City Rescue Mission Fights Hunger

On Friday, October 28, 2011, the Lansing State Journal ran an article about the food bank consolidation for our area. It is always a good thing to see "overlapping" agencies work together to ensure efficiency and the best service possible for those in need. This move to "streamline efforts" and "eliminate confusion" just shows again the dedication of these agencies to meet needs.

However, the Mission does not participate with these agencies. And while we recognize the very obvious need for these agencies, we want to ensure that our supporters are not confused that donations to either or these organizations will help alleviate the burden we currently face.

As reported in the article, these "two food banks came on the scene in the early 1980s." The Mission, as many of you know, is now celebrating 100 years of service in Lansing and has served meals to the public since we first opened a "soup kitchen" in January of 1930. This year, we will serve a record number of meals (estimating over 112,000 at current trends) to homeless and low income men, women, and children. Food shortages have affected our ability to provide emergency boxes of food from our independent food pantry and may cause us to re-evaluate our current meal policy (serving meals seven days a week to the public).

Again, it is not our wish to detract at all from support for the food bank or its tireless efforts on behalf of those in need. Our wish is only one of clarification for those of you who have been, as the article said, confused by the two concurrent local food banks and who are unsure as to the Mission's possible connection to either of these agencies.

We operate independently; after an evaluation of the services we offer and the needs we have, we found it was not advantageous to participate. If you have questions about our position or perhaps would like more information on how to help "pack the pantry" and provide meals to thousands of men, women, and children in need, please email info@lcrm.org.

"A Shelter in the Time of Storm"

Sadly, the word "shelter" has a negative connotation to some people. Actually, a shelter is a good thing, referring to a refuge, a harbor, a place of safety. At the City Rescue Mission, our goal is to offer true "shelter," a haven or refuge. More than just a place to sleep, we offer a clean, safe environment for our guests.

Recently, at our centennial celebration, we were able to have an open house for supporters to see how their donations make a difference in the lives of our guests. One of the tour groups included a guest at the women and children's shelter. She had brought her mother, so she could see the facility and know that her daughter was in a safe place.

What a blessing, not only to be able to offer refuge to this young woman but also to be able to provide her mother a measure of peace. Thank you for "being a rescuer." Your generosity and compassion makes it possible for the Mission to continue to make a difference in the lives of men, women, and children in need.

"I met God at the Mission..."

At our recent staff breakfast, one of our staff men was telling that he had recently "run into" a former guest of the men's shelter. This guest had been a drug addict for many years, but when the staff member saw him, he hardly recognized him. He wouldn't have stopped but "John" (former guest) stopped him.

"I'm trying to keep away from the old lifestyle and the old friends," John told him. "I met God at the Mission," he continued. Though he was suffering from health issues as a result of his former choices, John was so grateful for the change in his life because of the Mission and the Message that he heard there.

Our guests, especially at the men's shelter, are "transient," meaning a person who stays only a brief time. They come and go, and while we are grateful for even limited opportunities to present to them the gospel, often times they don't return to tell us of the impact on their life (similar to Luke 17:11-19).

What a blessing when two ways meet again, and we can hear from men, like John, who were trapped in a lifestyle of sin and slavery and are now free. Because of you and your faithfulness to the Mission. Thank you for helping us help others. Thank you for being a rescuer!

"The victims of sin..."

I should be working on the video for the upcoming centennial... Instead I keep thinking of the words of Leon Kellogg. The video will actually be a recreation of a presentation done by Leon sometime in 1980. It really is fascinating to hear (although we don't know the exact "slides" that went along with his presentation) and discern what is the same and what is different in the ministry of rescue.

Without giving too much away, I can say that they were "lodging" about 24 men a night (no women and children's shelter then) and serving 55 meals a day. Compare that to the average from last month, July 2011, of sheltering 56 men and 84 women and children a night (for 140 people a day) and serving 334 meals a day.

What does remain the same is our goal of sharing the truth of Christ to those in need. One phrase that sticks in my memory is when Leon referred to the then-guests of the Mission, as "victims of sin." We recognize that today, especially with our current economy, circumstances play an increasing role in homelessness. However, there are still those whose choices bring them to a state where they have nowhere else to turn but the Mission. At the time Leon gave his presentation, over thirty years ago, the stereotype of homelessness was stronger than today, and the attitude was very often "they deserve to be where they are," or "why don't they just get a job."

Leon didn't offer criticisms; he offered compassion. He saw, with the eyes of Christ "the multitudes, [and] He was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd" (Matthew 9:36). A lesson in compassion and humility from a man who gave many decades of his life in service of the Mission and these "victims of sin," not only those who are led away by their own desires but also those who truly are the victims of the sins of others.

Thank you for your support of the Mission and our efforts to meet the physical and spiritual needs of men, women, and children in Michigan's capital area. Thank you for being a rescuer!

