About Us

Uniting To Serve

"Helping Churches Work Together to Serve Their Neighbors as an Expression of Christ's Love"

In 2008 Compassion Connect was established to spread the vision of many churches working together to transform their neighborhoods. We are a proactive resource that will support collaborative efforts to come along side communities and provide the resources/experience to make it sustainable. We are focused in the areas of health, housing, and helps. We encourage you to find out more and get involved by clicking any of the banners below.

We are a network of people who love God because He first Loved us. We believe that Jesus taught the people of God to work as a united front against the darkness, pain, and suffering in the world. God has gifted and called Compassion Connect to be a voice calling the churches to Unite and Serve, by carrying out this mission of proactive unity “the world will know that the Father sent the Son.”

In January 2006, Gary Tribbett and Milan Homola met in a local coffee shop and dreamed big. They wondered if it was possible. Could members of an American community provide free medical and dental care for the underinsured of their own community? After much prayer, they decided to step out in faith and trust that God would take care of the rest.

The results have been nothing short of miraculous. The first clinic was held in April of 2006 and up to this point there have been more than 1,000 people helped. There has been one full-time community clinic established and many more one day Compassion Clinic events. During these one day Compassion Clinic Events more than 300 volunteers from dozens of local churches unite together to serve their community. It has a lasting impact on guests and volunteers alike.

The God initiated experience and reflection gained through Compassion Rockwood has given us a passion and calling to Unite local churches to Serve their communities. The power and witness of collaboration is the way of God and the way to impact the 21^st century culture. There have been countless meetings and conversations with civic leaders, social service leaders, and church leaders who strongly support any movement to work together, share together, and transform communities.

In 2008 Compassion Connect was established to spread the vision of many churches working together to impact their world. We are a proactive resource that will support collaborative efforts to transform communities and provide the resources/experience to make it sustainable. We are focused in the areas of Health, Housing, and Helps.

staff

Milan Homola - Executive Director

Milan has lived in Portland, OR since 2005 with his beautiful wife and daughter. They moved to attend Multnomah University and have since fallen in love with the Pacific Northwest. In the fall of 2005 God put it on Milan's heart to work with Gary Tribbett and Clear Creek Community Church to answer a question: What would it look like if churches came together to meet the medical/dental needs of their neighbors? Since then Milan has seen God change the way churches work together and help meet the growing need for health care.

Gary Tribbett - President of the Board

The joy of Gary Tribbett's life comes from his wife of nearly four decades. That joyful partnership in life and ministry has blessed them with two incredible daughters, their amazing husbands and seven awesome grandchildren.

To love and serve Jesus is the passion of Gary's heart. Jesus' plan to bring grace to people from all walks of life motivates his life and career as a pastor of Clear Creek Community Church, where he has served since its foundation in 1994. God's preparation for Gary's ministry includes twenty-five years in electronics, process control technology and management. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Biblical Literature and Master of Divinity degree from Multnomah University and is nearing completion of a Doctor of Ministry at Western Seminary.

For Gary, ministry is God at work in the world through the one Church. As Christians work together in harmony, divine strength builds the kingdom of God one soul at a time. As a visionary, this philosophy is foundational for Gary as he looks for every opportunity to advance God's grace in the world.

David Knepprath- Volunteer Director of Housing

After serving at Nightstrike underneath the Burnside Bridge in 2006, David realized the Church is bigger then a building on Sunday. However, it a took countless more nights under the bridge to realize the Church is about more then just Sunday morning and Friday night. He discovered "his" life was not something he could just plug Christianity into (a church service, speaking Christienese, a bible study, or a service opportunity) and get what he wanted.

His experiences led him to serve on staff with Bridgetown ministries in 2007-2008 and is finishing his Social Science degree at PSU. David is currently pursuing what it looks like to completely release every aspect of his life to glorify God - leaving behind the life that he was born into as an American - and to discover what it is like to follow Jesus as a part of His beautiful Bride, the Church, out of which everything else flows.

Dr. Constant Lu - Volunteer Director of Dental

As a dentist since 1995, Constant Lu had participated in short-term healthcare outreaches in places like Mexico and the Philippines. But then, in 2005, when he helped at a local outreach in Gresham, Oregon, he saw the need for local low-cost healthcare, when large numbers of patients needed to be turned away due to overcapacity.

Since then, he has joined with Compassion Connect to help fulfill the mission to bring the love of Jesus Christ to our local communities, by empowering them with tools and resources necessary for effective dental outreaches. His work is supported by his life partner and wife, Erlyn, who is a dentist from the Philippines.

Constant received his Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of Washington in 1990, and his Doctorate in Dental Surgery (D.D.S.) from Creighton University in 1995. Since then, he has established and operated a solo dental practice in Vancouver, Washington. He also plays keyboard and sings for his church worship team, and has been a board member of several non-profit groups. He especially enjoys spending time with his wife and his son, Isaac, traveling and participating in various sports.

Elizabeth Railton- Volunteer Director of Medical

Liz has a heart for those who are hurting physically, emotionally and mentally. With the tenderness that Christ has given her for these people, she has been able to use her nursing skills in other countries as well as here in the United States. Whether it is at home with her husband, friends, people at the grocery store, fellow nurses, or the housekeepers at work, she sees each person as uniquely created, valued and loved by Jesus. This makes it an honor for her to work with others on making Compassion Connect successful.

Shinji Mae- Executive Assistant

Shinji has lived in Portland metro since 1989. He has graduated from Concordia University, Portland, with degrees in Behavioral Science and Missions along with an exchange studies of Culture and Social Studies at Japan Lutheran College, Tokyo, Japan. After earning the Master of Divinity at Multnomah University, he has worked at numbers of local non-profit organizations. His passion is to serve the people whom Christ has particularly cares in such a way that He uses Compassion Connect to bring His message and compassion to them.

Shinji is married to Vanessa and has a son, Isaac. They enjoy music-full lifestyle. Shinji teaches music at local churches and classes to train new generations of young worship leaders with historical methodology of music varying from classical music to rock music

Jennifer Nash- ACI Program Director

Originally from Corvallis, Jennifer moved to Los Angeles to study Psychology at Biola University. She received her Master in Social Work from California State University, Long Beach in 2005. She spent the next four years working with a small non-profit organization focused on empowering leaders from at risk neighborhoods to take ownership of the changes they wanted to see in their community. She has experienced first hand how powerfully God can use committed relationships in creating transformation in people’s lives.

Having recently relocated to Portland, Jennifer is happy to be back in the Northwest and relishes being close to family. She is excited to join the Compassion Connect team who has such a clear calling to help churches engage their local communities.

contact

Compassion Connect
P.O.Box 808
Fairview, OR 97024

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Special Thanks To:

David Schrenk AM Studios
Benjamin Downing
Heather Minton