Changing Destiny

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Grace Fellowship Church and the Destiny Foundation gave away 500 bags of groceries to the working poor on Easter, but this grocery giveaway only scratches the surface of the amount of charity work Grace Fellowship has done since opening their doors in 2003.

Pastor of Grace Fellowship, Mike Adkins, spoke to a class of Valencia students on March 19, about the partnerships his church has with the Destiny Foundation and with an Anglican church in Rwanda.

Rev. Adkins quoted the Bible, saying, “We are to serve the poor, take care of the fatherless, and take care of the widow.”

Since day one of opening, Grace Fellowship has been donating half of the money their congregation raises to the poor, with 25% going to the Destiny Foundation and 25% going to the church in Rwanda.

There are about 68,000 homeless people in the Central Florida area and 300,000 to 350,000 people who are considered the working poor. The Destiny Foundation is geared toward helping the working poor, and Grace Fellowship is its largest donor.

The Destiny Foundation was founded in September 2001, by Pastor Scott George, with a new food assistance program aimed at providing the working poor with a way to accept charity and still retain their dignity. They give families a “hand up” instead of a “handout” by providing them access to high quality food at low quality prices.

Their goal is to help people become self-sufficient so that they will no longer need the Destiny Foundation. Single mother of five, Genevieve Sullivan, is very grateful that the foundation can help her and her children in their time of need.

“The [Destiny Foundation] lightens my family’s grocery bill and takes that burden off, which is a big burden,” said Genevieve. “It’s amazing all the resources that are offered under one roof.”

In their efforts to break the cycle of poverty, the foundation also opened the Compassion Outreach Center and the Compassion Children’s Clinic.

The outreach center is a social-service access center that provides families access and assistance with online applications for state assistance programs and employment assistance services.

The children’s clinic is a free children’s medical clinic for uninsured and underinsured children in Central Florida. The clinic is staffed with volunteer doctors and nurses, many of whom are members of Grace Fellowship.

Vanessa George is a single mother of four, including a four-year-old daughter with Down’s Syndrome, and the compassion centers have helped them immensely during their struggles.

“My family and I live at the Salvation Army right now and times are tough but being able to come here and get juice, eggs, milk, bread and anything else I can, makes my family happier,” said Vanessa. “Thankfully, the [Compassion Outreach Center] has given me the opportunity to get my kids Medicaid. I will always do all I can for my kids but having this place makes all the difference.”

Rev. Adkins is on the board of directors at the Destiny Foundation, and many of the church members volunteer at the compassion centers. Aside from their volunteered time, Grace Fellowship has also donated about $450,000 to the foundation.

The charity work of Rev. Adkins and his church’s congregation extends farther than the Orlando area. Grace Fellowship formed a relationship with an Anglican church in Rwanda and is actively involved in helping thousands of people rebuild from genocide by donating money and building wells.

Volunteers from the church go to Rwanda for a couple weeks each year to help build wells in a rural area south of the capital, Kigali. Because access to clean water is such a prevalent problem in Rwanda, many people are sick with Malaria, diarrhea, and other water born illnesses. Since building the wells, there has been a dramatic decrease in water born illnesses in that area.

Grace Fellowship has donated about $450,000 to the church in Rwanda as well, but Rev. Adkins would like to do more work there in the future due to the abject poverty and the spread of the AIDS virus.

“It’s not enough to not just be against the poor”, Rev. Adkins said. “You have to be for them to actually make a difference in the world. We want to meet needs so that hearts can be opened.”

Rev. Adkins has many ideas and plans for future charity projects that include helping battered women, single moms, and homeless children. His belief is that “You can change the world by changing peoples’ hearts and minds.”

For more information about Grace Fellowship Church and the Destiny Foundation, including volunteer opportunities, visit the church’s Web Site at http://gogracefellowship.com/.