God at Work

After leaving in their twenties, it wasn’t a place where they hoped to return. Given a taste of California life for seminary and Chicago life at the Harvest Training Center, Jason Fevig and his wife, Gethel, thought Miami was a part of their past, not their future. “Miami has access to idols that other places just don’t have so readily,” Jason says. “There are drugs whenever you want them, prositution, a sex-slave industry, opulence and prosperity like you’ve never seen. It’s like being in a grocery store with 10,000 choices of cereal—there are just too many choices of sin, and it’s all way too accessible.”

But, Jason recalls, “The Lord put Miami in our hearts.” He and Grethel began recruiting old friends and listeners to Walk in the Word and their core group grew to over 75 when Jason launched the church in the fall of 2009. Over the past two years the church has witnessed God’s faithfulness and desire for light in such a dark area by growing the church to over 150 people. And the children’s ministry is booming as well, including the addition of Jason and Gretel’s 16-month-old son, Elijah, and 6-month-old daughter, Elisa. Jason explains, “Like most big cities, people in Miami choose not to have families, or they start them very late in life. When we first launched, we only had a few kids in our children's ministry. Now that Harvest has planted a life-giving church here, this trend is radically changing. Countless young couples are beginning families and families with children are making Harvest their home. In fact, last month we had seven babies dedicated to the Lord. God is beginning a legacy here that we pray will impact generations!”

But this doesn’t mean the Enemy isn’t at work. When looking for a place for HBC Miami to meet, Jason received 74 rejection notices from everything from high schools to movie theaters. “I guess there were a few acceptance letters in the 74,” says Jason, “but then they would let us know that rent was ‘only’ $25,000 a month!” Finally the Lord has blessed them with a place to worship alongside an Episcopalian church that has allowed HBC Miami to convert the fellowship hall into a permanent location for Harvest.

When asked how the Fellowship has been able to help Jason along the way he affirms, “I am the biggest advocate of the Fellowship! It has given me the structure to help apply what I have learned in seminary. The Fellowship gives you a tested model. Most people don’t have the creativity, or the time, or the ability, or the experience to create something from scratch. I’m so thankful I don’t have to use my time creating big new things. I would never get to the ministry if I had to create it all on my own. I would have killed the church half a dozen times by now if I hadn’t had the relationships I have in the Fellowship.”

On a serious note, Jason again expresses his gratitude, “When difficult, terrible things happen within the church, and I wonder, How in the world am I supposed to handle that? the Fellowship comes alongside in an instant. All the former training center guys and current pastors help give me insight and help to walk the hard paths. The Enemy is a liar, and he’s looking to destroy the church,” Jason continues, “but we’re working hard, we’re praying hard, and we’d love to see a powerful church raised up here to have a huge impact on this community.”