2011

I must start off by saying Thank You! to everyone who has supported me through prayer and finances throughout this pass year! I am so incredibly thankful for you. I am preparing for another year at Fresh Grounds. I am so amazed at what God has done this past year, that there is no possible way I would ever want to be doing anything else. God has allowed me to become a missionary to my community, and it is the greatest thing that I have gotten a chance to participate in. I am still becoming fully immersed in this life of servitude and because of the One I am serving, it has been most fulfilling.

This past year God has allowed me to bare witness to countless people in my community and surrounding communities. I have taken many of the youth volunteers here under my wing and have enjoyed every chance I get to spend in fellowship with them. I got to take on a youth worker, who is also a talented artist, as an apprentice this summer and then onto a week long educational trip to Washington D.C. As an artist, I love being around these extraordinarily imaginative and creative students and it is such a blessing.

We were able to put on a successful Arts Festival and will be magnifying it this upcoming year. Fresh Grounds was able to play a role in our communities Heritage Days. We have hosted the local community theater to several benefit performances, I was able to complete 10 successful art courses through Fresh Grounds and also through the local college, along with so many other programs and events throughout this year, and the community has embraced this ministry. We give all the Glory to God and we do what we do so that our town may know who God is.

There are so many stories we get to share with the people who walk through our door, but always the greatest of these, is the story of our Lord Jesus. God is doing some big things here in our small town. A couple from Hermitage came into the coffeeshop the other day and shared this with Marty, my boss. They were down in Pittsburgh at a doctors office, after being referred there from a local doctor. As they were in the waiting room they met another couple from Youngstown who had also been referred by the same doctor. After realizing this, the two couples decided to meet up again after this appointment. The couple from Hermitage suggested a coffeeshop in Greenville called Fresh Grounds that they could meet at the next time they had an appointment with our local doctor. The other couple looked surprised and excited as they exclaimed that they knew exactly of Fresh Grounds! To both of the couples surprised another couple waiting in the same waiting room chimed in that they two knew of Fresh Grounds.

I ask that you pray for Fresh Grounds, that we may continue to stay faithful to our purpose, and that God continues to use this place for His glory! I also ask that you please pray for me as I jump into another year, and that He may use my talents for His grater purposes. I am still teaching classes and continuing to grow the Art Program here with the hopeful intent of doing Art Ministry at Fresh Grounds full-time, stepping out from Barista as full-time evening manager. We are still in need of an elevator which will allow us to use the 2nd floor, which will be for the Art Program studio and gallery. We had a gentleman come into Fresh Grounds a couple months ago with the intentions of donating the rest of the $18,000 needed for the elevator, but a month later, this was no longer the case. I am continuing to stand faithful and I am always praying that my desires line up with God's desires and that He will be able to use me in the ways that He has gifted me. So I am taking this discouragement and allowing God to use it for His grater purpose of patience on what great things He can do.

I ask that you please continue to support me in prayer. Starting January 8th, my parents and myself will be fasting for three weeks in prayer for the Art Program. I would ask that anyone who is interested please join, even just in prayer. My friend Terra will be fasting for a couple days with us, and I am greatly encouraged by this. I will be sending out a daily prayer request each day of the three week fast. We will only allow ourselves 100% juice (and possibly pita bread). Recently, I was able to join in on our tri-county area's first ever Artist Round Table. About 20 artist from the surrounding areas came together to discuss the arts in our community. I was the only representative from Greenville, and I got to meet a lot of new people. A lot of the people at the meeting have heard of Fresh Grounds and specifically my plans for the art ministry. This meeting was so very encouraging and I have good hopes for what can come from our gathering and future gatherings. God has definitely placed these things on my heart and so that is the reason for me coming to Him through fast and prayer.

Financially, God continues to show himself and provide, and what a huge faith booster this has been. This is probably the most dreaded part of my "job". But I am still in need of financial backing and support for the ministry I have been called into. I ask that you would pray over this and if you are able to support me in this way, please contact me at: ben@freshgroundscoffeehouse.com for more information on how you can donate. I am also looking for donations for the art program, we have received some great material donations, I am still looking for a large printmaking press, potters wheels and a kiln. I realize how big these items are, but we have been surprised many times before, so I am just throwing that out there!

Thank you for your help in making this year at Fresh Grounds the huge blessing that it has been! And thank you for your future support!