October 2022

Dear God’s Resort Friends,

So very grateful for how you have partnered with us to help people through this Christ-centered community choose freedom from the past and reach their potential as children of God! You are a blessing!

Many of you were able to join us for our Celebration and Tours this month! Thank you! It was a joy to share what God has been doing at His Resort and to see so many faithful friends and meet new friends! Of course, one of the highlights was the video testimony of Krystal and her boys! You can find the link to the video at the bottom of this email.

Our celebration included reporting that we had 11 residents make healthy transitions from God’s Resort this year! The average stay for our residents the last few years has been approximately 1 ½ years. We have 39 homes with 38 adults and 31 children! Our families made timely rent payments 90% of the time! 74% of our residents presently use a written budget compared to 32% when they first came! Because of their personal discipline, the average credit score of those who have lived at God’s Resort longer than a year has increased from 550 to 601. We also celebrated with 12 of our residents who graduated from our Financial Peace Course! These are huge steps toward a stable and productive life!

It is always a pleasure to invite our attendees to tour some of our residents’ homes and see the God’s Resort campus. You really do feel the presence of God all over this place! Following our Celebration and Tours, a new friend wrote this to us, “God’s Resort is exemplary and obviously inspired and blessed. It is so needed in this time of family breakdown and pandemic drug abuse. It is obviously God’s work!!”

Thank you again for partnering in this work of God!!

Love and prayer,
Jay St. Clair
Executive Director

Welcome, Jon-Michael Bontrager!

We are excited to share that Jon-Michael Bontrager will be joining our staff as our Resident Care Coordinator on January 1, 2023! He is a 2013 graduate of Ozark Christian College, having received a Bachelor of Arts in Christian Ministry. He is currently the Worship Pastor at Carterville
Christian Church, where he has served faithfully for the past 10 years. Jon-Michael and his wife, Rachel, have three boys: William, Lewis, and Mack. His hobbies include fishing, soccer, camping, kayaking, playing outside with his boys, being at home, reading, and watching movies and shows.

Jon-Michael’s position at God’s Resort will center around helping coordinate our volunteers, worship, and serving as a Life Transition Coordinator for some of the men at God’s Resort. His life and ministry experience have equipped him well for this role. Above all, his love for Jesus and his heart for people permeate all that he does. We celebrate this exciting news and look eagerly to the future as Jon-Michael joins us in our mission of helping people, through a Christ centered community, choose freedom from the past and reach their potential as children of God!

Exciting Holiday Events Coming Up!

Three exciting events are coming up this holiday season! Our Thanksgiving Dinner for our residents, their families, and our neighbors takes place on November 20th. On December 3rd we have our Christmas Shoppe where we set up a couple locations, one for our adult residents to buy gifts for their children at discounted rates, and one for the children to use Christmas bucks to by gifts for their parents. Lastly, our resident Christmas Party is on December 16th. We will eat a Christmas meal together and then enjoy one another’s company amidst some festive activities! Please reach out to Amy Cook at amy@godsresortjoplin.org if you’re interested in helping with the Thanksgiving Dinner or Christmas Party.

Reach out to Julie St. Clair at Julie@godsresortjoplin.org if you’re interested in helping with the Christmas Shoppe. There are various opportunities to serve during the events, or ways that you can help us prepare for them through shopping, cooking, or giving towards items that are needed. Thank you for considering! You may also call the office at 417-553-4080 for more information.