Flexibility and Focus

Looking over the 100 year history of the Mission, there is one thing we've "always done": preaching the gospel. The many other services we've incorporated over the years--feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the needy--are results of our mission rather than the whole of it. There are other services, too, that have come and gone, depending on ability and need. And we are grateful that we can stay true to our core purpose of preaching the gospel while being flexible enough to adjust through the years.

Recently, an article in the paper featured a local agency's backpack giveaway and mentioned that this is a service no longer provided by the Mission. What they failed to explain was that the number of men, women, and children we are sheltering has more than doubled in the past few months. The need for food has also increased. As a result, we've utilized that flexibility to adjust the "results" of our mission, while holding fast to our original purpose. Instead of providing a child a backpack, we are providing a roof over his head, food for him and his family, a safe place to go during the day, a shower and the things necessary for cleanliness and health, and a measure of stability in a world that can seem increasingly hostile to a child unsettled due to poverty and homelessness.

Last night, there were 6 more men staying at the men's shelter than we had beds. They slept on mattresses on the floor of the chapel. There were 106 single women, mothers, and children at the women and children's shelter. One hundred and seventy two people, not counting men in our Life Transformation Program, were under our care and received help not only for their physical needs but also for their spiritual ones. This is an amazing opportunity, as each person represents a life, a living soul, that is being impacted by those who choose to support the City Rescue Mission. People who choose to "be a rescuer."

Rather than focusing on all the "could haves" and "what ifs," let us take some time to be grateful for what we do have. Times are difficult, for those we shelter and for the Mission, as funds are stretched more than at any time in our past. Friends, fellow rescuers, do not grow weary in well doing! You are making a difference. Thank you for your compassion and for helping us help others!

From Where I Sit...

This morning was our monthly staff meeting, and I felt somewhat "out of joint." Maybe it's working on the "centennial book" that has me feeling rather sentimental. Or the rather gray overcast that's been hovering over Michigan's capital city these past few days. Whatever the reason, I sat back in the corner, sunk into my folding chair, and smiled, somewhat benevolently, on the chatter going on around me. Sherri, shelter manager, was sharing information with Tiffany, our women and children's shelter director. Gina, administrative assistant, was chatting with Amanda, one of our intake coordinators. Dave, a coordinator at the men's shelter, was smiling and sharing a joke with Mike, our Biblical counselor. Tabby was talking animatedly to Abby (yes, Tabby to Abby). To the side, Mark, our executive director was speaking with Russ, our former director of volunteers, who's about to embark on a new ministry in Nicaragua. All around was talk and smiles, and the chairs in the classroom had filled well before the 8 a.m. meeting was scheduled to start.

It was our monthly staff meeting. A chance to share not only our concerns and prayer requests but also to reconnect as a group of people united for the single purpose of "rescuing" men, women, and children in need.

For just a few moments, I was out of time and place, as I looked at the gathering around me and compared it to 100 years ago, when the Mission was just born. Today, there were roughly forty pairs of hands clasped in prayer. That day so long ago, there were two. For some reason, I can picture them very clearly. Thomas was about forty seven, just recently saved, Emily only a year or so younger, had been praying for her his salvation for a decade. Everything was all so new. And they were not, by any means, wealthy people, with the goal of sharing their wealth with those in need. They were people who had very little, but what they did have, they gave. From such humble roots, the Mission has grown to serve hundreds of men, women, and children every day.

Sometimes, we'll get letters from donors, who lament that they have not more to give. Who apologize for not being able to give more. The very fact that they give anything at all, whether it be money, food, or prayers, is a blessing; it is all needed. Every gift, no matter how "humble" in the eyes of the giver, makes a difference, just as it did that first day nearly 100 years ago.

Thank you for your compassion and faithfulness. Thank you for being a rescuer.

The "Mission" of our Mission

At a recent staff meeting, our executive director stressed something important: that we, as Mission employees, are not doing a "job" or even meeting the "physical" needs of people. Our purpose is to serve souls. Souls in need of rescue. And this has been the purpose of the Mission for its entire 100 year history.

As we've often said, the easy answer to the "problem" of homelessness would be to put people in an apartment, turn the key, and let them continue in the problems that caused their homelessness in the first place. Social ills, addiction, loneliness, anger, lack of job skills, mental issues, all still existent. However, the person is no longer "homeless" and, therefore, homelessness is over.

But we were created for something more than just to exist or to struggle along as best we know how. God has in mind for us something better. Something greater. But far too often we settle for "good enough." It's easier.

So we ask for your prayer for Mission staff and the volunteers who work alongside of us. It's never easy and it isn't even always "rewarding." After all, we're not "rescuing" used furniture that simply needs some sanding and a new coat of paint to make it serviceable. We're rescuing souls.