the homeless here in Hernando County. With that in mind, we
both spent the summer of 1998 praying to God for His guidance in the matter.
In late July I
was approached by Dave Franklin, a member of Faith EPC and student at Reformed
Seminary. He introduced me to Frank Bierwieler who was operating Daystar Hope
Center in Spring Hill. This was an outreach ministry providing food, clothing
and financial assistance to the poor and needy. Mr. Bierwieler had heard that a
shelter in Hudson was interested in moving up to his location on US 19 and Dave
wanted me to see if I could be involved. After further discussions with Frank
and the Hudson shelter we found that their moving to the county would not be
possible. Mr. Bierwieler and I continued to talk about how we could help the
homeless in our community. By late August, Frank and I decided to petition the
County Commission for approval to place a homeless shelter on Daystar’s
property. The intent would be for me to manage the shelter with help from Frank
and the community. Our meeting with the Commission was scheduled for late
September. But a week before the planned presentation, Frank and the leaders of
Daystar Hope Center backed out. The public had voiced their disapproval to his
organization in the weeks before our meeting. No one wanted the facility near
them. So, in order not to jeopardize their good work and name in the community
they abandoned this plan.
Disappointed, I
spent the next few weeks praying and talking to Frank, Dave, Pastor Ron, Pastor
Clemons and another Christian friend, Dennis McCarthy. They all supported my
hope and vision for Rescue Ministry in our county. Each of them wanted to see
this shelter program happen. With their help and encouragement we decided that
I would go forward in faith by incorporating our ministry and then begin talking
to the community about the project. We decided that Frank, Pastor Ron and
Dennis would be my initial Board of Directors. I prepared the paperwork and
chose the name. On December 8, 1998, Jericho Road Ministries, Inc. was
incorporated as a non-profit Florida corporation. The journey begins.
