December 2022

Dear God’s Resort Friends,

shepherds watching their flocks by night, to this very day, we have celebrated the light and life of the world! This is what we share as we help people, through a Christ-centered community, find freedom from their past and reach their potential as children of God. Thank you for sharing with us such a love from God!

Julie and I have known Marsha for almost 40 years, and she has been our friend since the first day until now. At the beginning of our time at God’s Resort, she was a faithful supporter. In the summer of 2021, Marsha faced a crisis. She was living with her son and grandkids when he contracted covid and died, leaving her with a great need of more family.

So many friends of God’s Resort became Marsha’s friends and family in her greatest time of need! We were all blessed by her, and grateful God made a place for her to live here. We connected her with a local church where she was able to be in last year’s Christmas cantata! She is a beautiful, classy lady and it was fun to see her shine with joy when the prior year had been filled with such grief and sorrow. This year she was diagnosed with cancer and so we helped her transition to a skilled nursing facility where her new family continues to visit and care for her.

Recently, we had her Transition Celebration at our Thursday morning Coffee and Chat. There were quite a few tears as well as laughs as many gathered to speak words of blessing and appreciation to her. Marsha made this comment, “I’m just so thankful. You can’t imagine how thankful I am to have been where I was when this all started and knowing that the circumstances were grim. Knowing, if I don’t get a roof over my head, I don’t know what I’m going to do … but, it’s just been kind of between a circus and heaven. Because everybody has just been coming out of the clouds with great big, beautiful wings.” Thank you for sharing with Marsha and the other 38 adults and 40 children who we get to share light and life with in a very dark world!

If you are considering an end of year donation, please know that your gifts of cash, stock, or real estate are tax deductible and help us continue the work that God is doing. You can donate by visiting godsresortjoplin.org/take action or by mail to God’s Resort, PO Box 4981, Joplin, MO, 64803.

Love and Prayers,
Jay St. Clair
Executive Director

Staff Transition Update

After serving faithfully as a Life Transition Coordinator since the summer of 2020, Wendy Dean has accepted a position with an organization specializing in spiritual formation, Renovaré. Wendy will be transitioning from God’s Resort at the end of 2022. Thankfully, she will still be living in town, and we look forward to seeing her around! Aligned with her recently earned master’s degree in spiritual formation, she will work as the Education Program Coordinator at Renovaré and will help facilitate the Renovaré Institute for Christian Spiritual Formation and the Renovaré Book Club.

Of her time at God’s Resort, Wendy said, “It has been an incredible two and a half years that I have served as a Life Transition Coordinator at God’s Resort. I have been so blessed by this community and the relationships I have cultivated here. As Jay says, ‘We are all spiraling up!’ and I have seen that in my life in so many ways over the last few years … I will be forever grateful for this season of growing and learning about God’s love together and I will look back on these days with wonder and delight at all he Has done.” We will all miss having her on staff deeply, but it is clear to Wendy, the Holy Spirit, and to us that God has opened this door for her, and so we send her off with our blessing and support! Please join us in thanking God for Wendy and praying for her transition and for whomever He is preparing to serve as our next Life Transition Coordinator at God’s Resort.

December Events Recap!

It’s hard to put into words how meaningful the Christmas Shoppes were this year! After running the Christmas Shoppe for the last few years for parents/caregivers to shop for their kids at discounted rates, we introduced the Christmas Shoppe Kid’s Edition this year! The kids at God’s Resort earned Christmas Bucks this fall by doing various chores and service-oriented things in their home or for their neighbors. Then, they were able to purchase and wrap gifts for their parents and caregivers with their Christmas Bucks! Thanks to everyone who gave and participated!

We also had a wonderful time “bragging on God” at our last Sunday Night Fellowship of 2022. Everyone was given an opportunity to share a brag about God and hang an ornament on the tree with their brag written on it. The Byer’s Avenue Bell Choir (from Byers Avenue United Methodist Church) blessed us with Christmas music, and we enjoyed a terrific meal provided by our friends at Grace Baptist Church.

We capped off the night by having a transition celebration for former resident, Jessy Moreland. This was also a sweet time of encouragement. This season has been full of love, joy, and creating memories to last a lifetime … and beyond. May God bless your Christmas and may you have a Happy New Year!