to the needy in the coal mining center of our nation. The ministry which helped needy people such as a woman suffering from cancer who could not afford to cover both her food and medical costs, a woman for whom the blessing of our food distribution was so precious that she in her ailing condition scrawled a note of heartfelt thanks and left it at our chapel door. The ministry which helped needy people such as the young man who came to our mission table and gratefully told our volunteer worker, " All of the clothes I have on now came from your mission table." The only reward we seek in our ministry: the knowledge that another life is being salvaged and blessed because of our work. " The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." (James 5:16, King James Version) In Shamokin, Pennsylvania, nineteen miles from Sunbury, Pennsylvania, where Thomas Edison lit the first light bulb, and on the 125th. anniversary of the day, Sept. 22, 1883, when the famous inventor flipped the switch for the first time in the City of Shamokin: CHAPEL AND CENTER OF MINISTRY OF EIGHT YEARS ENGULFED IN FLAMES. 'ARSON?', 'HATE CRIME?' On Sept. 22, 1883, a shining light of illumination burned for the first time in Shamokin, Pennsylvania, revolutionizing the world with a timeless blessing for all civilization. On Sept. 22, 2008, a terrible blazing light burned in Shamokin, Pennsylvania, snuffing out the edifice where the light of spiritual inspiration was displayed every Sunday at our chapel front door for all who passed by, and the light of practical compassion expressed through our outreach to those in need. 
  The news of the tragedy has wrenched the heart of our senior pastor, still in recovery from three strokes and two heart seizures in the past year, to tears. Recently our ministry commemorated the seventh anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Our senior pastor's sister's two children, June and Arthur, were in the World Trade Center when it came down. Our devotional of Sept. 14, 2008 commemorating the seventh anniversary of the Sept 11 attacks, is one of the many devotionals posted weekly at our chapel on Rock St. Following is a copy of the devotional, where our senior pastor is shown in Nov. 2001 leading prayer at the southeast side of the Pentagon:
FAITH FOR TODAY* SCRIPTURES AND THOUGHTS PRESENTED BY GOOD FAITH MINISTRIES (An arm of International Interfaith Ministries) International Interfaith Ministries 2000 Pennsylvania Ave. # 2020-777 Washington, DC 20006-1846 (202) 251-1693 24/7   Left photo: Brother Joseph praying and Scripture reading at the southeast side of the Pentagon in Nov. 2001 in prayer for our nation in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.Right photo: Retreat house Bible from Israel where our senior pastor toured during his ministerial travels to over forty nations. Scripture verses: "For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope." (Romans 15:4, King James Version) "And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." (Romans 5:5, King James Version) Thoughts: Our source of hope in times of peril. Prayer:Father, we thank and praise You for the revelation of Your truth in Your Word. In the wake of the seventh anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks which put our nation's spiritual foundations to the test, and in the midst of trials such as the monstrous Hurricane Ike and its onslaught with a natural terror of its own , we look to You in prayer as the source of supernatural hope through Your Holy Spirit and Your Word in good times and in bad. We thank You for the ministry of Your servant Brother Joseph, and for each life that has been salvaged from despair because of the ministry of hope You have brought to many through him. May Your Spirit lead and empower each of us to receive and in turn to give hope to a world in need of hope. This we pray in the Name of Jesus, Who is our blessed hope. Amen. Brother JosephBrother Thomas
Prelude in C Major, Well Tempered Clavier Book 2, by J.S. Bach ã 2008 Good Faith Ministries Support of this ministry is dependent on the love offerings of those who respond to our faith. Paypal.com address: goodfaithchapel@aol.com
On the day that the Sept. 11 attacks occurred, the chapel on Rock Street was open to receive donations of medical supplies, as cited in the local news article of that day, also shown below: 
Our associate pastor, Rev. Thomas, calls this fire on Rock St. a " 9/11 tragedy of our own." after eight years of ministry there. Tragically the insurance on the building had been dropped against our wishes by the carrier, against the wishes of the State Attorney General's office which felt we should not be denied coverage. Damage to the buildings affected ( our neighboring buildings sustained comparatively minor damage) has been estimated up to $100,000.00. It is believed by our minister, an old time Methodist preacher with the highest credentials, that this was a hate crime against our ministry. Our Rock St. chapel, which was our uninterrupted local mailing address in Shamokin since 2000, had recently received correspondence from investigator Lance Budinger of the State's Division of Professional Regulators, who was investigating our complaint we had filed against the real estate firm of Bressi and Martin. We had submitted a written full price offer on the historic church building on 112 East Lincoln St., which stands next to our parsonage on Lincoln St., which Bressi and Martin had sold to us in 2000. The letter had been left off by him in person on Sept. 12, 2008 at our chapel building. He wanted to know if we had any additional information we wanted to share in the complaint. I shared with him that we had our parsonage's reserved lifetime parking space at the church wrongfully taken away from us, a space which in 2000 Shamokin City Clerk Brian Jeremiah had said to us about, "The space is yours until you decide you don't want it any more." Bressi and Martin would not cooperate with our interest in buying the historic church building, even though it stands next to our parsonage. In a shocking message left on our sound file recorder on March 17, 2008, Mr. Bressi hollered at our senior pastor, ranting that it would be a "conflict of interest" for him to even show us the property, let alone entertain an offer on the same, and screamed that it would be "illegal." A complete copy of the phone conversation sound byte is too large to attach by e-mail, but stored in our computer archives should a copy be desired. Our complaint disputes the validity of Mr. Bressi's claims as groundless. Good Faith Ministries' chapel building on Rock St. has had tax exempt status since it was first acquired in 2000. Our ministry, which owns a number of properties in Shamokin, gave a home for life mortgage-free to a paraplegic in Atlas in 2001, as cited by the August 24, 2001 article in Sunbury's Daily Item newspaper. A photo of the archived news article is shown in the following image: 
Shown in the preceding photo is our senior pastor, a disabled insulin pump dependent brittle diabetic, signing the documents conveying the property to the paraplegic. Despite our non-profit work, Good Faith Ministries has continued to pay taxes on its other properties in the county, something our ministry has consistently challenged as wrongful and discriminatory.
