Former Graduate shares from their heart

This story of new life and transformation, is part of our 'REVIVE 2011 Spring Campaign.' For details about how you can join this campaign, check out below...

The following post has been shared by a former graduate of the Men's Life Recovery Program at the Water Street Mission.

"I hardly know where to start to express my gratitude to the Mission. The one thing I do know is I need to thank the supporters of the Mission. I want to thank those who give both financially and most importantly those that pray. The battles that each of us fight are not against the things seen but unseen. (2 Cor. 10:3-5 and Eph. 6:12)

In the past, my thoughts were faulty and defective. Now my present is already beyond my wildest dreams. NO way do I think my thoughts, attitudes and behaviors are gone. They keep showing up in one form or another. BUT, GOD IS FAITHFUL!

Below, I've included a portion of the commencement speech I made.

It is true that despite a mental illness, a stroke during my stay at the Mission and other difficulties, God is TRULY faithful!

I've been able to start my own business while still keeping my focus on him. When I came to the Mission I didn't care if I lived or died. Now most of the time I realize my presence is in the “Fellowship of the Unashamed,” which I shared as the second part of my commencement speech.

The GOSPEL TRUTH
The Fellowship of the Unashamed
I am part of the "Fellowship of the Unashamed."
The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line.
The decision has been made. I am a disciple of
Jesus Christ. I won't look back, let up, slow down,
back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present
makes sense, and my future is secure.
I am finished and done with low living, sight walking,
small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams,
chintzy giving, and dwarfed goals.
I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position,
promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I now live by
presence, lean by faith, love by patience,
lift by prayer, and labor by power. My pace
is set, my gait is fast, my goal is Heaven, my
road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few,
my Guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought,
compromised, deterred, lured away, turned back,
diluted, or delayed.
I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the
presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy,
ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander
in the maze of mediocrity.
I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I must go until
Heaven returns, give until I drop, preach until all know,
and work until He comes. And when He comes to get
His own, He will have no problem recognizing me.
My colors will be clear.
I am not ashamed of the gospel . . . Romans 1:16

Some goals, hopes, and dreams are in there. I again want to thank the supporters of the Mission for giving my life and many others a chance."

From a former Graduate of the Men’s LifeRecovery Program at Water Street Mission

Join the revive 2011 Spring Campaign...
This Spring, we’re inviting you to revive your partnership with Water Street Ministries. Through your prayers and your giving, you can revive lives and advance God’s Kingdom.

Will you join us?
- Send a special gift this Spring. Donate online.
- We welcome your wisdom and counsel. Email us at Contact@WaterStreetMinistries.org.
- Commit to pray for God’s wisdom, provision, and the organization as a whole. Sign up for our Prayer Calendar.

For more information, visit www.WaterStreetMinistries.org/Revive, email Contact@WaterStreetMinistries.org or call Keith at (717) 358-2010.

A Rainy Days and Tear-filled Moments

This story of new life and transformation, is part of our 'REVIVE 2011 Spring Campaign.' For details about how you can join this campaign, check out below...

Today was another wet, cloudy day in our week. For some reason I felt dreary and heavy inside just like the weather outside. After lunch Jerome* made a large furniture delivery. Jerome* was feeling bummed after a difficult morning too.

We met the mom who was receiving the furniture and began to carry in the 6 beds, dressers, sofa, chairs, desk, kitchen table and other goodies. She is receiving her children back home and needed furniture for them.

Partway through unloading the truck she received a phone call and she began to weep while she told the person on the phone about the blessing she was receiving. After we finished Jerome* and I prayed with her and encouraged her to see this gift as a demonstration of God’s love for her and her children. We also encouraged to check out Crossroads Mennonite since she lives just down the street.

As we were getting back in the truck to go home the morning weight had lifted and Jerome commented that he needed the experience of that delivery today. I hope that can encourage you today no matter what you may be facing - know that God loves you.

*name changed
Dean Wenger • Redistribution Manager, Water Street Ministries

Join the revive 2011 Spring Campaign...
This Spring, we’re inviting you to revive your partnership with Water Street Ministries. Through your prayers and your giving, you can revive lives and advance God’s Kingdom.

Will you join us?
- Send a special gift this Spring. Donate online.
- We welcome your wisdom and counsel. Email us at Contact@WaterStreetMinistries.org.
- Commit to pray for God’s wisdom, provision, and the organization as a whole. Sign up for our Prayer Calendar.

For more information, visit www.WaterStreetMinistries.org/Revive, email Contact@WaterStreetMinistries.org or call Keith at (717) 358-2010.

Bigger than a Birthday Gift - Lydia Center

This story of new life and transformation, is part of our 'REVIVE 2011 Spring Campaign.' For details about how you can join this campaign, check out below...

Our team at the Lydia Center had a new resident come to us in January, and she accepted the Lord in March. On Wednesday of this week we took her to the dentist where she spent the whole day getting dental work. After her visit was finished, she was given a prescription for vicodin.

