GARFIELD HEIGHTS, Ohio (WJW) – “It was just a mess. Bricks, everywhere. Glass, everywhere.”
That quote was from New Journey Pastor Charles Redmon talking with Fox 8 in late December 2022.
Just a few days prior, he found his Garfield Heights church partially destroyed, when someone slammed their car into the front of the building.
At the time, it was expected to cost at least $20,000 to repair.
With his church’s future hanging in the balance, Pastor Redmon threw up a hail mary, creating a fundraiser to raise any money they could.
“It’s all about faith. It’s about hanging on to the faith. All the things you preach on in good times, you lean on in bad times,” explained Pastor Redmon.
It turns out, those prayers were answered thanks to a fellow pastor from Alliance.
“Just knowing that these things can happen and knowing the trickiness sometimes with what is and isn’t covered.”
Pastor Ben Flanagan just so happens to be a mason in his spare time.
When he saw Fox 8’s coverage on social media of Redmon’s story, Flanagan knew he had the tools and the brick to help out.
So he called up New Journey’s leader and quoted him a price that was a third of what anyone else was offering.
The rest is history.
“We went from strangers to I felt like I knew the guy for ten years after that first phone call, he is just humble, he’s a light,” said Flanagan.
Brick by brick, Flanagan’s team fixed the massive damage done just 6 weeks prior.
A debilitating issue, fixed faster than Pastor Redmon could have ever imagined.
“When I walked in and saw the progress, I was thinking it would be months and months, it was hours,” explained Pastor Redmon.
“It’s difficult sometimes to walk by faith and not by sight but that’s all I have. That’s what I lean on and I think that’s what we are witnessing right now.”
Pastor Charles Redmon, New Journey church
In December of last year, New Journey church was in bad shape and in need of a lot of help.
Nearly two months later, the sites and sounds of construction served as proof to Pastor Redmon, that his prayers had been answered.
“It’s difficult sometimes to walk by faith and not by sight but that’s all I have. That’s what I lean on and I think that’s what we are witnessing right now,” shared Pastor Redmon.
