His Plan

When the City Rescue Mission purchased the former Maplewood Elementary School, the walls were still covered with the hand prints of the last classes to attend the school. Some of the students included sad messages at the thought of the building being closed. Those hand prints and messages are now at rest behind fresh drywall, as the Mission "rescued" the building for a new purpose.

 

For nearly 100 years, the building had served as a place of education and learning for children, including one special little boy who became the president of the Mission board and served for four decades in that capacity. When that door closed, a new one opened as the building was transformed from a school into a safe haven for women and mothers with children. Today, rooms where classes were once held now provide a safe night's rest.

 

Sometimes, in our own lives and the lives of those we serve, we see a door close. An opportunity has unexpectedly ended. However, God has a purpose and a plan for those who follow Him. We might not understand the "why" or see the "how," but He who has promised is faithful. Surely, the teachers and students wondered what would happen to the old building when the school district no longer needed it, but God knew what was coming. Since the building was re-opened for use by the Mission in 2010, thousands of women and children have found protection and peace within its walls. We, too, can rest in the knowledge that we are not forgotten; He is working for us and through us.

 

 "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:11-13