Shortly after beginning his job at the church, Brent formed a youth group in the basement of his home. It was a café type setting and rapidly grew as kids from other churches joined in. After outgrowing the basement, they looked for another venue and rented Fedora’s Pizza for a time. There they had some local house bands, coffee, and group discussions. As word got out, they found they needed yet a bigger place. Finding an empty building downtown, the owners—Dennis and Nancy Gould—offered to rent it to them for a very reasonable monthly price. In a few weeks Crossword Cafe was born. The café is a neutral place where kids can come and feel safe. They can play games and instruments and take free music lessons, talk, get tutoring, have snacks, and join discussions and Bible studies, if they so desire, while being supervised by director John Heffern and his staff of volunteers.

A few years later, Brent decided to resign from his position at the church and start his own non-profit international ministry called, Small World Connections. Their mission; is to plan, equip, and encourage leaders to serve a specific ministry on a regular basis. They develop team leaders, support fundraising, facilitate retreats, and connect ministries throughout the world. They provide education, discipleship, and health services to equip orphans, vulnerable children, and their communities to thrive and grow. Their vision; “We see ourselves being able to honestly say to missionaries all around the world—we are part of a network who genuinely care about your welfare.

In 2010 the cafe was thriving, and attracting kids from all walks of life, but Brent knew it needed regular funding to survive. So, the idea of a rummage sale was decided on to generate money. The sale was a great success and made a few thousand dollars. Seeing the outpour of support, Brent began looking for a building to house a resale shop that would not only support the café, but would generate funds for non-profit organizations and missions around the world. The next day he went building shopping and found a small empty storefront on Second Street. He went to the store keeper next door, Shirley Loser, and asked if she knew who owned the store and she said she owned it. After Brent explained what they wanted to do, she offered it to him for free for the first month and if they wanted to continue they would talk about a price for rent. After securing a manager for the shop, they took the leftover rummage items and opened the store the next week and Helping Hands Resale Shop, as they named it, was off and running!

After a few months, they had outgrown the small shop and were forced to look for a bigger building. Brent found a beautiful building on the corner of Fourth Street and they moved to where it is presently located.

Groups from our community and missions around the world began benefiting from this Christian resale shop. In the years that followed, Helping Hands has opened three more shops, in Canton, Peoria Heights, and Pontiac, so that other communities can raise money for their non-profits.

To date, the four Helping Hands has raised $2,562,000 for their communities and missions around the world.

Brent believes it is truly a Gift from God to be able to serve this community and others around the globe. “Chillicothe is a unique town, the spirit of generosity is like no other.” He is thankful to call Chillicothe his home, and we are blessed to have him.