As many Northwest Adventist readers may know, Seniors in Action for God with Excellence began in Washington Conference in 1994. Since then, SAGE has gone on 26 international mission trips in 15 countries. They've helped with countless building projects, renovation projects and outreach projects in the Pacific Northwest and throughout North America.
During much of this time, SAGE projects were under the leadership of Bob Grady, who recruited a team of able senior citizen volunteers to lead and assist in projects. One of the early couples active in SAGE projects was Schuler and Esther Luce.
Schuler was a builder who spent much of his life in the Sequim, Washington, area. Although he passed away nearly 20 years ago, the ripple effect of his participation in SAGE still resonates with his children and grandchildren.
Two of Schuler’s sons, Rick and Dan Luce, as well as Dan’s son Brad, recently said that their memories of their father and grandfather being part of SAGE have inspired them to carry on his legacy of working with SAGE to help others. Rick, SAGE board member, said his father’s participation in SAGE changed his father’s life in positive ways. It inspired Rick to be involved in volunteer projects too, which has had a significant positive impact on his life as well.
A couple of months ago, Steve Huey, North Pacific Union Native ministries director, contacted SAGE to see if they could help reroof a church parsonage in Queets, Washington, on the Quinault Indian Reservation.
There is a church building and a parsonage next door that the Adventist church was able to lease from the tribe at a very attractive rate about 20 years ago. For a number of years, a small group of church members worshiped there. However, in recent years, there has not been a pastor to serve the group, and several of the church members have passed away. There has been a desire to recruit a new lay pastor to build up the congregation, but first, the parsonage needed repairs.
About 15 years ago, SAGE helped paint and repair the buildings, but with the heavy winter rains in the area, the roof on the parsonage needed significant repair.
Usually, SAGE needs to schedule projects at least six months in advance to have time to get the word out and recruit volunteers. However, with the fall and winter rain coming, there was an urgent need to do the repairs sooner rather than later.
Larry Moody, SAGE board member and retired engineer who leads many of SAGE’s building teams, was not able to participate in this project, but he remembered that Rick Luce was a professional builder who specialized in roofs. When Rick was contacted, he said he's no longer active in roofing after a serious fall a few years ago. However, he said he would contact Brad, his brother Dan’s son, who is now a professional roofer.
When contacted, both Brad and Dan, who is also a professional roofer, said they would be glad to help, but they would only be available the second week in October.
Ivan Cowles, who happened to know the Luces growing up on the peninsula, lived in Forks, Washington, all his life. Forks is about an hour north of Queets and Ivan has worked with the church in Queets often through the years. He said he would be glad to help, and he was available that week as well.
Rick Serns, SAGE director, was also available that week, bringing the crew up to four. Brad and Dan were professional roofers with all the necessary tools, experience and knowledge to do the project efficiently and correctly. It was estimated that the job would take between three and five days to complete.
From Oct. 13–17, 2025, in Queets, which is just a few miles south of the Olympic rain forest, there was perfect weather all week with no rain. This proved essential because when the old shingles were removed, the team quickly discovered that most of the plywood sheeting underneath needed to be replaced. This significantly impacted the time and effort needed to finish the job.
A further problem was that approximately 40 85-pound bundles of shingles needed to be carried to the top of a rather high and steep roof by hand, unless they could find a lift in the area they could use or rent.
The village members watching the project were supportive and said there was a crew installing fiber optic cables in the village that might be able to help.
When this crew was contacted, they had a bucket truck, which extends very high and articulates in every direction, like those used for repairing power lines. They said, “We can’t let you use the equipment, but we can do it for you.” They came over and lifted all the bundles of shingles onto the roof in about 30 minutes.
Through these many answered prayers and the skill and knowledge of the Luces and the volunteers who helped, the entire project, with a high-quality roof, was completed by the end of the day on Friday. On Sunday, the area got more than an inch of rain!
Please pray now that the church will be able to quickly find a lay pastor to serve this wonderful community and build up membership and attendance once again.
