wow - i pull into the mission parking lot and what do i see -- a stretch hummer -- sinken' cool - never have i ever seen the inside of one until today!
why would one be at the mission. . . well. . . today is a very special day here at good ol crm. . . one of our own, clifton, is getting married!
cliff came to the mission last spring -- he had spent some time using and abusing and desired to be different. he joined our true life recovery program -- shortly after joining, cliff broke and fell before God -- he was a new creation - inside and out!
about 6 months ago, cliff had been worshipping at the local jewish synago when he met a lovely lady -- i can't remember her name - but she is a missionary who was on forlough -- they began to connect and soon they desired to be married -- but cliff had made a committment to finish the program here at the mission -- he honored that and has since got a good job and has been very involved in his church.
i have had the pleasure of having some real converasations with cliff -- he is a man of God with no doubt -- i once came in on a sunday night to do laundry and as i walked up to the front desk, i heard cliff yelling and crying -- the closer i got, i realized he was praying. no let me restate that - he was crying out on the behalf of another guy in the program. john's mom was missing and his grandmother was dying -- john was struggling - but his brother, cliff, carried the burdens -- carried them right to the throne room of God. i was humbled that night -- i stood quietly along the side of the wall - just agreeing with him and amazed at his passion and heart for intercession.
in my 4 years here - i have seen many guys come and go in our program - some leave pre-maturaly - some leave and fall back into the pattern of behavior which led them here to start with - and some. . . and some. . . and some like cliff, joe, mike, mike, rob, bob, john, danny. . . and the list goes on. . . surrendar all and truely meet Jesus and are changed forever. that's what makes my long hours, low pay, stressful job here all worth it -- it's not about what we as people are doing or how much the mission has in our bank account -- it's so about God's will, God's purpose, God grabbing folks and loving them to change. We just have the unbelievable pleasure and honor of seeing it daily.
Thank you Father for choicing me to serve you here at the Mission -- i am not worthy to see you move - but i do -- for that my heart crys "HOLY, HOLY, is the Lord God Almighty!"
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I've heard you refer to the "Mission" several times, but what exactly IS it?
well . . . it's my paid employment. but more specifically, The City Rescue Mission is the name -- i just refer to it as the 'mission' for short -- but we are a local rescue mission - we have 4 primary ministry dept. - 1. true life men's ministry (men's shelter/recovery program), covenant house (women and families shelter), family care (food bank and a bit more), sankey center ( an after school educational and recreational program for primarly the kids of the projects of new castle) - we are a non-profit ministry that does social servicy type stuff - we like to say, we feed the hungry, house the homeless, and to all that to share the gospel of Christ!
I am the volunteer associate - yes, i am paid - my title is a bit misleading - i recruit and work with volunteers in many ways - i connect folks to the mission through volunteer experiences, and i assist with the public/community relations stuff - i help write press releases and so on - i'm also one of the folks who speak at churches, groups, and such about the mission - my job title and description varys day to day
but i love it - 4 yrs. and 2 months - but who's counting?!!
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