Lighthouse Christian Ministries

After visiting son, daughter and granddaughters, the best thing we did during our stay in Wenatchee was to volunteer at the Lighthouse. About 5 years ago we were excited to see and help with the very beginnings of this ministry to the homeless, and now we are amazed at the growth. The Lighthouse is the hub, serving meals, teaching Bible studies, having church, and from that has come forth a building for housing men and women, a house for women and children, another house for men in transition, and now a medical clinic that will be free or very low cost. It is awesome what God has done through our friend and all his helpers in the Lighthouse ministry. This friend is the same in whose orchard we have been parked for the last 2 months!

There is a fully equipped kitchen filled with all donated appliances and tools more than adequate for preparing and serving 3 meals a day to 60 or 70 men and women, and sometimes children, every single day. All the food is also donated and seems to be just the right amount and variety for each meal.

This wonderful lady is Jude! She puts together delicious meals from whatever has come in for that day. Keith and I helped with the preparation and serving, as well as the dishwashing and table clearing. James is a volunteer who comes almost daily and knows how to do just about anything that is needed! Our days there were filled with lots of fun and laughter, and the tremendous reward of seeing needy people well cared for.

I especially enjoyed and became friends with Jennifer, a beautiful lady who comes in and plays the piano and sings during most of the meals, bringing calm to the crowd. Her worship is truly inspired by God. I learned in the Bible that David played his harp and sang to Saul to soothe the King's restless spirit. I think Jennifer does the same thing for those who come into the building seeking food for the body, but also finding food for the spirit.

Here are a few of the well-fed folks finishing up their meal. God blesses them, every one, and especially those like us who get to see the blessings. Mr. Keith and I are so happy that we had this experience. Keith spent 30 years in the ministry to the homeless, with me helping him the last 10 years before his retirement. We hope to return to Wenatchee someday soon and become regular voluteers at this amazing place, the Lighthouse Christian Ministries!

Our Time in Wenatchee

 Our nearly two months in Wenatchee are drawing to a close much too quickly. We didn't get to visit everyone we had hoped to see and we didn't take any sight-seeing drives, but we managed to stay incredibly busy somehow. Our most rewarding times were when we got to see our family and friends, and our volunteer hours at the Lighthouse where we worked in the kitchen serving meals. I'll save that for another blog! We enjoyed a few walks. Wenatchee has a wonderful trail all around the two cities. Mr. Keith is sauntering along part of the trail in East Wenatchee.

 Here is a gorgeous view of Wenatchee across the Columbia River.

 The Wenatchee Valley is famous for fruit trees. We were so fortunate to be parked right next to an orchard. These blossoms are cherries, I believe.

 What a sight greets us every time we open our door! Beautiful, pink apple blossoms. We won't be here for the Valley's long standing and well attended Apple Blossom Festival, but we know from our years here how much fun that is. We have so many memories of this great event from years past.

 Each time we come back to Wenatchee between our job assignments we like to drive by the old 'homestead' on Gellatly Street. When I lived here the house was painted white. A couple of years ago we found it to be painted a grey color, and this time it is a pretty tan. I wonder if the current owners are experimenting? I thought about the mailbox out front. It originally graced our driveway near the town of Mossyrock in 1968. It moved with us to Vancouver where it stood along the street next to our house for 11 years, then it came with us to Wenatchee in 1983. It still seems to be in fairly good shape for a 46 year old mailbox!

 Much to our dismay, Mr. Keith was hospitalized by a cat bite which became infected. It wasn't Montie's fault! We had some company who came with a little dog. The dog sneaked some cat food and Montie attacked, causing much shrieking by the dog, thus causing Mr. Keith to grab Montie's tail to get him away from the pup. Montie, in his distress over the cat food thief and the pain in his tail, turned and bit Keith. This kind of infection is very serious for someone with a low immune system, so the hospital stay was in order till it's resolved. This is the beautiful view from Keith's room on the 5th floor.

The view from another window, of Saddle Rock. I looked at this Wenatchee Valley landmark for 22 years from the back deck of the house on Gellatly Street. I miss it, and I always watch for the first sighting of this magnificent rock formation as we're driving into town after being away for months. We'll leave it once again next week when we hitch up and head out down the highway for our next job in Missoula, Montana.