The beginning of 2013 has seen much cause for celebration at the Whosoever Gospel Mission. We welcomed the New Year in on January 2nd with a glorious celebration as five men graduated from the New Life Program. Mercy, John, Quan, Lonnie and Rusty all worked hard to get to this point. Having completed the intensive three-month Foundations Phase in which each man is required to participate in hands-on job readiness training, educational classes and tutoring, counseling, drug and alcohol testing & recovery meetings, daily chapels, and a host of other activities designed to help ready an individual for successful employment, all five men moved into the Careers Phase, obtained employment and began mapping out a strategy for moving forward.
Once employed, they began working with their counselor on a personal budget and savings plan, securing next step housing and preparing for life beyond the Mission. Each one has moved out of the Mission into his own place. As I write this one and a half months later, each one is employed and still doing well, having stopped in to visit and check on life at the Mission within the past week (and to find out how our Executive Director, Bob Emberger, is coming along after his open heart surgery three weeks ago). It’s been a joy as the Mission community to celebrate life with these five men as we see God working in them and moving them forward. We rejoice with Mercy, John, Quan, Lonnie and Rusty and are grateful for how they have each enriched the Mission family.
We had the privilege of helping the men of the New Life Program bless their families this Christmas with tons of wonderful new gifts. For many of the men, these toys are a step toward rebuilding family relationships. In all, the men were able to give over 1,000 toys and gifts to 157 of their children and grandchildren.
Families of Mission residents, staff and volunteers gave thanks to the Lord and broke bread together in a Thanksgiving Day chapel service followed by a lavish feast.
Thanks to many friends who bought tons of brand new toys and gifts for the children and grandchildren of the men enrolled in the Mission’s residential New Life Program (and for the kids of our former After School Club families, too), lots of kids had happy surprises on Christmas morning! In all, 960 toys were lovingly selected and wrapped for 196 children! That means that each child received 1 larger main gift and about 4 smaller stocking stuffers. Thanks, those of you made this possible by donating toys or volunteering with the giveaway!
