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"

No Habla Espanol

No, really I don’t speak Spanish! My need to quickly learn Spanish became apparent when I met with the women from the Latino aerobics class who rock out at JRC every Monday and Wednesday morning. We met after their class to discuss the adult mobile dental van program, answer their questions and process their paperwork. Thank God Pilar (on staff at JRC from Colombia) was available to rescue me!

Through the collaboration of Medical Teams International, we held the first adult dental clinic on January 8^th at Jubilee REACH Center (JRC) and it was a huge success.

Even though the translator had three sick children and arrived late, God used the other patients to translate for each other. Only one patient didn’t come and the appointment was filled by the translator. She arrived just in time. We also squeezed in three patients waiting standby and saw a total of 19 patients.

I was so amazed at the eagerness and gratitude of those we served that day. As I watched patients arrive unsure about the whole situation, I saw them come out of the van with a smile on their face and a look of relief. Your prayer and financial support allows me to work with an incredible team from Medical Teams International and all of the tremendous professional dental volunteers. It was amazing to witness how they loved the people and cared for them so tenderly.

Here’s my average day today!

I feel as though I’ve been on a long trip and came home this morning. This place is all about hospitality with the immediate sight and smell of the kitchen and the goodies placed for the taking and hot tea, coffee or hot chocolate always ready. Then I walk up the stairs towards my office and there’s a large area at the top of the stairs with many black leather couches and chairs with blankets ready to curl up and rest or sit and talk. I hear laughter and “Happy New Year” greetings from many people back from their breaks and eager to serve.

Today I met with a woman who is the grandmother of an 8 year old boy. She is a senior, single, and struggling financially. She is the legal guardian for her grandson. She called asking if she could come talk with me. She had received a shutoff notice for her water and has no money to pay that bill or any others right now. It is hard for her to ask for help. I called the City of Bellevue and was able to get her shutoff postponed for a week. JRC will pay her $153 bill because of the generosity of those who have donated. On the horizon is a move to other housing. Her home was scheduled for foreclosure. She has able to find a buyer for substantially less than what is owed on her home but the bank will accept this offer. She and her grandson will need to find housing but on her $1200 per month social security there are not many options. I will start working on some options for her. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know.

Each Monday and Wednesday a group of Latino women pump up the music in the theatre and do aerobics for one glorious hour. After they were done today, I met with several of them to see if they would have an interest in participating in the adult dental clinic van coming this Friday for the first time. They all signed up – with the help of Pilar. Pilar is a delight. I love her faith in the Lord, as well as her excellent translation skills. She is from Colombia. Several of the women only speak Spanish. I do not! One of the women was concerned that her son who is very allergic to nuts might have an allergic reaction the day of her appointment and she would not be able to come. Pilar told her not to worry because she was going to pray to God for her little boy and he would be fine so she could come.

It is awesome to be surrounded by these special people on staff with such huge hearts for the Lord’s people. At today’s staff meeting, I am reminded of how much He does through each one of them just because of their surrender to Him. They possess a willingness to show up and be used however that might be for the given situation that presents itself each day. Every day is a surprise!

Thanksgiving Update

Jubilee REACH Center has been bustling with activity above and beyond our normal programs. Our staff prepared and served a traditional Thanksgiving meal to 75 of the “English as a Second Language” (ESL) students. For many, it was their very first Thanksgiving experience. What an experience it was…there was lots of laughter and oh so much food!

My main goal at Jubilee REACH Center is to solicit foundations, companies, private individuals, businesses, and city, county, state and federal agencies for grants or donations of money that do not need to be repaid. I attended a conference in June in Florida to learn how to do this. The process is time consuming and sometimes you won’t receive a response to your request for money for months. I sent off my first grant application this week to Build A Bear Hug Foundation for a $10,000 request for a kindergarten readiness program called Story Time/Play & Learn here at Jubilee. Please pray it would be reviewed with excitement and acceptance and awarded to us.

Last Saturday, the Hebron medical team from Christ Church of Kirkland put on a free medical clinic. They do this once a month at Jubilee. They are an amazing group of physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, medical assistants, a pharmacist and a receptionist. They transformed the “big room” into an area for taking medical histories and vital signs and three small classrooms into exam rooms, and set up a pharmacy in about half an hour. Joined by four translators, I witnessed an amazing day as they entered with a look of concern and left with a smile on their face because of the professional treatment, medications, advice, prayer and encouragement given. Many of our local residents have no health care insurance and this is their only health care. Like this medical clinic, our building is filled with so any different ministries and programs that synergize with JRC to make some life–changing differences in many of our neighbors.

Thank you for your prayers and support. Your support is making life-changing differences to many.