As my birthday gift for today, she told me that she had a victory yesterday.

She went on to explain that she could have smoked a cigarette during her visit at the dentist since she was on her own all day. Yet, she didn’t. And, she could have filled the prescription for vicodin, which would have led her back to her addiction, but she didn’t - in fact she returned the prescription to the dentist.

She said that she just kept thinking that she didn’t want to come back here and have a secret. It is so exciting to the work of the Holy Spirit in this new believer!

Melissa Alcorn • Executive Director, Lydia Center

Join the revive 2011 Spring Campaign...
This Spring, we’re inviting you to revive your partnership with Water Street Ministries. Through your prayers and your giving, you can revive lives and advance God’s Kingdom.

Will you join us?
- Send a special gift this Spring. Donate online.
- We welcome your wisdom and counsel. Email us at Contact@WaterStreetMinistries.org.
- Commit to pray for God’s wisdom, provision, and the organization as a whole. Sign up for our Prayer Calendar.

For more information, visit www.WaterStreetMinistries.org/Revive, email Contact@WaterStreetMinistries.org or call Keith at (717) 358-2010.

Salvation has come!!

This story of new life and transformation, is part of our 'REVIVE 2011 Spring Campaign.' For details about how you can join this campaign, check out below...

Mark 10:14 "Let the little children come to me."

Our 4-year-old Kindergarten class at Wonder Club Early Learning Centers in Lancaster is currently learning about the wordless book. Throughout the year we have also been studying the question “Who is God?"

We have been inviting the children to come up to us during the day if they want to ask Jesus into their hearts. It's been such a blessing when we've had the privilege of praying with our students as they make decisions for the Lord. Each prayer is a time of celebration. Recently, we had four children ask Jesus into their hearts in one day.

Here is another story of God's love at work in the life of one of the students in my class...

As I was beginning my day. One of my little boy students came into class and ran up to me. He told me that last night when his brother was sleeping he asked Jesus into his heart. I said great what did you say? He said, "I prayed, and said 'Jesus come into my heart.'" Wow! Isn’t this exciting? Please pray for these young children as they are babes in Christ.

Karen Smith • Assistant Teacher, Wonderclub Early Learning Centers

Join the revive 2011 Spring Campaign...
This Spring, we’re inviting you to revive your partnership with Water Street Ministries. Through your prayers and your giving, you can revive lives and advance God’s Kingdom.

Will you join us?
- Send a special gift this Spring. Donate online.
- We welcome your wisdom and counsel. Email us at Contact@WaterStreetMinistries.org.
- Commit to pray for God’s wisdom, provision, and the organization as a whole. Sign up for our Prayer Calendar.

For more information, visit www.WaterStreetMinistries.org/Revive, email Contact@WaterStreetMinistries.org or call Keith at (717) 358-2010.

Encouraging supporters JOIN the revive Campaign

This story of new life and transformation, is part of our 'REVIVE 2011 Spring Campaign.' For details about how you can join this campaign, check out below...

One of our staff in particular is really good about being relational. He loves people, and he loves to appreciate people. Whether his colleagues in the office, acquaintances from years back or friends who support the ministry, he is quick to take time out of his schedule to invest in people.

Doing what he does best, last week he visited some friends of Water Street Ministries to thank them for their generosity. When he stopped to visit one woman in Manheim, he found her pulling weeds in her garden. She was happy to take some time, though, to talk.

After sharing about her church and what was blooming in her garden, the woman asked how Water Street Ministries was doing. My colleague doesn’t normally like to ask people for things in these visits; his purpose is strictly to thank and encourage. Since she asked, though, he shared with her about the Revive Campaign, and the fact that Water Street Ministries has been operating in a deficit for the last three years. The woman said she remembered hearing a radio announcement about Revive and promised to send in a donation.

The very next morning as our team was opening our mail, we found a check for $500 from this woman with a kind note: “I was glad to have met you this morning. I feel you are involved in a wonderful ministry. It’s important that we help those in need who are among us, and minister to their spiritual needs as well, that they may hear God’s plan of salvation and come to know Jesus.”

While we are praying to raise $875,000 by May 31, it’s not the amount of this woman’s gift that is so special. It is her heart to help meet the practical and spiritual needs of individuals in poverty. Will you consider today what you could give? No gift is too small when God is in it!

Join the revive 2011 Spring Campaign...
This Spring, we’re inviting you to revive your partnership with Water Street Ministries. Through your prayers and your giving, you can revive lives and advance God’s Kingdom.

Will you join us?
- Send a special gift this Spring. Donate online.
- We welcome your wisdom and counsel. Email us at Contact@WaterStreetMinistries.org.
- Commit to pray for God’s wisdom, provision, and the organization as a whole. Sign up for our Prayer Calendar.

For more information, visit www.WaterStreetMinistries.org/Revive, email Contact@WaterStreetMinistries.org or call Keith at (717) 358-2010.

