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eReceipts Now Available
Electronic receipts will come to those who request them as
soon as that system is in place. You may receive another paper receipt or two,
but hopefully no more than that. The receipt will contain the same information
as the paper receipt, but will represent a significant cost savings to the
Rescue Mission. Currently the cost of producing and mailing a paper receipt is
82 cents each. The cost of each e-Receipt is 10 cents. Our desire is to be the
best possible stewards of the resources God provides to us through you.
If you wish to begin receiving e-Receipts for your donations,
simply email the following information to
alan@prm.info.
- Account Number (a 3 or 4 digit number that can be found on
any of your PRM paper receipts)
- First Name, Last Name, Full Address
- Email address where the e-Receipt should be sent
If you wish to continue receiving paper receipts then you do
not need to do anything.
Please call 380.6909 if there are any questions.
Anniversary Appreciation Banquet
Liberty Baptist Church
Friday, November 5
Time & Theme to be Announced
The Anniversary Appreciation Banquet is always a time of great fellowship and
provides PRM an opportunity to share aspects of our outreach to the
disadvantaged.
Cover Article
“Mercy to Give and to Get"
How blessed we are to meet so many wonderful people that God
sends our way! If ours is a Mission of mercy (and I believe that it is), then I
feel free to apply to us the Words of Christ in Matthew 5, “Blessed are the
merciful...” On the surface it seems that those who extend mercy are giving a
blessing, and it may certainly be that they are. Yet when one looks a little
deeper, they discover a second truth, that the one extending mercy also is
receiving a blessing. It happens so very often here at the Rescue Mission.
Let me illustrate. I recently encountered a man in my office who is residing in
our shelter. Olive complexion, white hair, and thick accent characterized what
you could first see and hear. Beneath those externals was to be seen a golden
heart of gratitude. Here is how it happened: my new friend immigrated to the USA
from Africa in 1982. He came from a very poor country, and from a very poor
family in that country. He knew a level of poverty that no American can even
imagine!
With a good mind and the grace of God, he became an engineering student,
graduating from UCLA. The Lord further blessed him with a good job, a church
family, and later a wife. Sadly, the marriage failed, and my friend lost
everything. He came from California, where he was working and living, back to
Virginia, where he had begun his education at Old Dominion University. He has
begun the search for employment, but the job market is difficult just now, so he
finds himself a guest in our shelter.
He shared with me his grief at all the loss he experienced, and especially the
poor choices he made concerning marriage. He then began to beam as he described
how what he was enjoying in our shelter far exceeded his expectations of how
things might have been for him. “I imagined I would be living in my car, trying
to find places to stay clean, and looking for work from that environment.
Instead, I have a nice bed, a place to shower daily, your wonderful chapel, and
great meals. I am so blessed!” Our conversation continued, and my amazement at
his positive attitude grew.
Here is a man with a significant measure of success in his life, now staying in
a homeless shelter. Instead of feeling like a “loser” or complaining about his
surroundings, he is smiling and passing out compliments. “The first morning I
was here, and you and I had never met, God spoke through you in the chapel
message to a great need in my life. And again today, the words spoken there were
just what I needed to hear. I am so grateful!” I wanted to hug his neck and
express my gratitude to him for blessing me so much in the kindness of his
words.
And so you see, Mission Friend, while we may give blessings
to many through our ministry at the Mission, we also receive blessings from
many, as well. Our blessings are increased by your friendship and partnership in
the ministry here in so many ways. God bless us all as we seek together to bring
His blessings to the needy who come our way.
Superintendent's
Corner
"A Missed Opportunity"
My heart is broken this morning - I was unable to keep an
appointment. My calendar didn’t fail me, nor did my memory. I couldn’t keep the
appointment because the young man who was supposed to spend some more time with
me left the shelter last night. Perhaps I will see him again, somewhere -
sometime. Until then, I shall grieve a little (maybe a lot) for the missed
opportunity.
His name was Lee; he was so young - only 23! Slouchy in chapel, loud in the
breakfast line, mostly blowing smoke to cover up feelings of inadequacy, I
think. Our visit began well, and it seemed that he listened to the counsel I
offered. He even took a pocket-size New Testament and promised to read some. I
was pretty excited about the possibilities for visiting with Lee again on the
next day.
Raised by his mother, Lee said that an assortment of men had been in her life,
but none of them was ever a real father to him. Several things about Lee
confirmed the absence of a positive male role model. He dropped out of school
after his freshman year, bought a motorcycle and quickly lost his driver’s
license for speeding and reckless driving. He bounced around from place to place
and low-paying job to low-paying job. A string of tattoos up one arm, his shirt
half-buttoned, and his failure to sustain eye-contact all told a tale of an
insecure, misguided life - a life with poor prospects for the future.
I silently asked God to help me be a blessing to Lee, and not to come across as
his judge. “Lee, if you could draw your future, what would you want it to look
like?” His response went this way, “I’d like to have a decent job, a wife and
kids, and a nice little house with a place to hunt and fish.” Those seemed
reasonable goals, but Lee understood that his present path did not have that
dream at its end. We talked about his need for a relationship with the Lord, and
I gave him the NT to begin some reading, then we made the appointment for today.
O, how I wish he could have maintained his attitude from the morning until
curfew! What power sin has - without the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives,
none of us is able to live as we ought. Lee “caved in” to sinful tendencies and
behaved so badly that evening that he lost his bunk. There is no good future in
that kind of life for the young man.
What will happen to Lee? Will I see him again? Will his actions bring more
severe consequences than dismissal from a shelter? God alone knows. I know that
I certainly desire another chance to impact this young man’s life. I can’t
replace an absent father for all those years, but perhaps God will allow us
another opportunity to try and be of help in his life.
A Note From Alan
"Folks Who Stop By..."
The front door of the Rescue Mission is very popular. On
certain days there are well over 100 folks who pass through that always-open
door. Most of those folks would simply be residents coming and going during the
morning and evening hours. While the men are away during the daytime hours,
there are lots of other folks stopping by:
A man stops by to bring some corn from his garden.
A case worker stops by to talk to us about one of her
clients.
Ladies from Bayport Credit Union (across the street) come in
to offer their latest collection of donated items.
Faithful members of our Ladies Auxiliary come to spend some
time working in our clothing distribution center.
A donor shows up and writes us a check to sponsor a child to
Camp Open Arms.
This morning a man stopped by describing he had gotten stung
by a bee and wondered if we could get the stinger out of his arm. Wayne did the
best he could and fixed him up with some rubbing alcohol, some Q-tips, and some
bandages. (This is the strangest request we've had in a long time!! :)
This afternoon a young man came to the window and said
simply, “I've got no home to go to.” His words were surprisingly calm but so
very profound. He came through our door because he lacked one of life's most
basic needs – shelter. If he has no home, he is most likely without food. He was
told to come back at 4 PM to check in. Tonight he will sleep in a cool, safe
building and will receive an excellent meal – a group was already onsite with
grills for a cookout style supper (see Mission Moment)!! Furthermore, he will
wake up tomorrow morning and spend the first 30 minutes of the day hearing about
a God Who loves him deeply. Perhaps his deepest need will be met – a need that
he likely doesn't even realize he has.
As always, thank you for stopping by to help keep that front
door open to those who need it most!!!
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