Contact information for writer of this news release: Rev. Alex Thomas Nicotra Good Faith Ministries Washington, DC address: 2000 Pennsylvania Ave. # 2020-777 Washington, DC, 20006-1846 e-mail: goodfaithchapel@aol.comvoicemail: 202-251-1693 (24/7).
For the cleanup and rebuilding of a new chapel location, tax deductible contributions may be made payable to Good Faith Ministries and sent to our Washington, DC, address, given above. Deepest heartfelt thanks to those who wish to reach out in this time of tragedy.
Adding insult to the terrible injury of this tragedy, was the City's demand that we clean up the front of our former chapel within five days and tear down the building shell as soon as possible, or face $100.00 a day fines. This even though they know full well that Rock Street is completely blocked off, and that our non-profit pilot program does not have the funds or the resources to tear down an entire building shell. The City could not spare the resources to help people in need, nor could they spare the resources all these years to fix the public stairs between Lincoln Street and Orange Street ( right across from City Hall!). Because of their failure to fix those stairs, several bad falls occurred on those steps: Our senior pastor (who already has a lower disc problem in his back) on two occasions; the former mayor's daughter, and our volunteer mission worker, who had to have seven stitches in the back of his head. Do you think the City lifted a finger to repair those stairs? No! All they did was tack a couple of boards of plywood in front of Lincoln Street and in front of the stairway landing, blocking off access to that part of the steps. Yet what they did do during this time was fix up the north sidewalk of Lincoln Street ( the one that runs in front of their City Hall), and add lots of pretty looking street lights, and create a Taj Mahal setting for themselves. So it's not like they didn't have funds to fix the public stairs. Another flight of public stairs in town ( the "Ninety-Nine Steps"), is in even worse shape. Someone needs to ask what the City has been doing all these years with its budget, and how much of that budget went toward repairing public stairs. The huge Lincoln Street church building across from City Hall has sidewalks in disrepair, but here again, nothing done to fix them up. Our news updates on this tragedy, up to the present, follow here: Oct. 13, 2008 update: We just received word from the City (letter attached) that they're willing to give us thirty days to clean up the wreckage and tear down the building shell, after which their minimum of $100.00 per day fines will be applied. A short breathing spell of sorts, though it doesn't recover any of our loss, nor is there any word of assistance or of anything said by them about fixing the ever deteriorating public stairs we asked them eight years ago to fix.
Nov. 11, 2008 update: Our church group has contacted the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency for assistance, but they have indicated they do not have any programs to assist us in this emergency. A contractor who responded to our plea for help wanted $15,106.00 up front to start the demolition work, and that with a $9.800 discount from what he would normally charge. We have also contacted Northumberland County's emergency management office. Though they are unable to help us, they have forwarded our request to the County's Commissioners for review, and to the Code Enforcement Officer who told the Safety Department the City will give us an additional thirty days to seek funding for the demolition work.
December update: An architect who has viewed the building remains has given his assessment of the building's salvagability as a two-story structure. We submitted that information to the City of Shamokin, which responded they would allow us to rebuild if we would give them a definite plan and timetable, though still insisting the building is unsafe and needs to be attended to. For now it seems the City has backed off from its deadline demand to have the building demolished.
Now is the time for any and all who wish to help our church group, and by extension the needy to whom we have ministered for almost a decade in the economically hard hit coal mining regions of Pennsylvania, to respond. Government assistance is not something that can be counted on in economically hard times. When we sought emergency help for demolition back in October and November, the County's safety department shared that they don't have the manpower to assistance us; much less our all-volunteer church group, whose senior pastor is recovering from three strokes and heart seizures in the past year, and has just come through major surgery, have those resources.
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least ot these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me." - Jesus, Matt. 25:40.
A copy of that written assessment is attached to this website.
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