A Family’s Story of Faith Leads to New Upper Room Gathering in Melbourne

MELBOURNE — As the afternoon light faded over Melbourne, La Loma Coney Island Restaurant at 1180 Aurora Road was anything but quiet.

Cars pulled in and out as volunteers moved with a sense of urgency. Extension cords stretched across the floor. Speakers, curtain staging and projectors were carried inside piece by piece as the dining space took on a new purpose. Out front, a white Hummer limousine sat parked like a centerpiece, a mobile extension of a ministry years in the making.

By 6 p.m., it would become the Upper Room.

What took shape Thursday evening was the early formation of the Upper Room Christian Café and Coffee Shop, a new initiative connected to the decades-long outreach of local missionary Mark Hall. After years spent in pro-life ministry, traveling and serving mothers and families across the Space Coast and beyond, Hall is now shifting gears (on his metaphorical HummerZine) toward a vision of a weekly gathering where believers can meet for prayer, recovery, shared meals, testimonies and worship. For now, the plan is to meet every Thursday from 3 to 9 p.m. at La Loma, with a longer-term vision of building a steady, permanent space for ministry and fellowship in partnership with the restaurant.

But this night was special. It carried the weight of a family story rooted in the Space Coast, one that began decades before the first speaker was set up or the first chair arranged.

Mark Hall and his brother Tom were both raised in the Catholic faith on the beaches of the Space Coast. But their paths soon diverged. Mark remained rooted in his Catholic faith and was drawn into what would become his life’s work: defending the lives of the unborn. Over nearly three decades, his work has taken him across the country, helping mothers choose life and building outreach efforts that have reached more than a thousand families.

His brother Tom moved in a different direction. In a testimony that anchored the night, he explained that after leaving home, he walked away from faith and built a life apart from it. He later married his wife Vicky, and together they lived with no intention of returning to the faith of their upbringing.

That began to change with the birth of their daughter, Carmen. Before she was born, doctors diagnosed her with a rare chromosomal condition and warned she might not survive. If she did, they said, her life would include severe limitations. Carmen lived nine years, never spoke and never developed beyond infancy, requiring constant care shaped by surgeries, seizures and daily medical needs.

In the midst of those years, Tom and his wife began returning to church, the first steps of a shift that would take time.

That change became decisive in 1998 at a Promise Keepers conference in Tampa. Separated from the group he traveled with, he found himself alone in a packed stadium during an altar call. “I’ll never forget what happened,” he said.

As the evangelist urged men to come forward, he addressed those who remained in their seats, speaking about doubt and the difficulty of belief. The message turned to the disciples and to the moment after the resurrection when Jesus appeared to Thomas. As the story was retold, the evangelist shortened the name.

“In his words… Jesus said, ‘Hey Tom,’” he recalled.

In that moment, the message no longer felt directed at a crowd. Tom described the experience as if the stadium disappeared and the words were being spoken to him alone, with a sense of God addressing him directly in his doubt.

He responded by giving his life to Christ that day, and his faith continued to take shape within an evangelical context, eventually leading him and his family into mission work overseas and a renewed commitment to following Jesus.

But before that, there was one more chapter their family would have to walk through together. Carmen was still at the center of their lives. Her condition did not change, and the rhythms of care, hospital visits and emergencies continued.

In December 1999, after one of those episodes, Carmen was taken to the hospital. This time, her body did not recover. Surrounded by family, her parents said their goodbyes. Carmen passed into the arms of the Lord at nine years old.

At her funeral, Tom reflected on those years in simple terms: “we tried for nine years to fix all of her disabilities, and the truth is God used her to fix ours”

For Mark, Carmen’s life deepened a calling already forming, as her story became part of how he spoke to mothers facing difficult decisions and the value of life at every stage.

Over time, Through Carmen's life, the brothers had found themselves drawn back toward a shared center in Christ, even as they remained in different expressions of the faith. That unity was visible Thursday night as people from varied church backgrounds gathered in the common space of the Upper Room. Some came for prayer, others for fellowship, and others simply to see what was taking shape. Testimonies were shared, worship filled the room, prayers were lifted up, and conversations carried on throughout the evening.

The Upper Room is still in its early stages. The setup remains flexible, and the long-term vision includes expanding into a daily coffee shop and ministry space. Those involved see it as something that will grow over time, shaped by the people who gather and the needs they encounter.

As the night wound down, Mark reminded the gathered crowd of the words Jesus prayed in John 17: “That they may all be one… so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”

— Christians of Brevard is a multi-church initiative that seeks to amplify the voices of local churches and ministries for the purpose of encouraging the local body of Christ and advancing the Kingdom of God. Join our Facebook community @ChristiansOfBrevard