Most days before or after work, Patrick Phipps heads to Global Impact Life Enrichment Services (GILES), a center of influence that serves a South Asian neighborhood in Queens Village, New York City. If you saw Patrick, an electrical technician from Jamaica, you wouldn’t guess he is the founder and director of this center. You might find him sweeping floors or remodeling one of the rooms.
Michelle Babb, a phlebotomist who volunteers as the center’s business manager, also comes after work to meet the people and keep the center running smoothly.
Why would an electrical technician and a phlebotomist, who both work full-time, run a life enrichment center for a community whose belief systems are vastly different from their own?
Even Patrick’s Adventist church members ask him why he doesn’t serve his own community instead. After all, there is a large Jamaican neighborhood just a few blocks away.
Clients of the community center are curious too. “They ask, ‘Why do you want to help us? Why don’t you help your own people?’ ” Michelle reports.
“We’re here because there’s a need,” Patrick explains quietly.
This is an unreached neighborhood, filled with people groups who haven’t yet encountered Jesus’ love. It’s also a tight community where people have a deep commitment to the beliefs of their families and ancestors.
Creating a bridge
Patrick had worked with his Seventh-day Adventist church to try to serve this community, but no community members would come to their church building for programs. Searching for a solution, Patrick decided to organize a health fair at a local park. If the community wouldn’t come to the church, perhaps they would come to the park. He was right. The community came out in droves, appreciating the free health screenings and information. It was a success, but what next? A one-time event wasn’t enough to connect with the community and meet their needs.
Patrick, Michelle, and a few others knew they needed a neutral place where the community could come regularly. In November 2018 they pooled their money, rented a small building in a residential neighborhood, and started offering after-school tutoring and child care, English language classes, and preparation classes for getting a driver’s license, a high school diploma equivalent, citizenship, and more.
For a community comprised mostly of recent immigrants, GILES is just what they need. They come initially because this center meets their needs, but they keep coming because they are treated with dignity and respect.
GILES is open on Sabbath and hosts discussions designed to stimulate dialogue on spiritual topics. They bring in speakers who share health topics that introduce the principles of God’s kingdom. A naturopathic doctor who presents a lecture one Sabbath a month always highlights the spiritual principles within the laws of health. A psychologist also comes regularly to lecture on mental health.
GILES also organizes a monthlong summer day camp to help children prepare for the next school year and provide a fun, safe place for them to come while their parents work. They’ve had as many as 70 to 80 elementary school-age children attend this annual event. Starting with devotions, which consist solely of character-building instruction—parents from different religious backgrounds will sit in on the first few days to make sure it is only character-building instruction—they fill the day with tutoring to prepare the children for the next school grade, crafts and games, a visit from the local fire department, and trips to historical places and museums. One year they wrapped up summer camp with a trip to a water park. And there’s always graduation, with invitations extended to community officials.
This is all carried out with no outside financial support. During the past two years they’ve started charging a small fee per week for the summer day camp and for the after-school program, which is used to give the community volunteers a stipend. But to cover the rent for the building and other expenses, Patrick and Michelle dig deep and give silently and sacrificially. What motivates them? Again, Patrick’s answer echoes, “There’s a need.”
A community resident receives fresh produce from a GILES team member.
Measurable outcome
What is the outcome from this delicate and demanding work? In a word: relationships. And relationships are at the heart of growth in God’s kingdom.
GILES began as an educational and support center with a mission, and it has grown into a community hub. Local groups, such as a group of Pakistani women against violence, have used the center for meetings. Adventist schoolteachers who are off work for the summer, and teens looking for something to do, volunteer at the summer camp. Local politicians also show up at the summer camp graduation and other events, taking advantage of the opportunity to mingle with their constituents. Neighborhood mosques send their members to the center, knowing they will find assistance and solutions that respect their culture and religious beliefs.
Because of the trust that has developed between the GILES team and the community, team members are welcome to visit families in their homes and pray with them. God is honoring their prayers with miraculous answers.
“After we pray for them,” Michelle says, “they always come back with testimonies of answered prayer.”
One day the neighbor who lived across the street came to the center. “I’ve been given an order of deportation,” he said, visibly stressed as he described his immigration issues. “Is there anything you can do to help me?”
Patrick and other volunteers prayed with him. “We don’t understand what happened,” Patrick said, “but soon after, he got his green card in the mail,” which, of course, solved the entire dilemma.
In a heart-wrenching situation, a mother was detained in Canada because of immigration issues, separating her from her young daughter in New York. A family member came to the center to ask for help on her behalf. Patrick and other volunteers prayed for the family, and miraculously, two days later the mother arrived in New York.
“But the greatest miracle is the fact that God has been using us to be a light in this community,” Patrick said. “Because of the nature of the cultures we serve, we can’t share all the stories, but God is changing people’s lives because of the loving and caring relationships we’ve forged with families and individuals.”
Patrick and Michelle would like to expand their services, especially with the recent massive influx of immigrants to New York City, and find more time to visit and pray with families in their homes. But for now they are content to give what they are able, meet what needs they can, keep sharing the light, and rely on God to supply the rest.
To learn more about Global Impact Life Enrichment Services, visit www.gloimpact.org.