LOVE AT COMPASS COMMUNITIES DRAWS PRECIOUS SOULS TO JESUS

by Donna Dunbar
Compass Communities Company in Port Charlotte targets two groups of people for relationships: Homeless friends (alcoholics, drug addicts, etc.) and Youth (reaching youth in public schools and journeying with them as they are introduced to our best friend, Jesus).
Our Homeless Friends
Meeting in a soup kitchen with a small group of nearly 60 believers, the church began the new year by presenting Pastor Dave Smith’s Following Jesus NET evangelism series with an interactive discussion after each sermon. Homeless individuals participated and many desired to join the body of Christ as they saw members model the love found in the messages of Pastor Smith. As the series unfolded, 10 people were loved into the church and gave their hearts to the Lord through baptism.
In serving the homeless population, Compass Communities meets their needs by providing food, companionship, physical needs, and help with addictions. I believe it is God’s love flowing through us that makes all this possible. Our little church is growing because the members are, one by one, starting to live out the messages of Following Jesus.
Partnering with Wyldlife
If someone had told me two years ago that I would be working with middle-schoolers, I would have thought they were crazy. We had nothing in common.
I truly believe God has a sense of humor, because He put me in just the right place at the right time with Port Charlotte Pastor Ben Shurtliff who told me there were 8,000 kids in our community who did not know Christ. Then, he told me about the nondenominational Young Life program, WyldLife—a ministry that reaches out to middle-schoolers. My team at Compass Communities supported me in my desire to work with these kids, even though team members are unable to fit their schedules around school hours.
The first day in Port Charlotte Middle School, you would have heard my knees knocking. I was totally out of my element. I began to pray, “Father, help me to reach Your kids for Your kingdom. Give me the kids I need to speak to and the words to say, because I haven’t a clue how to reach them.” And, He did!
Week after week, I learned the kids’ names and little things about them. I helped them with school fundraisers, took them to the mall, and started building relationships. My husband and I spent our 20th anniversary taking kids to WyldLife Camp.
I also felt impressed to start a Campaigner’s Club—a disciple-making part of WyldLife. We met weekly with swimming parties at my home, and some of the kids came to church with me. Joseph, one of the boys we sponsored, accepted Jesus and was baptized.
At a fall camp, we took Amber, an autistic girl who wouldn’t let anyone touch her. Although we couldn’t touch her with our hands, some of my girls and I touched her heart by singing the secular song, “Just the Way You Are” by Bruno Mars.
I watched Amber change before my eyes as she said, “I just want to be like everyone else.” She accepted Jesus and started attending Compass Communities. Her family was overjoyed, and her mom joined Amber in baptism. Several other young people have also been baptized.
In Conclusion
These are the people we minister to week after week. It is our prayer at Compass Communities that we learn to love like Jesus and not see the problems, just the finished product and picture that He sees. Jesus is just waiting for one more WyldLife child or one more of our homeless friends to join the mission to grow our little church through His message of love.
We long to have a building of our own in the same neighborhood so we can continue ministry to our homeless friends and have a place where we can meet more than once a week for a few hours. We would love to have a Pathfinder club and small groups. I know when the time is right, God will provide.
I am so glad that God called me to Compass Communities! When He calls you, He equips you. I don’t know where He is calling you, but I know that He will. When He does, just go with it. It will be the journey of a lifetime!