UPPC has partnered with REACH Ministries for over 25 years. REACH works with HIV-positive children, families, and adults throughout the Pacific Northwest to help them flourish with dignity and self-worth in the face of persistent rejection and isolation. 

REACH is a judgment-free zone where people can walk in and feel at home, just as they are. One of the young adults has enjoyed the community at REACH for 25 years. This year at the annual summer camp when asked how his year had been, he paused a moment as if deciding whether he wanted to “go there.” Then tears welled up in his eyes and he admitted the last two years had been the most difficult of his life. He shared some reasons why, and his burdens had truly been heavy. REACH has been his “happy place,” where he finds energy and friendship, excitement and joy, and we were grateful to continue supporting him. In moments like this REACH staff sees the fruit of committing to walk alongside people for the long haul. When needs arise, they are in ongoing relationship with REACH individuals and are able to respond.

Your giving to the UPPC Ministry Fund enables REACH to connect with and support these special families, sharing the love of Jesus in a broken and hurting world. Here is a message to UPPC from REACH Ministries: 
This UPPC grant is an incredible gift! Thank you! Your grant will provide year-round acceptance and safe community through all our programs to six HIV-positive teens or adults who struggle daily with rejection and isolation. Can you imagine the exhilaration of letting your guard down and being wholeheartedly embraced for who you are by an entire community who truly understand you? UPPC’s investment in REACH is transformative.
 
Thank you for loving REACH and the hundreds God brings into communion
with us.

Starting over isn’t easy, but I highly recommend it.

I returned home to Fircrest in 2018, after over 12 years as a military wife, with a broken spirit and enough grit to pick up the pieces and move forward. I’m not a Washington native. I was born over 2700 miles away, but UPPC is where I still had a community after moving around the country, and where I felt I had my best chance at “success” in life post-divorce.  

As a newly-single mother, everything in my spreadsheet-loving mind said, “You can’t afford to give!” But after the miracle that brought me back home, I couldn’t afford not to. I made a point to give even when it hurt, because I knew that God could use my giving in ways I couldn’t yet understand. 

Fast forward to Commitment Sunday Sunday 2019. It was a chilly day in November and I came to church that day with a number in mind. I stood up, walked part way down the aisle, and turned around. I sat down, struck through my number, wrote a larger one, and raced to place the card in the box before I changed my mind. In tears, I returned to my pew and tried to figure out how I was going to rationalize LYING to God and my church on this card. 

At work I moved into a new role and COVID hit soon after. I was working and managing two kiddos at home, but suddenly – life got a lot less expensive (albeit a lot more crazy). I was able to redirect spending and fulfill the “ridiculous” pledge I had made. I increased it the next year and the next in accordance with my salary increases.

Author John H. Putnam wrote, “The world tries to tell us that success and security are found in having what we want... But we’ve learned that the greatest success is wanting what God provides.” That has been the most difficult and fulfilling lesson of my life. I don’t know what God has for me next, but I will welcome it more graciously and hopefully than I have at any other time in my life.