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>> Ron Deloney: Opportunity House is a ministry that we started in 2007 and a branch of that
is a ministry that we call Narrowgate, which was started in 2009. It has been in existence
now for three years and it is still going strong. It is a meal, music and message sort
of service that started with three people and now serves in the neighborhood of 200
people each Thursday night.
This ministry started as a vision of Mr. Dan Talbert as a part of our Disciple Bible Study
in 2007.
>> Dan Talbert: We met each Saturday morning, we read Acts 2, prayed and began to put together
the ministry that is now Narrowgate.
>> Ron Deloney: Our intention at Narrowgate is to help people move from homelessness,
helplessness and joblessness to a fulfilling life as a member of this community: in the
process of doing this, helping them to find their way to Jesus Christ as their Savior.
>> Dan Talbert: Our door is open to anyone, but our focus area would be the homeless,
the addicted and the recently released from incarceration. My heavens, we get to see changes
in people’s lives almost every day. God changes hearts as well as minds. People begin
to focus on others. People begin to focus on the future. People begin to focus on hope.
Those are all things that represent change that comes on them from God, in my opinion.
>> Ron Deloney: We feed in ways other than with food. We feed in ministry as well and
in that way Narrowgate is significantly different from a soup kitchen. It is a ministry to the
heart and soul as well as a ministry to the physical needs of the community.
>> Ron Deloney: In a ministry of this sort, God can use everyone. One of the things we
have discovered is that though the people that come to the Thursday night service may
not have financial means, many of them have deep skills and they have a desire and a love
for people and want to share their skills with the community.
>> Dan Talbert: In my situation, it took the accumulation of my life experience to be able
to come into the ministry to work effectively. As a young man, if I had the heart for the
ministry I didn’t have the equipment. I didn’t have the skill set that life has
brought me. I firmly believe that God calls all sorts of people to the ministry: people
with all sorts of abilities and disabilities, all ages and all different skill sets. When
we work in compatible ways, it goes to build the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.
>> Ron Deloney: In today’s world there is a tremendous need for people who do have a
relationship with Jesus Christ and are involved in their churches to reach out to the community,
because the community we live in and all communities hold people who are starved for relationships
and for love and for someone who cares, and specifically for the salvation that Jesus
Christ brings. I think within Narrowgate one of the things we have discovered is that we
can use people from all stages in life. But we have found that retirees sometimes may
have more time on their hands and have life skills that are very valuable in Christ’s
ministry: especially those who have a love for Jesus Christ and for other people. We
found that they are able to take those life skills and apply them in the ministry to great
benefit to the community and to those in need.