For those of you who haven’t heard….God has been up to some AMAZING things at Haven of Hope!!  As of Easter 2009, Haven of Hope has been around for 3 years.  Pastor Jonathan and Pastor Rebecca started Haven of Hope with a consuming passion to see the Kingdom of God manifested in our city and in the lives of OUR generation. 

My wife Heidi and I came to Haven of Hope at about the halfway point in November 2007.  When the Lord first told us to go to Haven of Hope and move from Connecticut to Massachusetts, many people thought that we were nuts!  We had great jobs, great contacts with people, we were teaching tons of Bible studies, I was preaching almost weekly through Connecticut, we owned our own house, and my wife was 6 months pregnant.  All this translated to some people thinking that we had lost our minds! 

When we arrived in November 2007, we averaged anywhere from 12-15 people at our Sunday Encounter.  From November 2007 through March 2008, God was speaking to us as a church family to get ready for something BIG!  Here are some highlights of what God has done at Haven of Hope since March 2008:

- Over 130 1st-time guests have come to visit Haven of Hope

- Our weekly attendance between Sunday Encounter and Thursday night Life Groups has quadrupled and we now average anywhere between 45 and 60 individuals

- Haven of Hope is truly reaching OUR generation.  Our primary demographic at Haven of Hope is individuals (both single and married) in their 20′s and 30′s.  We do have a wide variety of age groups and we do seek to reach ALL generations, but we are thankful that we are being a light to our generation. 

- Individuals who walked into Haven of Hope as athiests have left having professed a belief in Jesus Christ and submitting to His Lordship!  We watched them as tears rolled down their cheeks and they enjoyed the presence of God.  They felt something that they can no longer deny!

- People have been baptized!  Please pray that we will have our own building someday.  Right now, when we do baptisms, it’s like a Holy Ghost drive by as we run into the Best Western, dunk ‘em, and then pretend to swim! 

- Multiple healings and deliverances!  Here is a partial list of the giants that have been falling: back pain, neck pain, depression, fear, anger, pornography & lust, etc.

- Each week, we declare things about the Kingdom of God coming into various areas of our lives and the Northeast region.  Jobs, raises, bonuses, favor with our bosses, signs and wonders, supernatural power, etc.  People have been laid off and hired back by their old company only 4 weeks later making more money than they were before (that one was me!), people have moved from various states and God blessed them with jobs here, we’ve seen breakthrough in the Boston Metrowest economy, etc.

This is only the beginning!  There is a passionate generation rising up at Haven of Hope that are not satisified with status quo.  We are seeking to be Ambassadors that will bring the Kingdom of God to earth in our circles of influence.

In the future, we’ll do a better job of keeping folks updated about what God is doing here.

Be encouraged and join with us in prayer that God will continue to show up in crazy, extravagant ways at Haven of Hope.

God bless!!

Matthew Legere

P.S. This blog post can also be found at http://www.champ.org/blogs.html courtesy of Dr. Wendell Hutchins of Church of Champions in Texas.