New Clackamas church puts focus on meeting needs of homeless

By RICHARD KOE
    CLACKAMAS – Two Gresham couples started a church, Renewed Life Fellowship, last fall near the Springwater Trail, but weren’t sure what they were in for. They only knew God had called them specifically to minister in the area.
    Steven Threet and his wife Joanne had approached their friends, Bob and Laurel Musgrave, with the idea of starting a church. After much prayer, they got things started with a picnic lunch last Sept. 3 for the area’s homeless in a business parking lot, followed by an outdoor church service the next day in the same lot.
    Many of the people who turned out were homeless. Threet told the Gresham Outlook that he was raised in the area and had seen many of his peers living on the streets. He knew their desperation and was compelled to help.
    The couples, as church leaders, gained the trust of those coming to worship on Sundays, attendance began to grow by November, and the group began meeting at the Clackamas Service Center, 8800 S.E. 80th Ave.

     Threet said a number of local churches minister to the homeless, but what sets theirs apart is that they went right to the area where the problem exists. Their goal is to change the neighborhood, one life at a time.
     Musgrave said the church looks at people as individuals and strives to help them know God’s love but without pushing it on them. Once people realize that someone really cares about them, they open up about their problems, he said.
    The Clackamas church puts on a soup and sandwich lunch in the service center’s parking lot each Saturday and a pancake and egg breakfast after worship each Sunday. It also collects coats and jackets for its homeless members, gives haircuts, takes people to rehabilitation, and helps them find jobs.
    In some cases, the Musgraves even let members of the congregation stay at their home until they can get their feet back on the ground. To stay, however, individuals must have already given up their drug or alcohol addictions.
    Musgrave said alcoholism is a huge stumbling block for many who live on the streets. Often they make poor choices, but circumstances keep them there. The church helps with identification cards and provides bus money to get someone to a job until they get their first paycheck.
    Probably the most rewarding part of the Musgraves’ job is witnessing the change when someone is able to clean up and get off the streets. To the Threets and Musgraves, this is the most satisfying thing they’ve ever done.     The Renewed Life Fellowship Church’s Sunday School is at 10 a.m. followed by worship at 11 a.m.