Gospel Rescue Mission

We've said it before - and perhaps it has been mentioned in this blog before - but the Rescue Mission of the Mahoning Valley is a gospel rescue mission cleverly disguised as a homeless shelter. Our intention is not to only provide food and shelter for those who experience homelessness due to unexpected life situations, we desire to give more. So, the question is, "what is a gospel rescue mission?"

The word rescue is important. If we were only a homeless shelter, then providing shelter would be our aim. Getting people off the streets would be our major concern. But the idea of "rescue" implies more than providing shelter. It implies hope; it implies a change in the circumstances that led to the situation.

We are a rescue mission. The word "mission" often conjures up images of soup lines, panhandlers, or even primitive people who live in rain forests or jungles waiting for a missionary to bring civilization to them. For us, we view what we do as a mission - a task to which we have been appointed by the Lord of the Harvest (Matthew 9:36-38).

Further, we are a gospel rescue mission. We are commissioned by the Lord of the Harvest to rescue people with the gospel of Christ. Only the gospel can effect the change necessary to address the problems of the human situation. Certainly, we want to clothe, feed, and shelter people. Certainly we want to move people out of crisis situations and help them to become productive members of society. Certainly we want to help break the cycle of poverty and dependency. But all of these are symptoms of the larger issue: we live in a world that is broken and marred by sinfulness and dysfunction, and only redemption in Christ can provide the necessary resources to overcome the vicious cycle.

So, this is what a gospel rescue mission does, as our purpose statement declares: "the purpose of the Rescue Mission of the Mahoning Valley is to serve and glorify God through Christ-centered outreach of love and compassion that responds to the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of disadvantaged men, women, and children without regard to race, color or creed." By God's grace,
as he works through others to work beside us, this is what we endeavor to do.