One Little Blue Door Became the Symbol of God’s Resort. 20 Years Later, It Still Sticks.

JOPLIN, Mo. — One little blue house helped mark the beginning of what would become God's Resort. Two decades later, blue doors have become a symbol of the ministry and its mission to build hope and change generations.

God's Resort held its 20th anniversary banquet Thursday evening at Hope City Church, celebrating two decades of ministry with its "For God So Loved" banquet.

For 20 years, God's Resort has provided more than a place to live. Through Christ-centered transitional housing, supportive relationships and opportunities for personal and spiritual growth, the ministry helps people build a foundation for a more stable future.

Rob Robertson, co-founder of God's Resort, and Jay St. Clair, co-founder and executive director, helped establish the ministry and shape it into what it is today Looking back on 20 years of ministry, Robertson and St. Clair reflected on the moments that stand out most.

"Oh, my goodness. There's so many moments," Robertson said. "Probably when I took Jay out to the God's Resort area. At that time, it was referred to as the Last Resort."

Robertson said he brought St. Clair to the properties, which he and a business partner owned, after seeing people respond to a message of hope.

"I saw where people were responding to a good message and that there was a hunger and a desire, as well as a desperation, out there," Robertson said.

He asked St. Clair what he saw when he looked at the neighborhood.

"He got real quiet," Robertson said. "And I thought, 'Oh, my goodness, he thinks I'm a slumlord or something.' But it had always been my intention for the area to be clean, safe and affordable. We were just working really hard toward those ends."

St. Clair then asked Robertson what he saw.

"I said, 'I see desperation, but people are hungry,'" Robertson said.

Robertson offered St. Clair the use of apartments for the church to use for ministry, including addiction support groups.

"And that's when things really started snowballing," Robertson said.

For St. Clair, the moment the ministry received its new name remains one of the most significant memories.

"It was when God speaks to you and you know it's clear, and you know the day and the hour and the moment when He said, 'This is not the Last Resort anymore. This is God's Resort,'" St. Clair said.

"That's the most amazing thing that can happen, I think, to anybody — to take a whole neighborhood and see generations change," he said. "Today, we're still building hope and changing generations."

The Future of God's Resort

During the anniversary banquet, God's Resort also presented its two million dollar "Building Hope, Changing Generations" campaign.

The campaign will raise funds for a new 9,000-square-foot center, which will serve youth and accommodate larger gatherings. Plans also include two new five-plex apartment buildings, adding 10 homes to the ministry.

So far, $250,000 has been raised toward the campaign's goal.

"We're raising $1.75 million tonight," St. Clair said.

The planned 9,000-square-foot facility, called the Connection Center, is intended to help God's Resort expand its services.

"We've outgrown our little community center at 15th and Pearl," St. Clair said. "So we're going to expand the way we see our vision expanding and helping more people. We have to have a facility that fits that vision, and that's what this does."

The center would allow God's Resort to host larger events and provide additional programming.

"It allows us to have large group events, allows us to have children's sports and educational things," St. Clair said. "It just expands us completely."

The campaign also includes plans to add 10 more homes.

"It's going to allow us to have more blue doors for people to come in and find their home and their help and their healing," St. Clair said. "Ten more homes. That's what we're asking."

Robertson reflected on how far the ministry has come from its humble beginnings.

"Don't despise the days of humble beginnings," Robertson said. "From where it all started, from that one little blue house"

The Little Blue House

That first little blue house became an important part of God's Resort's history.

"The building that Rob let us have, the little blue house, was our community house before we got the little community center down the street," St. Clair said. "It's where everything happened."

As the ministry expanded, the house eventually had to be removed. A five-plex was built in its place, but the ministry found a way to preserve the memory of the house.

"We decided to memorialize that blue house," St. Clair said. "We're making all of our doors blue."

Twenty years later, the tradition remains.

"Forty-five homes with blue doors."

Building Hope, Changing Generations

For Robertson, the ministry's work has always been about offering hope to people who may have lost it.

"There were so many people out there in the neighborhood that I'm not so sure they had hope," Robertson said. "And hope was offered, and people responded."

One memory in particular has stayed with him.

Robertson recalled a woman standing on her front stoop while he was outside picking up trash in the neighborhood.

"I was pushing a shopping cart because this is a neighborhood where shopping carts used to appear, and there's plenty of trash," Robertson said. "I was throwing the trash in the shopping cart, and my hair had gotten long. I hadn't shaved in days. I was just out there every day working."

The woman looked at him and said, "Rob, you look like one of us. You belong here."

Robertson said the words had a profound impact on him.

"That was a message from God through this struggling meth addict," he said. "I went home and I prayed and said, 'If this is where You want me to be, I'm going to keep showing up, but You better be with me, because I don't know what I'm doing.'"

"So hope was offered to me through her, and it's life-changing for so many people, including myself," Robertson said.

For St. Clair, the work of God's Resort is ultimately about giving people an opportunity to see a different future.

"It means more people having the opportunity to find out who they really are versus living in brokenness with no hope," St. Clair said.

"To build hope, to actually watch it happen, and to know that it's a forever impact — it's not just a moment in time. It's forever," he said. "And you can't beat that. You can't. That's the best job there is."