Travis McClure

A Story of God’s Faithfulness

My name is Travis McClure. I moved to NC two and a half years ago to pursue life change with Hope is Alive. When I moved here I was mess. I was emotionally immature. I was spiritually dead. I was physically broken. But the first time I walked into a One Harbor Church I instantly felt loved and accepted. In that period I have witnessed God working in my life and I have experienced the miracle of living substance free.

What has God done in my life in the last year?

Miracles on miracles, man. Undoubtedly the biggest changes in my life have come out of the community that God has surrounded me with and coming on staff at Hope is Alive Ministries. I could name 10 men off the top of my head, at this very moment, that have purposefully and consistently walked alongside me over the past year. Side note. Every. Single. One. Of them attend One Harbor church. All of these men have seen me at my best and several of them have seen me at me worst in addiction but they never gave up on me. From my perspective it was their love and commitment that opened up the doors for God to do what only He can do.

I am learning lessons that I thought unlearnable. I am running towards tension instead of seeking out comfort. I can easily see the value of the man that God has created me to be instead of loathing the man I once was. Today I stand for something. As my relationships to solid christian men continue to grow so does my relationship to the Almighty. For the first time in my life I can honestly say that God is my provider and that he see’s me and understands me. And even when I don’t understand his thoughts or His ways I can trust that all things will work together for the good.

Since coming on staff at Hope is Alive I am beginning to understand leadership. Good leaders live beyond reproach. Good leaders don’t make excuses. Good leaders do exceedingly more for others and expect little in return. Sounds familiar right? Sounds a lot like Jesus. As the months have gone on I am becoming more and more aware of what good leadership is and should be. I am learning that to love is to lead. If I can do everything with love in my heart then how could I possibly fail. There have been several challenges, as you can probably imagine, while running the house in Otway. But through all of them I have been able to stand tall and place my fears and doubts in God’s hands and he has proven faithful time and time again.

Nicholas Pratt

A Story of Hope

From an early age, Nicholas was raised to follow the rules, go to school, get married, and live a life of happiness. This formula for ‘success’ was far from how Nicholas’ life would turn out. His parents separated at an early age and he found himself trying to live up to everyones expectations of him. 

In college, Nicholas decided that after being raised in a moralistic home, college was his time to finally do what he wanted. As he began to experiment with drugs, Nicholas dove deeper into a life of drug use eventually becoming addicted to heroin. For the next 10 plus years, Nicholas saw his life take a series of twists and turns involving homelessness, incarceration, multiple rehab programs, and a depth of drug use that would destroy his relationships and bring him to the end of himself. 

In 2020, Nicholas returned to his hometown to live with his mother and step-father. This would be his last attempt at getting clean. Nicholas began getting treatment for his addiction and started to see that a life of sobriety was attainable.  On New Year’s Day 2021 Nicholas decided he was done. He began living a life of sobriety like he had dreamed, but something was still missing. His life was back on track. He was getting things in order yet still there was a void he couldn’t quite figure out.  

Through a mutual friend, Nicholas was introduced to Heidi McWilliams from HIA.  Heidi invited Nicholas to church and he attended for several weeks.  One Sunday, Heidi was unable to attend service and Nicholas decided to go by himself.  During the sermon, he heard about Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch, and the verse ‘what prevents me from being baptized’ struck a chord with him.  Nicholas realized he had been coming to church and giving continual excuses for not taking his next step.  Although he had come alone, Nicholas realized that nothing was preventing him from walking forward after service and receiving the gift of salvation he had heard so much about. 

In the days after, Nicholas began to feel forgiveness in his heart. He realized that God had truly forgiven him for his past and he found a new freedom to walk in. Nicholas has seen his relationships transformed. Both with his parents and loved ones. Many have said that Nicholas is unrecognizable from who he was before.  God has begun a new work in Nicholas. He has noticed that he is less angry and more loving than ever before. 

He is thankful for the new community God has placed him in and the ability to cultivate relationships that have depth and meaning. Nicholas hopes to continue growing in his love for God, his relationships with others, and to be able to help others find their place in the Kingdom.

Thomas (middle) is pictured here with some folks from our NWBSite.

