Over the years we have seen God use thousands of everyday people in dozens of communities to serve their neighborhoods and spread Jesus’ love. We believe that individuals and churches everywhere should have the opportunity to experience the transformation we’ve been blessed to see in the Pacific Northwest, so we are now in a season of strategizing how to provide opportunities for more people put their faith in action to serve their hurting neighbors.
However, we didn’t want to dive into new territory without an intentional season of reflection and prayer, so in March and April of this year several of our staff, volunteers, and board worked together to create a 40 day series of devotional prayers to help seek God’s will for the organization and for our supporters individually.
One response to the 40 Days of Prayer that we received from a longtime volunteer both affirmed the importance of the prayers and also the need to continue equipping and empowering people of faith anywhere who want to use their gifts to make a difference in Jesus’ name. God does incredible things in everyday people when they step out in faith, using their gifts purposefully and compassionately.
We hope this story encourages you as it did us.
Hi,
I’m Ginna Vickory, a nurse who has worked with Dee Anne Bess as a volunteer foot care nurse at Compassion Clinics. Thanks so much for these devotionals. I’ve never quite known what to do with the image of the dry bones in Ezekiel, and you “put sinews” on the passage yesterday!
I’m emailing you to give you a perspective of the “grandchildren” Compassion has brought forth. I met Dee Anne (another foot care nurse) at one of the early Blazer Harvest events and since then have helped out at many Compassion Connect Clinics. In 2012, at the Compassion Beaverton Clinic, held at Cedar Mill Bible Church, there was a low guest turnout so we provided care to the volunteers. I met John Hamilton, a pastor who told me about The Jesus Table meals they were providing on Tuesday nights.
Serving up foot care in the Rose Garden during a Blazer Harvest event
I now have been providing foot care there twice a month for five years. In 2015, Sallie Stevens was the medical coordinator for the Compassion North Portland Clinic where I headed up the foot care section. Through her passionate vision of addressing the diabetic epidemic among African Americans, we started a monthly foot care clinic at Cornerstone Community Church a year ago. It is named “Northeast Christian Community Free Foot Care Clinic” because 10 churches (many of them tiny) have come together to provide support, encouragement and dialogue among the “Near Northeast” African American community.
The chemistry of those gatherings feels magical at times…which, of course, is the Holy Spirit settling over us. Often I have two other Compassion Connect foot care nurses helping provide care. We are exploring ideas of how to move beyond just addressing the foot care/ ulcer prevention needs to expanded diabetic education.
As you plan for the future, know that God is scattering his love beyond the immediate Compassion Connect radius.
As I roll along doing these three free clinics a month, I sometimes startle myself when I realize that they aren’t officially part of Compassion Connect. Dee Anne and I have shared documentation forms, info sheets, and ideas. Our whole approach to greeting and enfolding the guests comes from the Compassion Connect model. “You” are there, even though the clinics are not officially part of the Compassion Connect structure. Because I need to handle the OSBN nursing foot care regulations a bit differently due to having no doctor on site, I think it is best not to officially be under your umbrella, even though I feel your vision is very much present.
As you plan for the future, know that God is scattering his love beyond the immediate Compassion Connect radius. I am thinking of the passage of how we don’t know where the wind of the Holy Spirit comes from and goes, but we experience it in the present tense.
Thank you for your trust in the Lord from the beginning of this Compassion Connect adventure, as well as for the effort you put into creating the devotionals. Eight years ago, as I re-entered nursing, I was terrified and clung to the passage of God being a light to our path and a lamp to our feet. I could barely see where to set my foot for the next step. Certainly I didn’t even know there existed a nursing foot care avenue.
Today I find myself in this broad meadow of God’s love and grace, seeing how he was designing the way forward even in my perceived darkness. We keep trusting and moving the best we can. He does the rest and blesses us beyond our wildest dreams.
Be blessed with Our Lord’s wisdom, grace and love as you move forward,
Ginna
PS- We had such a great response to the 40 Days of Prayer emails that we compiled them together in a pdf booklet. Click here to download your free copy!
