During a visit to the Church of the Savior in Washington, DC I visited a low income, ethnically diverse neighborhood. I walked the streets that were home to immigrants and minorities without economic or educational access, where language and social barriers limit opportunities for justice and financial stability, where addiction, violence, and cycles of poverty pervade personal, family, and community relationships. I saw that the community center birthed by Church of the Savior empowers the powerless to move forward educationally, economically, and relationally to live fuller, more whole, productive lives. This small faith community intentionally focused on actively caring for the poor and marginalized within their own local neighborhood. As I learned the story of the church/community center, I was inspired to dream "big" as they, too, began with the vision of two people committed to living out the way of Jesus in their local neighborhoods. This laser-focus vision shaped the church over fifty years into an intentionally missional, multimillion dollar network of neighborhood centers that have a profound impact on the local community.

These two pivotal experiences breathed life into my heart, calling forth deeply held longings to be present and serve the poorest of the poor both locally and globally.

As followers of Jesus our faith is active, alive, and most authentically expressed when we walk beside and partner with the community to bring justice and mercy to the poorest of the poor in the local neighborhoods where we live and work. We listen intently for and choose to respond to the echo of a voice inside our hearts, the voice of justice, whispering to each of us to come alongside and create space in our lives for the poor, the suffering, and the marginalized we encounter along the way.

Turning Point is a nonprofit organization birthed out of our faith community, Vineyard Community Church (VCC). Turning Point grew out of VCC's involvement with low-income apartments and neighborhoods in Lynnwood, Washington. VCC organized, funded, and staffed annual Christmas parties, Thanksgiving basket giveaways, and Back to School parties for the families at the apartment building living in poverty. VCC sought to serve the "working poor", people trapped in cycles of poverty, and families without economic access or the luxury of an educational or social "safety net."

We discovered that these factors contribute to the feeling many families have that, while they are surviving, they continually remain "one paycheck away" from homelessness. After four years of serving local families we began to dream of making friends with local community leaders, partnering to meet the needs of neighborhood families, and providing a neighborhood facility that would serve as a community center.

Bringing Jesus into the community means creating a space in our faith community to help "put things to right": to be active midwives in the birth of peace, stability, and wholeness for every family living in Shoreline. God asks us to give in small, tangible ways and we discover that we, too, are changed in the process. We want to live out the scripture from John 1:14 “The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood…Generous inside and out…" (Message translation). We at Turning Point want to be generous with what we have and attempt to make a difference in the neighborhood.

Rose Madrid-Swetman