We're going Green!

This post shares about some steps we've taken towards energy efficiency and conservation. Similarly, our 'REVIVE 2011 Spring Campaign' is a current effort to help revive lives and sustain the services that our ministry provides. Click Here or scroll down to learn how you can join...

Our operations department has been exploring how we can be better stewards of the resources God has given to Water Street Ministries. For us that means reducing our costs and making energy efficient choices.

Through this more intentional approach on conservation - we are excited to announce that Water Street Ministries has been named on the E-power Energy-Smart Business Honor Roll by PPL for our energy-efficient measures!

Here's what we've been doing:

Reducing usage
• On demand hot water heaters are heating only the water needed in Kuhn's Hall and the Lydia Center.
• Digital thermostats at the Lydia Center could cut heat usage in half.
• Hayes Hall and Lydia Center are better insulated from summer and winter temperatures by four inches of white TPO covering.
• Lighting timers and 136 new energy-efficient lights in Sieber and Hayes Hall have reduced our electric usage by $1,000 for the first three months of 2011 as compared to 2010!
• Installation of water-saving toilets in Kuhn's hall that use 75% less water than standard toilets
• Installation of more power efficient computers.
• The new copiers are providing us with faster, more reliable and higher quality printing all with using less power. We expect to save $43,000 over the next 5 years in copying costs!

Conserving resources
• The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) has been at Grace Plateau since 2005. The mission of CREP is to improve the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay through removing lands from agricultural production thus improving wild life benefits and reducing the chemical runoff from farm lands. WSM has committed to participate until 2019.
• At the Mission the kitchen and outreach started recycling organic food waste on 4/11/11. 80% of the waste that comes out of food service can be recycled and made into mulch instead of being dumped in a landfill. In addition, recycling our organic waste costs about 50% less than hauling it to the dump. See photo of our flowerbeds with this new eco-friendly mulch!

In the future:
• We are assessing the possibility of installing solar at our Prince Street facility and wind power at Grace Plateau.
• We will continue to add more and more lighting timers throughout WSM.

Many thanks to the operations staff for making these changes. We're also thankful for the clients and volunteers who are participating in these cost saving measures!

Join the revive 2011 Spring Campaign...
This Spring, we’re inviting you to revive your partnership with Water Street Ministries. Through your prayers and your giving, you can revive lives and advance God’s Kingdom.

Will you join us?
- Send a special gift this Spring. Donate online.
- We welcome your wisdom and counsel. Email us at Contact@WaterStreetMinistries.org.
- Commit to pray for God’s wisdom, provision, and the organization as a whole. Sign up for our Prayer Calendar.

For more information, visit www.WaterStreetMinistries.org/Revive, email Contact@WaterStreetMinistries.org or call Keith at (717) 358-2010.

"Greatest weekend of my life" - from a girl at Teen Haven

This story of new life and transformation, is part of our 'REVIVE 2011 Spring Campaign.' For details about how you can join this campaign, check out below...

Can you think of a time recently when you were having a conversation that made your jaw drop open in disbelief and excitement? I recently felt that very joy and excitement when a girl at Teen Haven York shared about how God has been working in her life. Here’s what happened…

I was on my van route throughout the city to provide transportation for girls to attend our Bible Study at Teen Haven York. As we drove one of the students, Cecilia*, told me that she gave her life to Christ this past weekend at Teen Haven Camp! She told me that Mr. Vinny (our Camp Field Director) shared in chapel about how loving God and loving others are the expression of our belief in Christ. Then she explained that she learned how this type of love is actually ‘fruit’ in our relationship with God. I was ecstatic to hear of her application of his teaching, because she was challenged by our theme of ‘bearing fruit’ for God. She even told me that her experience at Teen Haven Camp, “was the greatest weekend of her life.”

As I listened to Cecilia’s* enthusiasm and newfound faith my heart rejoiced at the way God is working in her life. Throughout our evening of Bible Study with the 12 girls, it was so exciting to see them all learning and growing together.

Please join me in praying for Cecilia* and the other girls involved in our programs at Teen Haven. Pray that they would continue to discover God’s love, and learn that he wants to bring them healing freedom and joy! Also, pray for us as we continue to work to reach out to others here in our community, that God would bring us those that need Him most!

Alex Mikusow, Teen Haven, York City Field Director
*name changed

This Spring, we’re inviting you to revive your partnership with Water Street Ministries. Through your prayers and your giving, you can revive lives and advance God’s Kingdom.

Will you join us?
- Send a special gift this Spring. Donate online.
- We welcome your wisdom and counsel. Email us at Contact@WaterStreetMinistries.org.
- Commit to pray for God’s wisdom, provision, and the organization as a whole. Sign up for our Prayer Calendar.

For more information, visit www.WaterStreetMinistries.org/Revive, email Contact@WaterStreetMinistries.org or call Keith at (717) 358-2010.