When a friend from church died, I was looking in the Obituary column, I discovered this "testimony" of Madelyn "Tootie" Dixon who died in 2006 ( "In loving memory of"... by her family).
I thought is was so good, I cut it out and want to share it with others:
When I said..."I am a Christian"
I wasn't shouting "I'm clean livin."
I was whispering, "I am lost"
Now I'm found and forgiven.
When I said...."I am a Christian"
I wasn't bragging of success.
I was admitting I had failed
And needed God to clean my mess.
When I said..." I am a Christian"
I wasn't holier than thou,
I was just a simple sinner
Who received God's good grace, somehow.
- Arlene Snyder, WS Clinic Volunteer
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Monday, June 25, 2007
Teamwork
Imagine a football team. In its ideal condition each player does his part to support the whole, under the direction of special team’s coaches, who in turn support the assistant coaches, who likewise support the head coach.
In this idyllic world, the Offensive Coach focuses on offense in full trust that the Defensive Coach is working on defense, and vice versa. Each one knows his best contribution to the team is two-fold: do his job and trust the others to do theirs.
In team sports there are three things which will bring the team concept to its knees:
- Coaches who second guess other coaches: each coach is chosen for his expertise in some area. It is destructive to the team (and very silly) for the Offensive Coach to believe he would have made a better decision than the Defensive Coach made in some situation. This presumes that the one had all of the same information and expertise as the other, which is always untrue. We cannot possibly know what we would do in a situation until we sit in the seat of the decider. We must trust the other coach and focus on our own area, or the team fails.
- Players who second guess other players: a good coach will never allow players to undermine team morale by negative assertions about other coaches or other players. Effective coaches will redirect a disgruntled player to the team goals and specifically, to his own contribution to team play. If the coach listens without redirecting, team morale will fracture and the team will fragment into isolation and competing interests. Our own personal disappointment must be set aside for the good of the team.
- Murmuring to others about someone else: nothing is more destructive inside a team than this. It is the thread that connects items 1 & 2 above. Expressing negativity about others, instead of to them, is like pouring acid on the team; it eats away the foundation upon which teamwork is built: Trust! To foster trust we must all agree to two abiding principles: 1) believe that others are doing their best, and 2) never speak negatively about them; only to them.
We at WSRM are a team, assigned to the most important ministry in the universe. We are most effective as we work as a team. This work is too important not to. We are a part of something bigger than ourselves.
- Aaron Eggers, Men’s Ministries
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Fathers Day Reflections...
...Having a good dad was nice. I just wish that he hadn’t died when I was twelve.
…This is my dad and mom. They came all the way from Missouri to visit with me.
…My dad was a monster and I was his evil twin.
…My daughter checked in to the women’s shelter last night. Do you think it would be okay to see if she would be willing to talk to me?
…My dad moved halfway around the world to fight a war. When he was done fighting, he just left…without me.
…I miss my children; I’m resentful toward my dad; but, I’m becoming grateful toward my heavenly father. Please pray for me.
…My dad and my children are dead.
…My daughter wrote to me and still wants me to be in her life.
…My daughter and I used heroin together.
…Look what my daughter gave to me: Dad—So much has happened in this past year and through it all I believe you have become a much stronger and better man…and father. You are and always will be my Daddy. I love you and hope you have a great Father’s Day.
- CLD Program Men
…This is my dad and mom. They came all the way from Missouri to visit with me.
…My dad was a monster and I was his evil twin.
…My daughter checked in to the women’s shelter last night. Do you think it would be okay to see if she would be willing to talk to me?
…My dad moved halfway around the world to fight a war. When he was done fighting, he just left…without me.
…I miss my children; I’m resentful toward my dad; but, I’m becoming grateful toward my heavenly father. Please pray for me.
…My dad and my children are dead.
…My daughter wrote to me and still wants me to be in her life.
…My daughter and I used heroin together.
…Look what my daughter gave to me: Dad—So much has happened in this past year and through it all I believe you have become a much stronger and better man…and father. You are and always will be my Daddy. I love you and hope you have a great Father’s Day.
- CLD Program Men
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Who do these mattresses belong to anyway?
Note: Occassionally, other ministries and congregations contact us to see if we can assist them with a pressing need they might have as they attempt to serve their congregations and communities. When the Lord supplies sufficiently through our faithful donors, and the partnership fulfills our mission, we attempt to help as we are able. Being good stewards of what the Lord provides and staying faithful to the donor's intent are high priorities when making these decisions... God has a way of helping us know how to respond as well...
This week a camp called asking if we have any extra single mattresses we could give them since they needed to replace a bunch at their camp. We have a good supply of them on hand so I gave them a smaller portion (33) of what we had available (not meeting their entire need), since we do need to look out for our own needs too.
