Crashing waves, palm trees swaying and rain

Not what you’d expect in San Diego in February, but that was the spectacular weather on the day of the Sherry Watson grant seminar. Held at the beautiful Hyatt on the waterfront, where we all expected a sunny beach scene, the sun eventually came out and we witnessed an amazing rainbow.

Sherry Watson was on fire with excitement as she encouraged the 60 participants and shared the abundance of grant opportunities. I was blessed along with five others and had a private lunch with Sherry and her husband. The woman is amazing. That time with her made the whole trip worthwhile. She shared several ideas with me and it was great to get her perspective, analysis, guidance and promise to give me some individual help in the future.

The highlight of the trip was time with my sister-in-law, Helen, and my brother-in-law, Herb, whom I adore. They are truly amazing and whenever I am around them I am so loved and blessed. Other than my one-day seminar, I didn’t make any plans for my five-day stay. We spent a lot of time just sharing and during the five days I was privileged to attend a Beth Moore bible study one night, participate in Herb and Helen’s home study group with a wonderful prayer time and discussion, watch a dvd from the Willow Creek leadership summit, and watch two dvd sessions from a recent Graham Cooke seminar Herb and Helen attended. If you have not heard of this incredible Christian man, you seriously need to google him and soak up his videos and writings. Every sentence could almost be a whole session. I felt absolutely transformed with a fresh sense of awe for our Lord with His amazing love and sacrifice for me.
Three, not just one, but three trips to the beach while I was there! Helen and I enjoyed a delicious lunch at San Diego’s Pacific Beach along the boardwalk. Oh, the ocean smelled so good and the sand was so inviting. La Jolla’s beach was pretty spectacular. With the recent earthquake in Chile, the waves were huge and we hoped to catch a glimpse of them, but instead witnessed about a hundred seals with their pups. What a life… swim, eat, and sleep on the beach!

While in San Diego, I introduced Herb and Helen to the Ranch 99 Market (an Asian market chain) and we bought fresh tilapia (fish), shrimp, and some other tasty tidbits. I had the pleasure of cooking up a storm in their dream kitchen for them and a friend, Digna. Afterwards we watched another Graham Cooke dvd. I’m telling you – you have to get a hold of some of his teaching.

I came away from my trip with some new ideas for targeting grant money, and personally renewed, refreshed, encouraged, and well rested. It was hard to leave but I couldn’t wait to get home and put my newly acquired information to practice.

Faithfulness in translators and root canals

I continue to be astounded at the immense healing and life-changing activity here at Jubilee. Last Friday’s adult dental clinic was no exception. This first round of patients has come mostly from the group of Latino women who rock out in the aerobics class. We had what appeared to be a set back on the day before the clinic because the hygienist who had volunteered cancelled because she had thrown out her back. Tough to bend over to peer into their mouth of a patient when you’ve thrown out your back!

With some scrambling, I was able to cancel and reschedule most patients. Interesting that one of the two dental exam chairs was not working and so God’s timing was again perfect. Normally, only exams, x-rays, cleanings and fillings are provided at the mobile dental van. One patient, however, received a root canal. Who would have thought anyone would be excited to get a root canal, right?!! This root canal spared her from the only other option which was to extract the tooth. Dr. Cho did not want to do an extraction because she is missing several teeth and it would have made it very difficult for her to chew her food. I thank Dr. Cho for his great work and the other volunteers Molly Johnston, assistant; Denise Folk, sterilization and van driver; and George Steirer who’s in training on the van.


George is a Mercer Island city planner for his full-time job and volunteered to help out on the van. He also washed the exterior of the van. That was the biggest "car wash" I've ever seen! I tried to talk him into washing my van, but he wouldn't go for it!


The group of Latino women who were patients on Friday at the dental van has a very obvious strong bond. I’ve been told they did not know each other before coming to Jubilee. They're so loving and helpful to each other with filling out forms and watching children while some had their appointments. I loved watching them interact and seeing the sense of excitement and happiness on their faces as they greet each other. Who would imagine that an aerobics class and visit to the dentist would give them such confidence and a sense of belonging that community gives. One woman had the translator apologize for not being able to speak English to me to say how much she appreciates what was done for her. I apologized for "no habla espanol" and said I am trying to learn Spanish and thanked her for letting me serve her. It is such an honor to serve in this way. The two translators (Martha Valencia and Maria Garcia) who volunteered their time did a great job. Maria is actually a participant in the aerobics class and ESL class. What a wonderful woman and she has such a heart for service. I’m sure many will be excited to hear I now have the Rosetta Stone program to speed up my Spanish learning!

I have a great opportunity to go to a seminar in San Diego on Feb 27th. If you have air miles you would be willing to donate to me, please email me or call me at 425.890.2395. This seminar will give me additional tools to secure grant funds to do more at Jubilee REACH Center. Please check out the letter from Tom Brewer, chaplain at Jubilee REACH Center on behalf of my service here (previous blog posting). May the unconditional, faithful love of our Father bless you.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Great is Thy faithfulness

I’ve planted myself in my Jubilee office and it is very cozy with chairs from the Jubilee Heart and Home store, a fig tree from home, and some draperies also acquired from the store that will be transformed into chair cushions. It’s a great setting to put folks at ease when there are difficult issues to discuss and a wonderful place for me to ponder solutions and soak up God’s faithfulness wile I work. Also, I had been looking daily on Craig’s List for a locking file cabinet that is legally required for storing the dental patient records and kept missing the low priced ones. I walked into Jubilee one day and there outside my office door was a locking file cabinet that someone had donated. No one seems to know where it came from. Thank you Lord! Great is Thy faithfulness!

From Tom

"I requested that Joy allow me to communicate a few thoughts concerning her service and the value she adds to the ministry of Jubilee REACH Center. In the space she allowed here is what I’d like to say.

"Joy Roof is a personification of “joy” around the Jubilee REACH Center. Small in stature yet large hearted, her genuine love for people and compassion for those facing desperate challenges sets her apart for Community Care ministries. Joy’s heart for service is complimented by her broad range of life experiences and well developed relational and business skills. She is leveraging life’s lessons to lift others up.

"Serving as Site-coordinator for the Adult Dental Van, Joy skillfully and equitably delivers these highly needed services to our community. An empathetic listener, she hears the needs then exercises discernment and perspective in distributing resources. When visiting another local charity recently, Joy learned of their abundant supply of warm coats and gloves. She returned to JRC with a van load of these valuable goods and began sharing them generously with individuals and serving agencies around JRC. These activities are typical of the way Joy steps up to fill the gap and bring Jesus’ healing and build community at the Jubilee REACH Center. It is a blessing and a “joy” to serve with her.

Peace,
Tom Brewer"