Thomas Lane

A Story of Unexpected Friendship

“Christmas Eve is our Anniversary. On Christmas Eve, I usually take a plate to a man who lives downtown alone. But last Christmas, that man wasn’t home. So I headed to where Thomas Lane (Also known as the waver) usually sat, waving at passers-by.  He’s a homeless man who has lived on the streets for about eight years.  For the last few months, he had been living in a Cemetery on my way to work, where he would wave to me. It was always a delight to get that wave and smile during sad times.  I had my son with me that night. I stopped and shook his hand, introduced my son and myself, and handed him a couple of plates of food.  He was grateful and a delight to talk with. I asked him if I could do anything for him; he wanted somewhere to place his tent and stuff so that no one would bother it if he had to leave. That week I allowed him to move his tent into my office backyard.  He lived there for a few weeks, and someone brought him a small camper.  Over time I grew to know and love Tom; I trusted him enough to give him a key to my office so he could shower and use the kitchen. His small camper had to return to its owner, so I allowed him to move into one empty back office. 

He is a very organized guy, and now that he had somewhere established, it was much easier for him to try and get assistance. We spent much time working on getting him a housing grant. He did most of the work.  He lived in my office for about six months before the funding came through and landed a small place in Jacksonville, NC. A short time before he moved into his new home, another Elder (Elliot Lytle) at our site (NWB) agreed to sell the truck he had at an excellent deal. Tom got a little bit of money, and David Kick, who knew Tom from the past, raised the rest by asking a few other members. Greg and Emma Wehrman fixed a few things on the truck for him. They gave it to him as a present on a Sunday morning. I was on vacation, but everyone who saw it loved it. So within about three weeks, he was given a car and had a place to live. 

This was not a top-down relationship. Tom has been as much of a blessing to me as I hoped to have ever been to him. He is an absolute joy. He’s funny, kind and uses his truck to help people with rides. We eat lunch together a couple of times a month, and he often pays. In the last couple of weeks, he has brought lunch to my job twice, and this Sunday, my family was sick, so he came by the house and gave us 50 Dollars to get dinner once we started to feel better. He said, “He had been blessed, so he wanted to bless us.” He has.”

Freddy Mercer, One Harbor New Bern Pastor

HURRICANE RECOVERY

Reach Global Crisis Response

Over the past four years we, alongside the help of our friends at ReachGlobal Crisis Response, have worked countless hours doing construction in people’s homes, sharing meals with our neighbors, and most importantly, sharing the love of Christ with others.

  Hundreds of volunteers from around the country and locally have joined together to rebuild from Hurricane Florence. During the past 2-3 years a small group of dedicated men, Tommy, Bob, Rick, and Al, have served almost every Wednesday, working alongside ReachGlobal volunteers and serving as team leaders when necessary. The gift of hospitality through disaster relief is demonstrated weekly by Chris, a local volunteer who has served countless hours preparing, making and serving food at cookouts all over the eastern half of our county. Chris sets up almost every week on a little trailer with a grill bolted to it hitched to the back of a truck, to cook food for our neighbors. He is eager to always be present with the staff, volunteers, and homeowners. Tommy, Bob, Rick, Chris, and Al’s selfless service is often unnoticed and they require no praise nor desire to be seen.

This team has dedicated their time, efforts, and resources knowing that our God has called them to serve the least of our brothers and sisters, knowing that we have served Him.

Corey Boyle

A Story of Recovery

I was born and raised in Jacksonville, NC. My parents worked at the Onslow County School District and I have an older brother. My childhood was normal by most accounts, I was your everyday, trouble making little kid. As a child I did experience, multiple times, very traumatic events which made me feel different and less than the other kids around me and I started seeking out ways to cope with that pain. At 11 years old I took my first drink and used my first drug. I never wanted that feeling of euphoria and comfort to leave and from then on continued to seek those feelings out. It made the pain and uncertainty disappear.

Drinking and using followed me throughout my life. I brought it into every relationship that I experienced. It led to two failed marriages and two broken families. My biological daughters and my step children saw the worst of me. I remarried for the third time and found myself repeating the same patterns except this time my life was beginning to unfold around me. Everything was being turned upside down.

My business was beginning to struggle, I had lost the trust and respect of my family, I was getting into trouble with the law and I was completely distant from God. I was hopeless. Then, when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, one of the pastors at One Harbor asked if I would be interested in joining the Hope Is Alive Mentoring Program and on 3/17/22 my life began to turn around. Since that date I have been experiencing the radical life change that HIA promises. Through the rigorous and searching phase work that is required of me I am beginning to discover the man that God created me to be. My house cleaning business has been retained and I am regularly having to turn work down, I am regaining the trust and confidence of my family and friends and I have put together more sober time then at any other point in my life.

Through my leadership in the home I was asked to step into the House Manager position where I get to take part in the mentoring and guiding of the other men within the home. While being in the program I think my biggest takeaway has been learning the importance of placing God as the top priority in my life. If he is at the front everything else seems to fall into place. And by continuing to make the right decisions and seeking counsel from the trusted men in my life I will continue to experience the renewal of my mind, heart and spirit.