Just after he left this morning with his second load, I was asking Maurice (our food services coordinator) how to know when you should give away all that God has given to us and when to hold back something for our own use. Arriving back in my office I got a call from Conestoga View wanting to donate 100-150 single mattresses!
God will meet all your needs according to his riches in Christ Jesus! Thank you Lord for this reminder when I am so slow to get it.
-Dean Wenger, RDC
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Eyes front
Did you ever walk by someone who lives on the street and look the other way, hoping they wouldn’t notice or, God forbid, speak to you? The temptation to react this way is huge, and society teaches us that this is an acceptable reaction to poverty and homelessness.
We’ve become so comfortable with poverty and homelessness that we hardly notice their end results. As a former resident of Chicago and Boston, my ability to see without noticing became finely tuned, although having this ability didn’t alleviate the nagging feeling there was more going on here than meets the eye.
I have the opportunity to interact and work with our clientele on a daily basis and I can tell you that each one of them has a life history filled with many of the same things as you and me. The biggest thing that usually separates us is a few decisions along that way the either of us could have made differently.
I recently had the privilege of having my teenage step-son (Daniel) spend a day with me at the mission. During that day, he spent several hours working with one of our clients (Don) and the two of them developed a real connection. As we were driving home that day, Daniel said to me “I really like Don. We had a great time together, he’s a great guy!” I agree; I’ve had the opportunity to get to know Don and he is a special person. The next thought that came into my head was: how would Daniel and I have reacted to Don if we’d met him on the street instead of at the Mission? It’s upsetting to me that there was a time when I would have discounted Don as a person and just walked past him while trying to avoid looking at him.
We can’t all work at a rescue mission, nor should we, but there is more you can do. I invite you to take a moment to consider your reaction to poverty and homelessness, based on only one idea: there’s a real person of God’s creation under the rags, the smell, and the dirt. It’s very likely that this person under the rags is someone that could have a real impact on Daniel, me, and you if given the chance. You don’t have to give money, cars, or even your time to our clients or those still on the streets, but I invite you to consider giving them your love, respect, and most of all, your prayers. Look them in the eye and say hello, you might be surprised at the good it does for both of you.
- Scooter Haase, Operations
We’ve become so comfortable with poverty and homelessness that we hardly notice their end results. As a former resident of Chicago and Boston, my ability to see without noticing became finely tuned, although having this ability didn’t alleviate the nagging feeling there was more going on here than meets the eye.
I have the opportunity to interact and work with our clientele on a daily basis and I can tell you that each one of them has a life history filled with many of the same things as you and me. The biggest thing that usually separates us is a few decisions along that way the either of us could have made differently.
I recently had the privilege of having my teenage step-son (Daniel) spend a day with me at the mission. During that day, he spent several hours working with one of our clients (Don) and the two of them developed a real connection. As we were driving home that day, Daniel said to me “I really like Don. We had a great time together, he’s a great guy!” I agree; I’ve had the opportunity to get to know Don and he is a special person. The next thought that came into my head was: how would Daniel and I have reacted to Don if we’d met him on the street instead of at the Mission? It’s upsetting to me that there was a time when I would have discounted Don as a person and just walked past him while trying to avoid looking at him.
We can’t all work at a rescue mission, nor should we, but there is more you can do. I invite you to take a moment to consider your reaction to poverty and homelessness, based on only one idea: there’s a real person of God’s creation under the rags, the smell, and the dirt. It’s very likely that this person under the rags is someone that could have a real impact on Daniel, me, and you if given the chance. You don’t have to give money, cars, or even your time to our clients or those still on the streets, but I invite you to consider giving them your love, respect, and most of all, your prayers. Look them in the eye and say hello, you might be surprised at the good it does for both of you.
- Scooter Haase, Operations
Friday, June 08, 2007
Grace-based Ministry
A Father recounts the following story[i]:
“When my daughter Abrielle was four she came running down the hall screaming, "I don't want to die! I swallowed a stone!" I immediately determined that nothing was obstructing her throat but she was still in a panic."It's OK, sweetheart. You're not going to die," I said. She thought I didn't understand. "But I swallowed a stone! It was a blue one!" she emphasized, as if I should realize this was a particularly deadly stone.
