InterVarsity Alumni: Frances Thompson-Gee
Frances Thompson-Gee likes to see God at work changing people’s lives. She saw God at work on campus as an InterVarsity student at Drew University, and later as an InterVarsity staff worker in the New York area. And now she’s seeing God at work through Mid-Hudson Love INC (Love In The Name of Christ), where she is the executive director.
“Love INC is what I would call a grass roots ministry,” she said. “It is hands-on. When somebody says ‘I slept on a bed for the first time in a year’ there’s a direct benefit.”
Love INC is a national organization with 140 affiliates in 30 states, helping churches work together to meet needs in their local communities. In Poughkeepsie, New York, where Frances works, 13 area churches are networked through Love INC.
Putting her training to work
As a student at Drew, Frances participated in as many of the training opportunities available through InterVarsity as possible. She also spent one summer on a short-term mission in Guatemala, where she connected with her Hispanic heritage and developed a passion for urban ministry.
Out of all of the jobs she’s had since leaving InterVarsity, she says that her current job with Love INC has been the most personally fulfilling. Now as she works to mobilize local churches to meet the needs of residents in the Poughkeepsie area, she feels it’s a good fit for her administrative skills, supervisory experience, and teaching talents. “I believe the majority of those qualities have come out of a strong spiritual center, that was able to develop and grow through InterVarsity as a student, staff worker, area director, volunteer, and a parent of students still with InterVarsity.”
A city with lots of needs
The city of Poughkeepsie is the home of Vassar College. Frances keeps in contact with the local InterVarsity staff and the Vassar chapter. Easter dinner at the Thompson-Gee home, with her college-age children and her pastor husband, is one of the chapter’s annual traditions.
But Poughkeepsie also has a lot of poverty. Frances believes that Love INC, with its ability to network the resources of the local churches, can improve the quality of life for distressed local residents. And Love INC does it in the name of Jesus Christ. “It’s a great model,” she said. “The churches are working together to multiply their resources, to reach out to more people in the community.”
For Frances Thompson-Gee, there’s nothing better than seeing God changing the lives of more people in the community.