Come And See!
August 7, 2006
On Saturday, July 22nd, Alpha House hosted the first of many “Come and See” nights at “the Purple House.” The Purple House is the new location for our ministry to men in recovery. All day we were cleaning and getting ready to honor Kingsland Baptist Church. In addition to the folks from Kingsland, there were many other Harbor supporters – folks who regularly pray, encourage, and provide financial support to see Montrose transformed. Without the support of both of these groups, the dream of our Purple House would not have been realized.
Forty people attended. After having yummy food and drinks, we gave tours, talked about passions, and told stories. Then we gathered in the living room of the Purple House and Jim told the story of how God had worked through a variety of people to provide a new place for this ministry. He described how he came to know Rodney and Charles, the two men who loaned us their credit in order to purchase this house.
Jim described how God brought Harbor Church and Kingsland Baptist Church into relationship. It all started last January when Jim bumped into an old friend, Omar Garcia, at a CityFest Houston meeting. Jim told Omar about the purchase of the Purple House, a place with beautiful potential that needed an overwhelming amount renovation. Omar told Jim about his new role as Missions Director at Kingsland Baptist Church in Katy, Texas. As a part of that ministry, Omar was mobilizing volunteer hours and materials to renovate churches and old homes in the Fourth Ward—practically in our backyard.
It was clear that God had orchestrated the reunion of these two friends. Crews from Kingsland showed up at the house with their sleeves rolled high every Saturday in April to work on the house. Over 700 hours of volunteer time was logged. The result - the house and two apartments were made ready in tip-top shape for one family (Josh, Aimee, and little Shaun) and five men to move-in. Omar and Kingsland are almost single handedly responsible for the transformation of the Purple House and this Open House was about giving them the opportunity to see the fruits of their labors.
At the end of the night, we presented Omar and Kingsland with a compressor and three nail guns. We know that these are tools that will be used by countless volunteers in their continued ministry of helping construct and renovate ministries that have no means to do so for themselves.
We look forward to many years of ministry and partnerships of all kinds. If you are interested in the work that Alpha House is doing in the recovery community, feel free to email Josh Wood (mrjoshua7@hotmail.com) or just drop by and see us! Thanks to all of you who came, and we will let you know when the next Open House will be!