Christ Memorial Helps

Christ Memorial Church - 6th and Hostmark in Poulsbo

Pastors Tom Duchemin and Dave Fischer and an excited crew of volunteers from Christ Memorial Churchin Poulsbo, WA have launched a monthly community meal every first Friday at 6:00 p.m. CMC is loaded with with very talented and caring folks who will put good energy into this project.About twenty or more folks arrived for the first dinner. Here is a link that helps coordinate, along with a helpful map, the various dinner sites in the north end – http://nkfcfc.blogspot.com/ Very helpful indeed!

CMC Serving Line

Help Is Messy

Church, Meet Homeless

When Church reaches out to homeless, it isn’t always neat and tidy. My hat’s off to Coram Deo for opening up their church, including restrooms, the the poor and homeless in Bremerton.

Quite inebriated, homeless guy comes to dinner barking and growling. What to do? “Hey next time, cool it – okay?” Then guy heads to the restroom but when he doesn’t return to dinner in a long while, we go check out the restroom. Whoa! A mess – guy was taking a full on shower in the handsink – shaving and everything. Thus, the sign. What principle of missionary work applies here?

There are lots of twists and turns serving this group but the sincere words, “thanks for dinner!” make it all worth while. Thanks to Pastors Jon and Boyce and the great folks at Coram Deo for serving – and mopping up the restroom.

Volunteers Help

New Guest Shares Her Grief

It’d be impossible for Bremerton Rescue Mission to get very far at all without faithful, hard working volunteers who own the work in the good times and in the challenges. On Friday, volunteer Bill shared a devotion and offered to pray for anyone with a need; new guest shares her grief of having lost daughter; Bill’s wife Marlene who cooked the meal was able to help the gal – Marlene and Bill had lost their only daughter. I’m thankfull for Spirit-filled volunteers working hard and looking for the opportunity to love in Jesus’ name!

Watch a 2:30 video and visit the Hub on Hwy 303 Friday Nights

Coram Deo Church Helps

First Wednesday Dinner at Coram Deo

Thanks to Pastor Boyce and Nancy Dougherty and the crew of volunteers from Coram Deowho are serving in partnership with Bremerton Rescue Mission Wednesday nights out on Hwy 303 – just south of the Safeway and in the same business park as Langlois Piano.

First night was pretty nice – about 22 guests and a great chili dog dinner with salad, fruit and dessert. Next week, we had a guest inebriated – kinda’ that good old allergic, out of the woods drunk – and deciding to do the full shower right in the bathroom sink. Hello. Ironically, it is for this that we exist, that we might persuade through grace and trust, that coming out of the fog and into recovery is a whole better bet than simply dying a slow death.

tables set in the foyer

Coram Deo is located right next to a stretch of woods between the church and Safeway. In the woods dwell a small but hearty group of folk whom we are privileged to serve. Recently some have been arrested, one has been too sick to join us, though his mom and dad come to eat, hoping to see their son, and one man died this past fall when a tree fell in one of our wet storms and killed the gentleman. There is lots to do – and even a cup of cold water – or a shower in a sink – makes a difference in their lives and in our lives.

Coram Deo Church - 5951 State Highway 303, Bremerton

Dinners are 6:30 p.m. each Wednesday evening. Bremerton Rescue is serving as well on Monday evenings at Rocket Coffee on Kitsap Way and at the Hub on Hwy 303 in partnership with Hillcrest Assembly.