Mission Centers of Houston is honored to host a retirement party for Tommie and Roy Mendez, long-time director and assistant director at Joy Fellowship Center, in light of their 29 years of faithful service. “Tommie and Roy’s lives are a wonderful picture of what it looks like to be dedicated to something bigger than oneself,” current executive director, Ginger Smith, noted. The fact that they’ve been serving with Mission Centers of Houston for 29 years, she added, shows their deep commitment to God as well as to this ministry, reflecting the great love they have for this community.

Taking place on Saturday, June 15th, Tommie and Roy’s retirement celebration will be a come & go function from 10:30 am until noon at Joy Fellowship (7629 Avenue F, Houston, TX 77012). If other commitments make attendance impossible, cards, gifts and other expressions of well wishing can be sent to the attention of Tommie & Roy Mendez at 1815 Gano St, Houston, TX 77009.

“It has always been a joy to go to Joy,” commented long-time volunteer, summer house parent and personal friend, Glenda Riley. “Everything is always so straight and clean and organized yet Tommie is always so laid back and relaxed. I’ve never heard her order anyone around yet everything still gets done  — she’s truly a gentle shepherd.”  Glenda continued to reminisce about some of her favorite memories of the quiet, hard-working and deeply committed husband and wife duo in leadership at Joy Fellowship. “Roy is kind of quiet,” she shared with great warmth in her voice, “but when he’s your friend, he’s really your friend.”

Everyone who has known Tommie and Roy for a period of time shares a common appreciation for the invaluable amount of hours, hard work and relational depth the two have invested in the Magnolia Park community over the years. Ginger Smith clearly remembers her first impression of Tommie and Roy: “I’ll never forget how, when I first met Tommie, all of the kids who walked through the door at Joy and all of their moms as well knew Tommie by name — and she knew all of them by name! Even when volunteer service was extremely limited and there were over 60 kids in the gym, you could walk into the room and everyone would be paying attention during the teaching times because they knew Tommie was so invested in their lives and they respected her so much.”

Tommie and Roy’s leadership and service have not only affected the neighborhood and community members they’ve interacted with over the years but they’ve also left a deep impression on all Mission Centers of Houston staff members, past and present. “I was only 24 when I first arrived here as a semester missionary intern,” said Haley Jones, assistant director at Gano Center, “so I was pretty young. Seeing all of the hard work and relationships that Tommie and Roy had developed for so long helped me to understand that ministry is not just for young, single people. Their diligence in serving God through their work in the inner city really gave me a good exposure of what it means to be faithful to something for a long time.”

We are so grateful for the innumerable ways Tommie and Roy Mendez have faithfully allowed God to move in and through them over the years as they’ve served with Mission Centers of Houston and we welcome your presence during their celebratory retirement event on June 15th.