Tucked between whispering oaks and a quiet, sunlit street stands a house. On the outside, it doesn’t look different or unique from its neighbors. The house, surrounded by flowers and Florida’s warmth on the outside, holds stories of service, kindness and love on the inside.
Built by Shirley Hurlburt, granddaughter of Charles Hurlburt, the house is not just a building. It’s a sanctuary of God’s presence.
That same heart for serving others was mirrored in his granddaughter, Shirley.
Shirley became many things in her life, including an LPN nurse and a lover of old stories. But above all, she was faithful to a vision given to her long before the first brick of the house was laid: a vision of space to love others.
A house where everyone was welcome, where people could come to feel God’s love and learn how to truly live.
That vision grew with time, watered by prayer and hard work. It became a mission house.
Its walls are hand-painted with scenes of still waters and calm blessings, and its floors echo with a hundred different footsteps from a hundred different stories. It is a physical reality that was once a dream decades before it was built. With its warm scent of worn classic books and antique furniture, and an unexplainable sense of peace and safety, its atmosphere defines the word home.
The house is a place of healing. Shirley cared for the sick, the hurting, and the dying with gentle hands and whispered Psalms, leaning into faith.
Her caring hands reflected the love of Christ to her patients. The house became a space where the weary and hurting came to find peace and experience the love of God.
Today, even with her physical absence, the house still stands on the foundation of her vision.
Four pillars were added, not of stone or wood, but of purpose: To learn God’s word every day. To be loving and kind to all who enter. To be wise and knowledgeable. To make friends for life.
Shirley passed on the house to a Borderless worker, and these principles are lived out within its walls. A group of women determined to reflect Christ to the world gather in this house.
They have the same goal and purpose as Shirley: to love and serve those who have not yet experienced the love of Christ, providing a space where the gospel can grow.
Some walls and floors inside are more than just hand-painted; they tell stories themselves. They bear branches with fruit and scriptures, river waters and lilies, the colors of nations represented glowing with warmth.
Some days are for women who come to learn crafts and painting, sharing the joys of creativity. Some days are for children who come to learn the gift of seeds and soil, of how to grow basil in cracked mugs and marvel at unique flowers on green curly vines. Some days are for sewing, stitching stories and prayers into fabric, guided by women who remember stitching clothes for their own families.
Visitors are often drawn to the house by curiosity: perhaps the antique furniture that whispers of comfort, or the classic library that smells of leather and time and a thousand adventures. But what makes them stay is something different. Something alive.
More than once, someone without Christ would sit on the couch in the front room, glance around at the walls, the soft hum of life in the background, and whisper,
“There’s something about this place.” It’s love. It’s an unexplainable peace. It lives here.
Shirley Hurlburt went to be with her creator a few years ago, her bed empty and her Bible on the nightstand, pages worn soft. She left this house. But in this house, her dream still holds. In every shared meal, every prayer, every stitched seam and painted stroke, Shirley’s vision lives on.
The house continues to stand strong on its pillars. It is a place for followers of Jesus to strengthen their faith and a place for the unreached to hear the good news about Christ.
Words and house photographs by Mary, a Kenyan who moved to the US to attend graduate school, majoring in English. She's passionate about every nation receiving the gospel and loves using her writing skills to share stories of God at work. Her favorite things are curling up with a good book and going for jogs in the Florida neighborhood where she currently resides. *note: a few photographs were taken by the homeowner, a Borderless worker who leads the ladies group
This ladies group is looking for a new woman to lead the group. If you are a woman with a heart for hospitality and the unreached, click the button below.
Curious about outreach to immigrants and refugees? Click the button below to connect with Borderless, a ministry initiative of Africa Inland Mission.