Dear friends,
I hope you’re enjoying the sunshine and warmth of these delightful days. It certainly makes my heart (and the flowers on my patio) happy. Today was especially warm and sunny, which made tonight’s dessert an extra welcome treat – brownie sundaes, compliments of the church that joined us for dinner and chapel this evening. Speaking of desserts – we like them, a lot! If you ever want to bake some brownies, cookies, cupcakes, lemon squares, or the like, and drop them off at the Mission, you’d make our men very happy indeed! We’d also love your excess garden produce – we serve a fresh salad at every lunch and dinner.
Our meal times are so important. They’re about more than just food. A great meal is a welcome treat in the midst of really hard work. The hard work our guys are laboring through isn’t just physical. It’s also social, spiritual, mental, and emotional. It’s learning and relearning how to process the past and deep hurts they have suffered. It’s retraining our bodies to get up in the morning and follow a schedule, to eat well, and to get sleep. It’s practicing forgiveness and extending grace to others in relationship, even as we learn to receive forgiveness and grace ourselves. It’s starting new habits and exercising self-discipline. It’s building relationships with people and no longer trying to do life alone. It’s learning to live together in community.
This togetherness is essential to the success of every man that comes to the Mission for help. Often, when a man first arrives at the Mission, he’s thinking only of his most immediate needs – food, shelter, clothing, addiction recovery, or maybe employment. But as he comes and settles in his dorm room and starts to engage in the New Life Program, the Mission family begins to envelop him in community life. We develop real relationships with one another. We eat and laugh together. We pray and worship together. We cry and seek the Lord together.
It’s not a one-way street. As we do these things, we encourage and build one another up. Together, the men, staff and volunteers build up and encourage each other. For an example of what this looks like, check out this story about one of our current residents, Dave, and his counselor, Steve. This is what community looks like. We need each other. Thank you for being a part of our community, and for your continued support through these summer months (especially with the high cost of cooling our buildings!). Because of you, we are stronger.
The Lord bless you and yours with rich and life-giving community.
Grace and peace,
Heather L. Rice, D.Min.
Executive Director
