New Hope Windward’s inaugural Refuel gathering was held at the church office on Tuesday, January 26, 2010, serving up an evening chock full of information and inspiration. The two-hour meeting, designed to pump up leaders and volunteers, was infused with love, laughter, some heckling, and more than a few chicken-skin* moments.
The meeting quickly took on the atmosphere of both a mighty church revival and a rowdy high school classroom. With guitar in hand, Dave Barr kicked off the evening with an inspired worship session which led to chicken-skin moment number one.
Dave opened with updates on the quickly approaching Easter Season - a time in which New Hope Windward (NHW) will also celebrate its ten-year anniversary. With this important milestone ahead, Dave shared that the church is currently finalizing its five-year strategic plan. Comparing the first ten years of NHW with the process of setting a sturdy foundation when building a house, he explained that the church will now be moving into the next phase when God will be erecting the walls and building up the structure. “We will see explosive growth and we can look forward to a very exciting future,” exclaimed Dave.
Surely, the biggest news of the evening came with the announcement that NHW will soon move to a new office location in Kaneohe, in the vicinity of King Windward Nissan. Those in attendance erupted into applause as photos were flashed of the warehouse that will soon to be converted into Grand Central Station for the church. Yes, it was chicken-skin moment number two.
New Hope Windward staff members Arlene Sumpter, Sean Okamoto, Tammy Turcious, Heather Eustaquio, Aly March, and Tech Team leader Ray Stockton, each provided updates on their ministries, thanking their volunteers for their dedication to serving God at New Hope Windward. Each gave truly exciting updates about plans and progress which will undoubtedly take the church to the next level in the coming year. Chicken-skin moments three, four and five came rapidly…
“Remember, it’s all about lives being changed radically for Christ,” said Dave as he reflected on the all the good works of the church at the close of the meeting. Going forward…“It’s a new decade. It’s a new church!”
And that, my friends, is how to Refuel - New Hope Windward style.
Don’t miss the next Refueling stop in February. Details to be announced soon.
*a.k.a. goose bumps (a footnote for our friends visiting our site from around the world)
