Change

In anticipation of our 125th anniversary year in 2018, we are compiling information to trace the history of our Mission. One important feature has emerged: over the century and a quarter of our existence, the Mission has sought to minister to the changing needs of our culture. What began as an outreach to teach English and basic academic skills to immigrant children and their families, has now become an emergency overnight shelter that ministers to men, women, and children in crisis situations, including mental health issues, substance abuse, economic disadvantages, and a host of other situations.

One thing we have learned - and are still learning - is that we cannot do ministry "the way it's always been done." While our core values and statement of faith do not change, our methods must. This was recently brought home by this passage in a commentary on the book of Ecclesiastes. Douglas Sean O'Donnell is the author of this volume in the Reformed Expository Commentary. Commenting on Eccl. 7:8-9, O'Donnell writes:

Say not, "Why were the former days better than these?" For it is not from wisdom that you ask this (Eccl. 7:10). To paraphrase, "Ah, the good old days! When I was a boy, gas was a nickel a gallon and young men wore their trousers above their bottoms, not below." Nostalgia of this sort nauseates Pastor Solomon, for he knows, as we all should know, that each age has its own opportunities and challenges, and we cannot face the challenges of our age by pining after another. Such praise of the past prove our impatience with the present. So let's come down from our pride-in-the-past pedestal (v.8) and give today's generation a shot. You never know, "the end of a thing" might be better than its beginning" (v.8).

What will the issues be if we are allotted another 125 years of existence? Whatever they may be, our prayer is that we are flexible enough to meet those needs in an efficient, God-honoring way.

The Sky is Falling, The Sky is Falling

At least that's what it felt like when another piece of the ceiling fell in the Development Office. This is where the daily mail is opened and the donations are processed. Had this piece of plaster fallen 30 minutes later, Sandy, one of our long serving, faithful volunteers, would be washing plaster dust from her hair.

Here is but another indication that we need to "Move Our Mission." This latest mishap did not result from wild parties and heavy dancing on the floor above. It is simply a by-product of the age and strain upon this grand old building. Formerly a YMCA whose construction was completed in 1930, these facilities have served us well since 1971. We have the opportunity to construct a new building to meet the needs of the population we serve. You can be involved in this and help us ""Move Our Mission" by following the link. 

Home Opener

As a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization, we are careful to maintain a strict non-partisan position - except when it comes to sports! Though we have many fans of various teams represented among our staff and guests, we do love our Indians.

The Cleveland Indians Home Opener is April 11. To honor the Indians and encourage them to another World Series run - and to raise funds to help minister to the needy in our valley - the Mission is asking companies, large and small, to sponsor a Cleveland Indians Dress Down Day. This involves wearing your favorite Indians gear in exchange for a donation to the Rescue Mission. For details, visit our Facebook page or our web page. Cheer on the Tribe and support a worthy cause in your community.

Heroin and Homelessness

It is all over the newspaper and the TV news. Heroin use in the Mahoning Valley is at epidemic proportions. This can be seen by the rash of overdoses that have been reported. Just this week, the Youngstown Vindicator keyed in on one of a series of panel discussions being held in Warren, OH. Warren (in Trumbull County) is just to the north of Youngstown and makes up part of what is considered the Mahoning (River) Valley.

According to the Trumbull County Coroner's office, five people died of drug overdoses between March 1 and 7... Sixteen people are believed to have died from drug overdoses so far in March. The county had a record high 104 overdose deaths in 2016 after a record number of 87 in 2015.

The numbers for Mahoning County are similar. The clear implication is that we are in an epidemic situation. These numbers reflect overdose fatalities, they do not reflect non-fatal overdoses, nor do they begin to address the total picture of heroin use, most of which does not result in overdose.

One of the questions most frequently asked of us concerns this crisis. People wonder how this serious problem impacts what we do at the Mission. This is a good question, but it shows that there is some confusion about the homeless population and about what we do at the Mission.

In the first place, heroin use is not the primary contributing factor in those who experience homelessness, at least as far as national surveys indicate. Granted, homelessness is often secondary to substance abuse, but it is one of many contributors. It is inaccurate to think that a spike in local heroin use translates into an unusual increase in the Mission's population.

Secondly, the Rescue Mission is not a drug or alcohol rehabilitation center. We are not equipped to medically treat individuals with chronic substance abuse issues. Certain kinds of detox require medical monitoring. The Mission is an emergency overnight shelter, not a medical facility.

Here is the bottom line: for the past 4 years, our overnight population has been at 120+, well before the current heroin issue. The reasons for this increase are many and varied. Yes - we do minister to people who are fighting addictions, but we also provide services for children, families, and single individuals - those who may be considered the "working poor" - those who need an opportunity to recover from an unexpected, life-altering event.

