Dear Friend of the Mission,
Even though I have served at the Mission for over 26 years, I still am excited and enthusiastic about our ministry to homeless men. While many aspects of the ministry are the same day after day, month after month and even year after year, what keeps our ministry to homeless men fresh and fulfilling is our men themselves.
The homeless men who come to the Mission looking for help are not cookie-cutter duplicates, but rather they are unique individuals who grab our interest and attention and most importantly of all, our hearts. As we get to know more about their lives, their families, their past, their struggles, their hopes, their fears and their dreams, our staff comes alongside of our men to help them understand better what the Lord has for them, and to then help them achieve their dreams and goals.
One of the somewhat humorous but absolutely true sayings we motivate our men with is, “If you aim for nothing you hit it every time!” We work closely with our men to help them figure out what they want to do in life, and then we help them develop an action plan to actually achieve those goals. And through it all, we act as a coach and a cheerleader to encourage them to not give up, but to keep on keeping on.
We view our men as created in God’s image and filled with the good gifts and unique abilities that the Lord has bestowed upon them. Contrary to the harsh things that others have told them, we tell our men that they are not junk, trash or worthless. As the men move through our New Life Program, it is exciting to see them walking on the pathway to become all that God wants them to be. Our men are like beautiful flowers opening up into full bloom. It is especially encouraging when family members and friends see the differences in their loved one and call us to thank us for the part we had by God’s grace to facilitate this change.
I want to give a big shout-out of thanks to all of you who have helped us in our current time of financial struggle. Your gifts are a great help in reducing our deficit before the end of our fiscal year on September 30th. Since my last letter we did discover that the landing of our main staircase in the Germantown Thrift Store is sagging in one corner and will need to be repaired. Our Germantown thrift store building is a sturdy, well-built building – but it was built in 1899 and is well-worn. We don’t have a price yet for this much needed repair, but we imagine that it will cost at least a few thousand dollars to fix. Please also keep this in your prayers. Thanks!
It is a privilege & joy to partner together with you,
Robert A. Emberger, D.Min.
Executive Director
