Unity in the body of Christ as described in John 17:21 is not easily attainable, but it’s of tantamount importance for Kingdom work in a world where division, hatred, and apathy can overthrow the best of intentions. Our approach to unity includes equipping local communities and leaders with the tools they need to work together as the Church, and as a result we’ve been blessed with some amazing volunteers who are living out unity and compassion in mighty ways. We caught up with Jeff and Debbie, two volunteers leading the Compassion Vancouver Heights clinic in Vancouver, WA to ask some questions about the journey, and hear a bit about how they have played a role in building unity amongst the local churches.
Q: What is meaningful about the clinic that keeps you coming back?
Debbie: When we do these clinics, our partnerships with other churches are meaningful to me. We like connecting with pastors and congregation members from other church communities.
Jeff: The people. We’ve invested a lot of time into the relationships with our partner churches. When we visit at partner churches, we like to stay for their bible studies, prayer time, things like that. We feel like we’ve really begun to develop a community here.
Debbie: I think the volunteers really appreciate our closely-knit leader team. When new leaders come in, they have fresh ideas and are excited about connecting with leaders from other churches. It’s amazing to see people serving in their gifted areas.
One of the things that Emmanuel Lutheran Church has always been involved in is the Winter Hospitality Overflow (WHO) program. Ever since their church got involved in our Compassion Clinics, there’s been several members of their small congregation that have involved themselves in our clinics.
It prepared the way for their church to transform their building into an emergency winter weather shelter. They had people staying in their church overnight, and volunteers got to be a part of that.
Q: Have the Compassion Clinics had an impact on your faith?
Debbie: It has expanded our group of brothers and sisters in Christ. We had some personal issues come up over last fall, and it was our Compassion leaders that stood up and assisted us with some family things. It was nice to have them as a support through some rough times.
Jeff: Last year, our parents were living with us and my father had a stroke. When he was unable to provide care for himself, one of the leaders came and trimmed his toenails and gave him a haircut. After that, we felt a lot closer to these people; like a family.
Debbie: While Columbia Presbyterian will always be our home church, we have seven other churches that we hold close relationships with.
Dental professionals volunteering their time at Compassion Vancouver Heights 2018
Woman receiving free dental care thanks to the collaboration of several churches who set aside their differences to make the Compassion Clinic possible! The churches contribute financially as well as through providing leaders, volunteers, praying for the event, and following up with the guests who attend.
Among the services offered at many Compassion Clinics are chair massages!
Seeing your face for the first time after a good haircut can be an exhilarating experience!
Q: What’s your hope for the Clinic’s effect on your community?
Jeff: When I first started participating in these clinics, it felt to be more about the services that these guests were receiving. While that’s a really good thing, in recent years, what’s become important is the relationships that form between the churches. Not only do these connections go from leader to leader, but from leader to church member. We get to hear about their ideas and their preexisting ministries in their churches, and that really inspires us.
“When new leaders come in, they have fresh ideas and are excited about connecting with leaders from other churches. It’s amazing to see people serving in their gifted areas.”
Debbie: Everyone knows we provide these medical and dental services for our guests, but more importantly, we have our prayer and follow-up room where we have tables for others to learn more about other churches. We want to help people connect our guests to the churches, and ultimately, connect these guests to Jesus. That’s the heart of the clinic.
Q: Has there been an impact on the wider Vancouver community?
Debbie: The Columbian newspaper called us for the first time in 2018, and we had an article in their paper about our Compassion Clinic. I told them about the churches involved and our partnership, so it may be starting to have an impact on the community.
Jeff: One time we were looking for ways to promote the clinic, so we thought we should go through the neighborhood association. We’ve gone to some of the meetings, and now they mention our clinics in their newsletter. Our publicity has now increased by 1,400 households in our neighborhood. It’s an extension into the community beyond the churches.
Debbie: We also have a partnership with Clark College. We’ve had students from the college volunteer before, but 2018 was the first year that Clark College has opened up their dental hygiene clinic. It’s a huge deal for us to partner with the community college.
Jeff: When we first started doing the clinics here in Vancouver, they [Clark College] weren’t really open to the idea because it was a church-led event. I feel like now that we’ve built this relationship with them, we’ve really turned a corner.
Q: What does it take to be a volunteer?
Jeff: You don’t have to have medical or dental skills. There’s all kinds of opportunities for people to get involved. People come to us and ask for positions that let them sit because they can’t stand all day, or they only can be there for a couple hours, or they even can’t be there on the day of the event. I try my best to provide opportunities for folks like that to participate as well.
An example would be table hosts, which come from our hospitality team. They come at lunchtime and simply have lunch with these guests. That works really well for folks who can only be here for a limited time and/or can’t stay on their feet.
“We want to help people connect our guests to the churches, and ultimately, connect these guests to Jesus. That’s the heart of the clinic.”
Debbie: I like this piece of our clinic because we like giving anybody an opportunity to serve. One time, we had a family of eight come serve at our clinic. The mom, the dad, the baby in the sling, and kids pushing around carts full of snacks. We provided an opportunity for them to volunteer together.
During the middle of the day, we had a family whose kids spoke Spanish, and they wanted to help. They went down to the Children’s area and spoke with some of the Spanish-speaking kids and played with them in their native language.
Happy guests at Compassion Vancouver Heights 2018
Hundreds of volunteers with a wide variety of skillsets come together to make large Compassion Clinics a reality.
Prayer is one of the most powerful services we can offer at any Compassion Clinic.
Whole families come out to volunteer!
Q: Can you share a particularly meaningful story from a past clinic?
Debbie: So this was a few years ago at our Compassion Clinic. Someone had come into the foot care area to get their feet washed. Our foot care volunteers are just wonderful because they love to listen to the stories of the guests. This guest mentioned that he had been incarcerated and had just been released. As she was rubbing his feet, he had mentioned that this was the first time that somebody had touched him in two years. The volunteer then prayed for him, and it was just a wonderful experience of God’s love!
Interested in learning more about Compassion Clinics? Visit us here for more info, or click here to take a tour of an upcoming Clinic (Compassion Vancouver Heights is July 20, 2019 and is a great clinic to tour)!
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