Apparently, a babysitter, in order to discourage her from putting things in her mouth, told her she could die if she swallowed the wrong things, and to Aby, that included polished stones I'd given her. I assured her she was in no danger; that the stone would come out in the morning when she went "poo poo." She ran to the toilet, "I want it out now!" She was pushing so hard it looked like a blood vessel would burst. She was frightened and desperate.Moments like this test and refine your values. Truth and reason weren't working. So I lied."I know what to do," I said, and I ran to get a spoonful of maple syrup. "Here, swallow this syrup. It will melt the stone." "Will it be gone?" she asked. "Absolutely," I replied. She swallowed the syrup and announced triumphantly, "Daddy melted the stone. I'm not going to die." The emergency was over, but I hated lying to her. Though I worried she would never trust me again, I had to tell her the truth a few weeks later. Today, she's almost nine, and I heard her using the story to tell her sisters that her daddy always takes care of her. Funny, she trusts me even more.”
The Father in this incident stumbled on something deep: ‘Truth is really important, but trust is the ultimate treasure.’
Trust and Grace
At Water Street Rescue Mission, we are asking this question: ‘Is what we are doing, thinking, or saying building or undermining the potential for building trust?’[ii] Our mission to skillfully share the gospel leads us to establish a trust bond with each resident, with conviction of this culminating in ‘a resident trusting God.’[iii] So to effectively share the gospel we must do all we can to encourage this bond of trust with the men, women, and children who come to our door.
But getting someone to trust is not easy. Accordingly we promote this trust by encouraging an atmosphere where grace lives. That is, we motivate others to begin to trust us by always operating in their best interest – which is our practical definition of grace. And this grace is what draws others to a relationship with God.
This culture of grace is neither license nor law. It is a place where both resident and staff member can freely acknowledge their position in this process of becoming more like Jesus. It is a place of safety where weaknesses and failure provide glimpses into the deeper issues of the heart. It is a place of risk where staff members are vulnerable and residents are held accountable to their choices. And it is a place where true heart change occurs not through compulsion or coercion to conform but by the prompting and power of the Holy Spirit.
- Steve Brubaker, Residential Ministries
[i] The Blue Stone and the White Lie, told to me by Brad Hoopes
[ii] See, Christianity Confronts Culture, Marvin Mayers, Zondervan, pp. 32-33.
[iii] Ibid.
“When my daughter Abrielle was four she came running down the hall screaming, "I don't want to die! I swallowed a stone!" I immediately determined that nothing was obstructing her throat but she was still in a panic."It's OK, sweetheart. You're not going to die," I said. She thought I didn't understand. "But I swallowed a stone! It was a blue one!" she emphasized, as if I should realize this was a particularly deadly stone.
Apparently, a babysitter, in order to discourage her from putting things in her mouth, told her she could die if she swallowed the wrong things, and to Aby, that included polished stones I'd given her. I assured her she was in no danger; that the stone would come out in the morning when she went "poo poo." She ran to the toilet, "I want it out now!" She was pushing so hard it looked like a blood vessel would burst. She was frightened and desperate.Moments like this test and refine your values. Truth and reason weren't working. So I lied."I know what to do," I said, and I ran to get a spoonful of maple syrup. "Here, swallow this syrup. It will melt the stone." "Will it be gone?" she asked. "Absolutely," I replied. She swallowed the syrup and announced triumphantly, "Daddy melted the stone. I'm not going to die." The emergency was over, but I hated lying to her. Though I worried she would never trust me again, I had to tell her the truth a few weeks later. Today, she's almost nine, and I heard her using the story to tell her sisters that her daddy always takes care of her. Funny, she trusts me even more.”
The Father in this incident stumbled on something deep: ‘Truth is really important, but trust is the ultimate treasure.’
Trust and Grace
At Water Street Rescue Mission, we are asking this question: ‘Is what we are doing, thinking, or saying building or undermining the potential for building trust?’[ii] Our mission to skillfully share the gospel leads us to establish a trust bond with each resident, with conviction of this culminating in ‘a resident trusting God.’[iii] So to effectively share the gospel we must do all we can to encourage this bond of trust with the men, women, and children who come to our door.
But getting someone to trust is not easy. Accordingly we promote this trust by encouraging an atmosphere where grace lives. That is, we motivate others to begin to trust us by always operating in their best interest – which is our practical definition of grace. And this grace is what draws others to a relationship with God.
This culture of grace is neither license nor law. It is a place where both resident and staff member can freely acknowledge their position in this process of becoming more like Jesus. It is a place of safety where weaknesses and failure provide glimpses into the deeper issues of the heart. It is a place of risk where staff members are vulnerable and residents are held accountable to their choices. And it is a place where true heart change occurs not through compulsion or coercion to conform but by the prompting and power of the Holy Spirit.
- Steve Brubaker, Residential Ministries
[i] The Blue Stone and the White Lie, told to me by Brad Hoopes
[ii] See, Christianity Confronts Culture, Marvin Mayers, Zondervan, pp. 32-33.
[iii] Ibid.
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