A drawing in colored pencil of Jesus Christ with children, By Frances Hook

Memoirs of Faith

Memoirs of Faith is a series of events that have become the spiritual building blocks of Vineyard Boise. As we continue to move forward, we must also look back and remember our miraculous history. God is faithfully building our church!

In the beginning of Jesus’ ministry he went to his hometown and was invited to read from Isaiah. He stood up and spoke this passage from Isaiah 61:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me
Because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
And recovery of sight for the blind,
To release the oppressed,
To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:14-15)

In finishing he stated, ”Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

The perception of the Messiah in those days was that he would be someone of military might. The Jews believed the Messiah would come and free Israel from the oppression of the Romans. But Jesus didn’t seem to be very concerned about overthrowing the rule of Rome. He was much more concerned with setting people free from the oppression of their sin and breaking down the barriers between them and God. He came to speak for those who could not speak for themselves. His heart was filled with compassion for the poor and needy.

Proverbs 31:8-9 says, “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the right of the poor and needy.” Jesus emulated this value for people, especially those who were oppressed and burdened.

It is with this heart of compassion that Vineyard Boise was started. Within the foundation of our church is a heart to reach out to the poor and needy. It started small, like planting a seed, but in all our plans for growth we have expanded our compassion resources. We have grown in space, finances and the ministries to reach out practically and spiritually to the people that God sends our way.

What has amazed me is how Vineyard Boise’s benevolence ministries have started. People in the church have captured the heart of God and fallen in love with the people in need around them. They began to step out with simple faith and offer the few resources that they had at hand. God blessed this faith and more provisions became available. This stirred others to link hands with them and, before we knew it, a full-scale outreach had been birthe 

One of the first steps of faith was taken by Mike and Tammy Edwards. They started what we now know as The Pantry. The Edwards felt God’s heart to help those who came to our church in financial crises by blessing them with groceries. This simple food bank started in a maintenance closet with a couple of shelves and a refrigerator. It has now expanded to a warehouse and a giant walk-in cooler. What started out serving a couple of families each week now feeds around 100 families each week. The Pantry started with one faithful couple and now has several teams of volunteers helping to run it three days a week. 

Two members of our congregation, Rocky Ketchum and Mike Longhi, had this same heart of compassion. They started taking coffee to homeless people every Sunday morning and inviting them to church. As they established relationships with people, they began to feed them in a downtown park on Sunday afternoons. They spent their own money to grill up a hot meal for these new friends. The ministry grew from feeding a handful of people to now serving up to 250 people every Sunday. The BBQ, now known as Feeding God’s Children, went from two men to several teams of committed volunteers.

One of the members of our congregation, George Elsner, came up with an idea of how he could participate in feeding the homeless. Being a rancher, George gave one of his cattle to the church. His step of faith impacted other ranchers in the area. Now we receive up to 10 head of cattle each year to help supply meat for Feeding God’s Children.

A nurse in our congregation, Tamara Bethel, thought it would be good to have a health clinic for low-income, uninsured people in our congregation and community. As she was furthering her education to become a Nurse Practitioner, she helped start gathering others in the health profession with the same heart. Now under the supervision of Linda Perry, we have a whole crew of health care professionals and volunteers that donate their time to keep the clinic, “Compassionate Health Care,” open two days a week.

We are also seeing the beginnings of “Ministry of Justice for Idaho”, a legal clinic for low-income people. Pamela Boucher knows the need for justice for the poor and has a heart to see that everyone receives help navigating the legal system. This simple step of faith has met the needs of people in our congregation and community.

These outreaches and ministries stir peoples’ hearts to reach out with their own gifts and abilities. We also have the start of a community garden that grows fresh produce for low- income households and for our other food programs. We have a gleaning group, GIFT that helps resource and train low-income families in alternatives to supplement their groceries and other household needs. This was birthed out of the compassionate heart of a couple, Rick and Dian Roberson who have experienced similar difficulties.

God broke our hearts for the poor.  Looking at the Benevolence Ministry today, you can’t help but be blessed with all that God is doing. This rending of our hearts busted the floodgates of compassion wide open. God has faithfully provided us with the food, equipment, and other items needed to minister. He has given us the privilege of serving the poor.  As a result, our church has become known to the community as a place to come in time of need.

We have encountered people in our ministry that come to us burdened with the weight of all that is going wrong in their lives and we’re able to help meet some of their needs.