Friday, October 08, 2010

New Ministry at PCC - The Dri Dock Cafe

Are you ready to be encouraged? I want you to listen in on a “conversation” I recently had with Joan Long. Joan and her husband have been attending PCC for about 18 months. This coming Tuesday night, under their leadership, PCC’s new recovery ministry called Dri Dock Café will launch in the Bayview Room over at our Community Center. It is a great resource for all of us who call PCC home.

Will you take a few minutes and discover the heart behind what we are doing and then pray for Dri Dock Café?

Gary: Joan, how long have you been at PCC and what do you sense God doing in and through PCC?

Joan: I began attending regularly a year ago last Easter. Beyond the beauty of the campus, I was blown away by the sound of people turning the pages of Scripture during the message. I knew this was a place where I could count on hearing the truth and be challenged to respond. There was a humility and a compelling joy I’d hungered for. Maybe this could be a church home where my many friends would be drawn to Jesus. Since that time, my husband Chuck and I have grown not just in our knowledge of God, but in living our faith. It’s exciting to join with you in “being church” as we serve the Peninsula and share what God has so freely given us. We feel blessed to be a part of the Covenant denomination where we join forces to serve the world, setting captives free and bringing hope and healing to the disenfranchised and forgotten. We thank God for PCC and for the welcome we’ve been given!

Gary: What is Dri Dock Cafe and why are we doing this?

Joan: I think you first need to know that I’m a falling down drunken addict in recovery. Thanks to the grace of God and the powerful 12 Steps of AA, I’ve been able to live clean and sober for nearly 30 years. I still can hardly believe this new life I’ve been given! I’ll just share three good reasons for the Dri Dock Café:
1. It was in recovery rooms through the 12 Steps that I first understood and believed God loves me. But I couldn’t stomach church, let alone Christians! In time, God put the right people in my path who would love me, rough edges and all, to the foot of the cross. You see, I needed more than a “higher power,” I needed resurrection power! There are many “Joans” in AA who are conflicted about church, and misinformed about Jesus. The DDC is a place where not-yet-believers can come and find more than the power to live sober. They can find abundant life where truth intersects with grace and obedience. We keep the gift of freedom by giving it away. We’re beggars at the King’s Table showing other beggars where they can find bread.

2. Like most addicts, I lived steeped in denial. Many people reject AA for the stigma, but the Dri Dock Café is non-threatening by name and is designed so that anyone can come for any reason, including friends and/or family who would like to know more about the 12 Step way of life, or who wish to help someone who is struggling, but don’t know how. We know there are individuals, families, schools staffs, and neighbors who suffer the devastating affects of addiction, directly or indirectly. We offer HOPE and a solution that works! We’re optimally situated in the inviting, healthy atmosphere of the Community Center.

3. Addiction is also something that many in our PCC church family face. I spoke to a retreat gathering of Covenant Missionaries and was stunned by the number of families who have experienced the heartbreak and tragedy of love ones who didn’t get help. The Dri Dock will be a safe, joyful, hope filled community that offers compassion and grace to anyone and everyone touched by the pain of alcoholism with careful anonymity.

Gary: What's the vision for Dri Dock Cafe?

Joan: Above all else, we want to be a community of people who love others into a Life they didn’t dream possible. There’s absolutely nothing quite like a group of recovering alcoholics and addicts! The JOY is palpable, laced with gratitude, acceptance, humility, and hope! As one man said, “In exchange for the bottle we’ve been given the keys to the Kingdom.” With God’s blessing we will become a lighthouse to those who are lost and drowning.

Gary: How can PCC utilize this ministry?

Joan: Come! PLEASE come! Never send someone to the Dri Dock Cafe, BRING them. Every time you join us you will rub elbows with real life miracles! We need and want healthy Christians to come and be a part of our fellowship. One couple offered to come be our prayer team. Another couple is going to help by bringing refreshments. While neither couple is in recovery, they have family members who are suffering so they want to be part of the solution. AND above all else, pray with us and for us!

Gary: If you know Joan, you know her vibrancy is contagious! Redemption is just like that, isn’t it? Please join me in praying for this ministry and its launch this Tuesday night at 7:30pm in the Bayview Room (Community Center). This Sunday, we continue in our series based on the Sermon on the Mount entitled Different. We will be talking about integrity! Come prepared - bring those Bibles and read Matthew 5:33-37 beforehand.