Hermitage Hills ministry meets physical and spiritual needs
- Sep 26, 2007 - comment
HERMITAGE — Nestled in the last row of beige buildings in Central Pike Business Park is Heartbeat Ministries, which is reaching out to the community in four zip code areas.
This multifaceted ministry is a part of the missions ministry of Hermitage Hills Baptist Church here.
Dwight Moody, associate pastor at Hermitage Hills Baptist, who works with church missions, says the Heartbeat Ministries enables the church to love its community every Friday and Saturday by opening its doors to them from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Led by Pat Guffy, Heartbeat director, and her team of approximately 20 volunteers in the mornings, the group feeds, clothes, hands out school supplies and toys, and provides spiritual counseling for neighbors.
Volunteer driven
“The ministry averages around 150 volunteers a month from the church in the clothing and food warehouse and recently partnered with a neighboring church to provide other assistance for the area,” said Moody.
New Hope Baptist Church, Hermitage, will join with Hermitage Hills Baptist in March of 2008 in sending volunteers to work in the ministry,” Moody noted.
“We are partnering with New Hope Baptist, and we want to have other church partners. We want Heartbeat Ministries to become a kingdom ministry.”
The Heartbeat team most recently supplied more than 300 children with school supplies. “We are never at a loss of local people who come to the ministry. We have served over 7,670 people since opening our doors in March 2005,” Moody related.
“Most of our clients come to the ministry through the benevolent word of mouth. Every so often we advertise the Heartbeat Ministries on our church sign,” he said. The ministry listed also can be found on Hermitage Hill’s website at www.hermitagehills.com.
The counselors provide the gospel as the “friends” step through the doors and record the professions of faith.
“Heartbeat Ministries is a hands-on ministry established to provide spiritual counseling, food, clothing, and comfort during times of need in the surrounding community,“ said Guffy.
People can volunteer by giving of their time, or donate gently-used clothes, small household items, shoes, non-perishable food, school supplies, and funds.
They also have mission volunteers from nearby Christian schools.
This year the HHBC Faithriders, motorcycle enthusiasts at the church, will sponsor a toy run for Heartbeat. In addition to gifts from church members, the ministry receives food donations from community businesses.
The volunteers range in age from 10-88 years old from their church. HHBC children visit on children’s missions day when the children may sort clothes or bag candy. Students also sort clothes and carry bags of food to people’s cars.
Janice Everett, 71, and Marie Parchman, 77, are HHBC members and neighbors, who ride together every Friday to volunteer at Heartbeat. When they finish their clothing sorting and sizing work at Heartbeat for the day, they drive on to “their second job” at the church where they stuff the church worship guides.
“The Lord called me to be a mother and a wife,” said Everett. “My children are grown, and my husband died. I feel like the Lord led me here to work at Heartbeat. I am so fulfilled doing the Lord’s work here. We are such a family here. It’s fun to see each other.”
Enter as a stranger, leave as a friend
The sign on the wall in the foyer of the ministry reads, “Enter as a stranger and leave as a friend.” There is also a community announcement board with notices and a toy area for kids in the front room. When friends come to visit an informational folder is handed out about HHBC church activities and other county service agencies.
According to Guffy, the idea of the community ministry began in the summer of 2004 with HHBC pastor Poly Rouse’s vision to help people in the community. The church was already operating a food closet so it was a natural progression.
Since the ministry opened its doors March 11, 2005, Heartbeat continues to minister to the practical and spiritual needs of families in Hermitage and the surrounding communities.
“We even want to take further than what it is today as a warehouse operation,” she noted. “We want to build a three story building with Heartbeat Ministries on the first floor, education area on the second floor, and counseling on the third floor,” Guffy said.
“We’re here to serve God, and we are not to judge our ‘friends.’ We don’t have the time to check to see if they are going from church to church looking for assistance. We do ask for proper identification forms and a proof of residency. We provide prayer and counseling to our ‘friends.’ We have a large number of single mothers who are in our service area.”
The friends are limited to the number of visits that they can make to the ministry and also the number of items that they can receive. The ministry does give out tax information forms for donations and also hold food drives during the year, Guffy added.
One friend visiting the ministry on Aug. 31 was Nicole Brown, 27, who is a single mother with three children and works as a housekeeper at the Red Roof Inn, Hermitage. She came along with her fiance James Bryant to pick up toys and food for the children.
She has found much more than food and toys at the facility.
“The people at Heartbeat helped me by praying when one of my children was facing surgery on a kidney. They prayed for my child, and she did not have to have the surgery. It was a miracle and an answer to prayer,” Brown said.
Evangelistic ministry
More than 117 people have accepted Christ this year as of July 31 by coming to the ministry. The ministry averages around 20 families (or 125 people) as visitors every Friday and Saturday.
“Our church is a giving church,” added Guffy. “You can ask for anything, and we will get an abundance of it.
During the recent school supplies drive that featured free car washes, the ministry collected enough supplies and backpacks to fill three pick-up trucks. This is from a church that has a total membership of around 3,440.
The ministry also supplies food boxes to families during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.
Besides Moody and Guffy, other Heartbeat staff members are: Sylvia Vincent, ministry leader on Fridays; Teresa Griffith, ministry leader on Saturdays; Christi Speer, prayer ministry leader; Christine Karcher, publicity ministry leader; Linda Felts, budget ministry leader; and Jamie Lynch, volunteer recruiter ministry leader.
Heartbeat currently occupies two suites at the Business Park, which includes a clothing and home goods warehouse, a food pantry, a sorting room, an administrative office, a counseling and preaching room, a toy room, and a volunteer reception area.
The toy room is dedicated to the late church member Tommy Sires, who worked at organizing the toy area until his death at age 31 from a childhood illness.
Nearby communities helped by Heartbeat include Donelson, Mt. Juliet, and Old Hickory. Unlike, other church community outreach services, the ministry does not pay any bills like utilities or rent or provide any money for items such as gas.
“This is an easy place to serve God,” said Guffy, who is who assisted by her husband Jim at the ministry. “People are all the time praying everywhere in here.”
This article is reprinted from the September 26, 2007, issue of Baptist & Reflector, the newsjournal of the Tennessee Baptist Convention.