New Dental Clinic Opens

To help meet our Daring Faith goal of assisting 250,000 people in need, our PEACE Centers have given out millions of pounds of food through this God-honoring initiative. Additionally, our members have served the community through the 40+ ministries of local PEACE.

Since we launched Daring Faith in May 2015, we’ve expanded PEACE Centers in Irvine South and San Clemente. Anaheim and Rancho Capistrano are slated for expansion in 2017. These facilities––along with those in Lake Forest, Corona, Laguna Woods, and Rancho Capistrano––serve over 2,500 people each month.

“The PEACE Centers keep evolving, as we encounter deeper needs,” says Tommy Hilliker, Pastor of Ministry. “It’s very much an organic process, and part of that evolution is that we’re launching PEACE Centers at all of our campuses through the Daring Faith initiative.”

Reaching this target will take time, he explains, but as God brings us greater needs, we’re able to examine what Local PEACE ministry looks like at each campus and shape the direction accordingly. Helping to focus this vision are Michelle Thune, who recently accepted the role as Manager of Outreach for Local PEACE, and Steve Mahnke, the new Director of Food Pantries.

All PEACE Centers are now under the Local PEACE umbrella. This major shift will equip CLASS 301 graduates to use their gifts to help others. As we reported last month, one of our biggest annual outreaches took place during Saddleback’s Thanksgiving Food Drive. For our new PEACE Centers, and our largest location at Lake Forest, this was an eventful season for our volunteers.

According to Chris Goulard, Pastor of PEACE Centers, “Thanksgiving is always a big week for our PEACE Centers. At our permanent Food Pantries, we more than doubled the volume for Thanksgiving meals. In a single day, we helped over 200 families and the shelves were absolutely cleared.”

The need for support from our members has never been greater. During the holidays, and especially during Food Drives, Saddleback families are encouraged to drop off bags of nonperishable food items in the blue barrels at their home campus. As more residents become aware of the available resources, the need to reach people in our communities increases.

Not only is this a great way to serve as a family, but small groups can also unite by donating goods as a team. There are plenty of opportunities to volunteer in other PEACE Center areas such as the Homework Club, which currently has a waiting list of students.

Recently stepping up to meet a need was Wendy Lopez, Saddleback’s Medical Clinic Coordinator. After helping organize last year’s Thanksgiving Dinner, she noticed that a large percentage of the 60 people attending were single. For this year’s event, she suggested that the PEACE Center collaborate with the Singles Ministry.

“We started praying for 300 people to show up for the gathering,” says Wendy. “God exceeded that number, with 128 volunteers and over 300 people coming together in Tent 3. The Food Pantry donated so many goodies so that all the families could take food home.”

Wendy says one woman openly shared that the meal provided for her two daughters who would have otherwise gone without food that night. Another woman admitted that she has been feeling so alone and had finally found a family with whom she could connect.

“It’s about connecting people and plugging them into ministries, small groups, the PEACE Center, Saddleback Kids, and more,” Wendy adds.

The PEACE Center is not just about handing out food or helping those in need, however. It’s about bringing them into the church and into God’s family. The vision is to give a hand up, not a hand out, and this can only happen by building relationships.

“These are relationship salvations,” says Pastor Tommy. “We really encourage our members to come and serve this season—stock shelves, pray for people, come with your family or small group. There’s something for everyone to contribute.”

Through this powerful program, over 2,000 people have accepted Christ over the last three years. This month, on one day alone, five people came to know God through the PEACE Center.

Moving from food distribution to healthcare, the PEACE Center has ramped up its medical facilities in recent months by connecting with local hospitals and treating patients in need. Serving 9,000 people a year, the Medical Center will be expanding to four days a week, with referrals to Saddleback’s Counseling Ministry and the Daniel Plan. Recently they added a patient waiting room, and expanded to six treatment rooms. Last month, they opened a Mobile Dental Clinic. Functioning three days a week, the Dental Clinic will be visiting other PEACE Centers to reach an even greater area of Orange County.

As Hanna Shin, Nurse Clinic Manager explains, “Our patient satisfaction report is overwhelmingly high. People feel cared for because we pray with them.”

Additionally, since the Citizenship Class was started last year, close to 100 people have gone through the course.

“We are helping people move forward,” says Stacey Woodhart, Community Resource Manager. “Our goal is to help them progress from whatever state they are in, to a place of being self sufficient. The PEACE Center truly is the front door to the church.”

Thanks to the team of Resource Coaches, thousands of people have received the help they need through PEACE Center ministries and government programs. The number of lives changed through the PEACE Center is staggering:

Medical Clinic appts:19,299

Dental Clinic- just launched in November 2016

Legal Aid appointments: 3,645

ESL Students: 5,476

Food Pantry individuals served: 233,938

Cancer Detection Program: 179

Computer Skills Classes: 72

Homework Club: 3,906

One-on-One Tutoring: 993

Citizenship Students: 86 with 7 becoming US Citizens

First Aid/CPR Students: 862

Public Health Nurse Visits: 1,234

Resource Coach appointments: 1,806

Insurance Application Assistance: 3,301

Total Recommitments: 701

Total Salvations: 2,153

During this holiday season, more people are turning to the PEACE Center to find hope for the New Year. As Teaching Pastor Tom Holladay explains, “There is something about December, where people are facing the hurt of not having enough. They need hope, encouragement, peace, and God’s love. We want to focus our hearts on every person walking into the PEACE Centers. We are so grateful that we have the resources to help those who are hurting, and have a message to share that is far above and beyond what we could ever imagine.”

To be part of the mission to meet our Daring Faith goal to assist people in need, contact, foodpantry@saddleback.com.