Faith, Hope and Love at the Grace Care Center

With an accent as sweet as honey, Shelly (name has been changed) tells her family story of faith, hope and the Grace Care Center.

Papua New Guinea is their home.  When they left home in 2001, it was with the goal of her husband Saul studying at Trinity College of the Bible to become a pastor, so he could return home to show the love of Jesus Christ and change lives.  Currently he is waiting on approval of his master’s thesis on Joseph Benson.  The next step for Saul is to take one quick deep breath and dive into the work of a doctorate.

Shelly has a Bachelors Degree in Christian Education focusing on childhood education.  Her time is fully invested in being a full time homemaker for Saul and their 5 children with ages ranging from 6 to 16 years old.  “We struggle financially because I cannot work.  We are awaiting a government work permit.  It will come through.  It just takes time.  God is in charge.”

Another food pantry referred her to the Grace Care Center.  She has been a friend of the GCC for 2 years and is in the co-op program. 

When I turned the conversation to her perceptions of the GCC, her beautiful smile and sparkling eyes lit up her face.  “You help us a lot.  We feel like we are part of a large family.  We are welcome here.  You are so friendly.  You see our needs.  You see our struggle.  You approve of me.  You treat me as though you have been there (meaning in her family situation of need.)  Grace is part of me.  I usually shop on Monday nights.  The food is good.  The vehicle ministry has helped us with repairs because of an accident.  I praise God.  He is using Grace to meet our needs.  We worship at Grace.  One of our children has autism, and we love the LIFT program.  We left Papua New Guinne to prepare to serve God.  We had faith that He would sustain us.  He has met us here at Grace, through you.

I will take the experience of the Grace Care Center with me when I leave and try to use it as an example of how to receive and treat people.  I have learned how to receive love as well as how to give it.”

Single Mom steps out in trust and steps into faith

Patti (name has been changed) is a professional, a medical assistant.  She is thankful for her job even though her pay is less than what is needed to raise 17 and 19 year-old teenagers. 

Patti’s story reflects the journey of many of our Grace Care Center (GCC) friends who are single parents, with a job but still struggle to make ends meet.

This chapter of her life began 2 years ago when the trustees office told her about the kinds of support available at Grace.  She was at the trustees office because of financial problems that creep into the lives of many of us. In addition, a friend at work had shared with Patti her struggles of economic survival and how she had found GCC.

Patti shared, “At first it was scary for me to be here (GCC).  Two years ago when I came into the waiting area, there were people everywhere.  I knew no one.  But if a newcomer to GCC was to ask for my thoughts, I would tell them to give it time.  You will meet people, make friends, hear their story and grow to be comfortable here.  There is no food pantry like it.  Nowhere do you get the variety of food.  My 1^st night here I was surprised to get fresh produce, milk and frozen items. I can stretch my budget because of the food.”

Patti lit up like a bright light bulb when she was asked to describe how she benefitted from being a member of the Co-Op.  “Oh! My gosh” she said. “You guys have helped me so much.  My son had just gotten his driver’s license, and I was having the oil changed.  They took my son and showed him how to check the fluid levels in the car, so that he could keep the car safe to drive.  That was amazing!  Vehicle services at Grace helped negotiate lower prices for car repairs when I had an accident.  One time at Christian Brothers Auto Repair, I saw a couple with a newborn baby.  The father was feeding the infant, and the mother was volunteering her time.  She had just had that baby, but it was very important for her to be volunteering in the Grace Care Center Vehicle services.  So, her husband was there feeding the baby while the mom volunteered.  That was amazing to see.”

An enthusiastic Patti continued, “Referral services has helped me with my limited budget.  Through their coaching I have learned to train my teenagers that they have responsibilities to pay some of the bills.  Through the coaching I learned that it was good training for my children to learn financial responsibility.  Some day they are going to face the reality of paying all of their own bills.  As a good mom, I can begin to train them now.  Without coaching from the people at the Care Center I would not have known to do this.  And, my children understand and accept these responsibilities.

I was hopeful to get a better paying job with a larger medical practice.  But, it did not work out.  Had it not been for the volunteers at the Care Center, it would have been so easy to delay further job searches.  But, they were there for me and helped me rewrite my resume then nudged me along to continue the search.  Without that encouragement, I would have delayed the search and possibly lost out on an opportunity. The search goes on.

When asked about her church home, Patti identified Grace as her church home.  She admitted to the competition between Saturday and Sunday soccer and church.  Also, she said she is on the fence about organized religion.  She was put off by re:generate.  She shared about her need for worship and hearing the sermons and how distracted she is about money issues in church.  She acknowledged that the word about expansion and the cost needs to get out, but it does distract her.  “Maybe it is because of my lack of ability to provide financial support effects my attitude.  I want to get beyond where I am now.  Financially I want to become more stable so that I can give back to the Care Center.  Like I said earlier, I have a job and I am better off than many.  I am thankful.”

Patti’s journey continues.  We are glad that she is a part of this family of friends at the Grace Care Center.