In February of 2014, one of our longest serving staff members retired from the Mission. Robert had served faithfully for many years as security, and he had seen many people come and go through the doors of the Mission. He had seen triumphs and tragedies. When we talked with him shortly after he retired, he shared some of the stories of people he had known. People who were forgotten by almost everyone else, people who were friendless, homeless, poor, and alone... He also told stories about former volunteers, staff, and supporters, most of whom had since gone on to glory. All of their stories now belonged to the past...and, in a way, to the Mission. As Robert set down his mantle of service, he too became a part of the legacy of the Mission, a legacy that spans more than a century.
Recently, I was reviewing old video footage, old in the way "standard definition" has now become old. I began to see faces on the screen, faces of people who were guests or who had volunteered. Some of the faces belonged to people who still come to the Mission. People who serve meals or give donations. People who occasionally come for a meal or for a bed. But some of those faces belonged to people who are now only memories. Volunteers who are no longer able to serve for whatever reason. Guests who drifted out of the Mission the way they had drifted in. Some of those guests and supporters alike had passed on...
It is amazing to recount the changes to the Mission just in the decade I have now been serving here. To see and talk about volunteers, guests, and staff, and to know that there are people I work with today, who don't know those volunteers, guests, or staff. Because, truthfully, the Mission is a building of bricks and mortar, but the heartbeat of the ministry is the people who come through its doors: people who serve and people who are served.
Thousands of people and thousands of stories, and all of them with one shared truth, one commonality: God brought them to the Mission. I believe and every day become more convinced that God has a purpose and a plan for my life and for yours. We all get to play our part, whether we are giving or receiving that cup in His name. So come through the doors...and be blessed.
"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brethren to dwell together in unity..." Psalm 133:1
