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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.
Cover Article
“Second Time Around"
 It was a Sunday in the Spring of the year. Never could have
been found a more disconsolate group than the disciples of Jesus. It looked for
the world like His cause had failed, like His followers must return in disgrace
to tax-collecting, fishing, and other occupations. Jesus was dead and buried -
the One Who had given them such hope, such optimism about the future. They had
left loved ones and livelihoods to follow Him, and now they would return
shamefacedly to both. But wait! The women have just come back inside the city
walls from the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, borrowed for the burial of Jesus;
and they are telling such strange things. “Angels met us outside the open, empty
tomb! They told us to tell you that Jesus is risen!” Hope returns as their
future looks bright again - they have a “second chance” in this new life!
Our ministry at the Rescue Mission has always been about
second chances. We operate on the premise that God doesn’t give up on someone
just because they have messed up. Just last year three men left earth for heaven
whose stories parallel this theme. Drugs, alcohol, and crime seemed to have
ruined each of these men. In some cases families had even had to distance
themselves from them because they could not be trusted not to hurt and harm.
Each one found their way to this haven, and each one was found here by Christ.
Ronnie Cook had been returned to useful life and service for
Christ over the last two decades. His family had been enabled to trust him, and
they lavished on him the tokens of love that he so greatly enjoyed. He was a
comfort to his mother when she lost her husband, and God used him to bless many
a man by opening the door of the Mission shelter to them night after night. Life
was so much better the “second time around.”
Harry Watkins met the Lord here at the Mission after coming
out of prison for serious crimes. He worked with us here at the Mission for a
good while, and finished out his life as care-giver to an aged widow. She
thought there was nobody like “Mr. Harry,” as she called him. Harry’s sister
called me sometime after he passed away. She was so grateful for the change God
brought in his life - a change that included being reconciled to his two
sisters. They regularly exchanged letters (Harry would often bring a letter from
a sister for me to read), spoke on the phone occasionally, and he even visited
them in Lynchburg from time to time. The last time we spoke, his sister
mentioned that Harry would talk to them about the Lord - about what God was
doing in his life. She was glad that her baby brother had a “second chance.”
It was ten years ago this month when Mike Kooker met the Lord
here at PRM. Estranged from his family, the greatest earthly blessing Mike
received was to be restored to them. O, what a change it was! His father and
brother had died years ago, and Mike was the only man left in the family. His
mother and sisters needed him, but they could not depend on him, and they could
not trust him. Well, all that radically changed as Mike was transformed by God’s
grace! Having been in our employ for several years, occasionally taking trips
home to visit his family, Mike had to leave us to move home and care for his
dying mother. What a privilege it was for him to do that - he who once was not
allowed even to come home! Family life for Mike was clearly better “the second
time around.” When Mike went to heaven early last year, like Ronnie and Harry,
he left a huge gaping hole in our hearts. Heaven’s reunions will be so blessed
because of earth’s relationships.
A lady named Mary recently attended an auxiliary meeting
here. That day she handed me two watches and told me of several pair of pants
she was taking over to the distribution center. Emotion showed as she shared
that these things had been her husband’s, and that he had passed away in the
Fall. At the next meeting she presented me with three wallets for our men; they
also had belonged to her husband. Two other widows shared some very nice men’s
jackets for us to share with needy men. Several used refrigerators came from one
local business, and they will find homes in places of need as well. All of these
things will be a blessing to someone the “second time around.” Isn’t it
wonderful to belong to and serve the God of second chances?!
Superintendent's
Corner
"Cracked Pots, Second Chances"
My early morning accountability group Bible study was from
Ruth 4. I couldn’t wait to get to the Mission, cast aside what I had prepared
for chapel, and delve into the last part of that final chapter of the ancient
love story of Ruth and Boaz. The verses covered a genealogy - in fact, here they
are: “Perez was the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father
of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon,
Salmon the father of Boaz, Boaz the father of Obed, Obed the father of Jesse,
and Jesse the father of David.” Doesn’t it excite you to read those words?! You
say, “Well, actually no.” Okay, I didn’t think so; but hold on a bit - that
could change.
Here goes the lesson: Judah, son of Jacob, was father-in-law to Tamar, whose
husband (Judah’s son, Er) died childless. The rest of the story includes that
Tamar tricked Judah into lying with her, and the result was the birth of Perez,
the first one mentioned in this genealogy that in Matthew carries on to Jesus
Himself. My question to the Mission chapel, a lot of guys who have checkered
pasts, was, “If God can use Tamar to be an ancestress of Christ, don’t you think
He can use you?”
The hero of Ruth’s story is Boaz, son of Salmon. Matthew records that the mother
of Boaz was Rahab, perhaps the harlot of Jericho. And it is certainly this
woman, once of ill-repute, who is honored in Hebrews 11:31 as a person of faith.
So I asked my friends in the chapel service, “If God can use Rahab the harlot,
don’t you think He can use you?” He is indeed the God of second chances. And
second-chance people are some of the greatest bible characters - Jacob, David,
Jonah, Peter, and more are in that group.
Then we find in that brief genealogy the name “David.” Ah, the man after God’s
own heart, the sweet singer of Israel, the young shepherd who slew the giant,
Goliath. But his record is not pristine - there is the matter of stealing
another man’s wife, having the man killed, and trying to cover up the whole
thing! No, David was not perfect, but he did know how to repent when faced with
his wrong. And he did learn to follow God again after his great sin. So I said
to my friends in the Mission chapel, “If God can use David, don’t you think He
can use you?” And the answer is surely, “Yes!”
The fact is, God can only use fallen people because there isn’t any other kind
to use (except, of course, Jesus). What a message we have, this message of
Grace! And what worked in Bible days in the genealogy of Christ is still
operative today - God takes broken vessels, makes them over again, and then uses
us to accomplish His work among men. May His name be praised!
A Note From Alan
The God of Second Chances
This is a strange way to begin an article, but I hope it will
help to illustrate a point. I have a tattered, old sweatshirt that should really
be thrown away, but I refuse to do so. I’ve had it for years and wear it most
Saturday’s around the house. It’s faded blue with numerous holes around the
seams. The cuffs produce a steady stream of threads that I always cut off (I
never pull them for fear the entire cuff might fall right off!). My wife just
smiles and shakes her head!! :) In the not too distant future this shirt will be
ready for the grease rag pile --- a sad ending for my favorite sweatshirt.
Unlike my sweatshirt, which will not get a second chance,
human lives are just the opposite. Our God is very much interested in second
chances. Here is one such story…
A young man came to the window at the Mission and asked to
speak to me. A little aggravated at the interruption, I walked out to see what
he needed from me. As I opened the door there stood a man that I had never seen
(or so I thought). He told me his name (which was also unfamiliar), and said he
had stayed at the Mission just over a year ago. The details of his story began
to come back to me as he shared them. He checked in at an all-time low weight
due to his alcohol filled lifestyle. He was broken over his life and asked if he
could stay long enough to get money for a bus ticket to California where his
family had arranged for him to enter a spiritual-based recovery program. He got
his money together and left for California. He was now back in Newport News for
a couple of days to visit his family and wanted to come by and share with us
what God had done in his life over the past months.
Just a year ago he was a homeless man addicted to alcohol,
with no future. Now he is walking with the Lord and free from the grip of
alcohol. He has answered God’s call on his life to enter full-time ministry. He
is currently involved in a church plant in Oregon and is attending a local Bible
college in preparation for youth ministry. As always, thank you for helping us
point men to the God of second chances!!!
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