Walking Where the Pain Is

In Clarkston, WA, Pastor Jeff Pernsteiner leads Confluence Community Church with a passion rooted in both deep faith and deep compassion. “We started this church in my parents’ living room in 2008,” Jeff recalls. What began as a small gathering has grown into a powerful community movement—one focused on walking alongside the most vulnerable.

“This is a passion of ours,” Jeff says, referring to their work with individuals and families battling homelessness and addiction. This mission isn't peripheral; it’s central to who they are as a church.

“Hell is being unleashed in our world and Jesus dropped His church on where hell is being unleashed.

And so for us in how we are engaging in this, that’s very much the heart of what we do and what we understand to be the parable of the good Samaritan—Jesus explained what love looks like as you help people that are bleeding in ditches.”

That understanding drives every ministry initiative at Confluence. From Sunday services to street outreach, Jeff and his team are showing up in places many would avoid. One of their impactful programs is the kid’s lunch club, held every other Sunday. Volunteers take a van and pick up children living in incredibly difficult circumstances—addiction, abuse, violence, poverty.

“We feed them a meal, share Jesus with them, break out a bouncy house, and have a great time.”

Jeff has also been leading a youth group for several years. What started as a typical gathering of teens became a lifeline for young people growing up in some of the most traumatic environments. “We met all these kids that are coming out of just some of the worst, most difficult circumstances, and so we started a program for them. As they got older, we aged with them and we committed to stay in their lives until about 20 years old and walk through life and hardships with them.”

That long-term commitment is what sets this ministry apart. It's built on relationships, trust, and perseverance—key elements when facing the complex realities of homelessness.

“It is far more pronounced than I had any picture of,” Jeff admits. “Homelessness is a spectrum. It’s not you are housed or you aren’t. Sometimes it looks like sleeping on a friend’s couch. I have found that the people we work with, their options are usually either sleeping on the streets or sleeping in a home that is not safe at all.”

He adds that the danger and dysfunction in many available homes—especially for youth—make the traditional view of homelessness incomplete. “There is a disconnect between safe and healthy homes and homelessness, but not between a meth house and homelessness. I’ve seen it more from the kid/teen perspective.” One story that sticks with Jeff is of a young girl who had nowhere safe to go.

“It took 6 months for one young girl to find a safe place to go, We could not find anything.”

“Homelessness is not something you just get over once you find a job… It’s such a complex thing. You can’t get homelessness dealt with in a weekend. And [UGM’s] model of ‘we’re going to walk with you for months, or years if necessary,’ I’m really impressed with that. I really think that’s the only viable way for most people to get out of it.”

Jeff is deeply aware of how invisible homelessness can be, especially in smaller communities. “See them or not, the homeless people are here. They are already in Lewiston, you just haven’t happened to see them, and I would wager that probably why you haven’t seen them is because homelessness is not what you think it is, by in large. Sometimes we don’t see the homeless because the meth dealer lets them sleep on their couch.”

That’s why he sees partnerships with ministries like Union Gospel Mission (UGM) as not only beneficial, but essential.

“And UGM is coming in with this, like, ‘Hey, we have a place that’s safe. It’s warm, nobody’s going to get hurt here. They’re going to be fed, and we’re going to invite them and walk alongside them and equip them to find a different path for themselves and for their family.’”

For Jeff, ministry is not just a calling—it’s a lifelong commitment. “I got my first ministry volunteer opportunity in 1989, I was in the seventh grade, and I’ve been serving Jesus ever since. This is the coolest thing I’ve ever done in my life.”

And he doesn’t hesitate to extend an invitation to others to dive in with the same depth of purpose: “If you throw in with UGM, like seriously throw in, not just show up every 6 months, but I mean if you really drop in with them, and become a part of these stories, your 80th, 90th year of your life, as you're wrapping your life up,

“You’ll look back and say one of the coolest things I ever did in my whole life,

I did at UGM. I’m 100% certain you’ll say that.”

Check out the video interview with Jeff Pernsteiner!

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