Winter Weather

We were supposed to get up to a half of a foot of snow in the Valley. Forecasters painted a picture that caused many schools to close in anticipation of a major snowfall. The reality, however, was not exactly as predicted. This reminds us that weather forecasting includes a lot of variables and often the reality is different than the forecast.

The anticipation of this predicted snow event caused me once again to consider the condition of those who are truly homeless. By "truly homeless" I mean people who are not currently sheltered, either in a homeless shelter, hospital, rescue mission, transitional housing, or who may be staying with a friend or relative because they have no fixed address. There are people who actually live on the streets - staying wherever they can find shelter from the weather: at the bus station, in abandon buildings, in doorways, or under bridges.

By all estimates, the Mahoning Valley has relatively few unsheltered individuals - but there are some. When the wind chill falls to the single digits - as it is now - some of these people will find shelter in the Rescue Mission. Even a few people who may be unsheltered in these conditions are too many.

The Rescue Mission of the Mahoning Valley is a warm, safe place for anyone who wants to escape exposure to the harsh weather. Help us spread the word.

Move Our Mission

This is the year that we have launched the project to "Move Our Mission." Here is an excerpt from the Executive Summary that speaks to the need for a new facility:

The Rescue Mission of the Mahoning Valley is a Christian organization, founded upon and grounded in biblical principles. The Mission serves as an instrument of God delivering the Gospel message. It is a Christ-centered outreach of love and compassion that sustains its long practice of service to the community since its 1893 founding in Mahoning County.

 Throughout the shelter's history, the work of the staff, the board and thousands of volunteers is framed by Christian principles tirelessly applied, relentlessly facing head-on the challenges presented by the homeless and hopeless individuals delivered to its doors. By the grace of God and within the Mission's safe environment, many are equipped with the tools necessary to escape their circumstances and move from the margins of society into the main stream. The Mission helps the underserved to meet these challenges every day. At the same time, the Mission faces institutional challenges that must also be met.

Concurrently, the Mission must maintain the aging, deteriorating shelter building while overseeing the construction of a new purpose-built facility. Designed not only for transformation of the homeless, but also to create a community resource center that will expand opportunities for others in the margins of the community - the near homeless and other struggling residents.

The Mission manages its more than $2.0 million cash budget on private contributions including a board-controlled fund of over $650,000. A
s such, Rescue Mission of Mahoning Valley relies completely upon the generosity of businesses, foundations, and residents of the Mahoning Valley. Due to the untenable restrictions of government funding, no direct government support is sought or accepted.

As a result, the Board of Directors has authorized a major capital fundraising campaign to fund the new construction that will provide the proper infrastructure in which to more efficiently execute its ground breaking model. A service that will provide a lasting social, moral, and economic benefit to the homeless, near-homeless, and entire community.

You can learn more about this project by visiting "Move Our Mission."

  

Christmas Wisdom From A Wise Theologian

I recently ran across this from J.I Packer in Knowing God. Wise words indeed!

We talk glibly of the “Christmas spirit,” rarely meaning more by this than sentimental jollity on a family basis. But . . . it ought to mean the reproducing in human lives of the temper of him who for our sakes became poor at the first Christmas. And the Christmas spirit itself ought to be the mark of every Christian all the year round.

It is our shame and disgrace today that so many Christians–I will be more specific: so many of the soundest and most orthodox Christians–go through this world in the spirit of the priest and the Levite in our Lord’s parable, seeing human needs all around them, but (after a pious wish, and perhaps a prayer, that God might meet those needs) averting their eyes and passing by on the other side. That is not the Christmas spirit. Nor is it the spirit of those Christians–alas, they are many–whose ambition in life seems limited to building a nice middle-class Christian home, and making nice middle-class Christian friends, and bringing up their children in nice middle-class Christian ways, and who leave the submiddle-class sections of the community, Christian and non-Christian, to get on by themselves.

The Christmas spirit does not shine out in the Christian snob. For the Christmas spirit is the spirit of those who, like their Master, live their whole lives on the principle of making themselves poor–spending and being spent–to enrich their fellow humans, giving time, trouble, care and concern, to do good to others–and not just their own friends–in whatever way there seems need.

There are not as many who show this spirit as there should be. If God in mercy revives us, one of the things he will do will be to work more of this spirit in our hearts and lives. If we desire spiritual quickening for ourselves individually, one step we should take is to seek to cultivate this spirit. “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, than though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5). “I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart” (Psalm 119:32 KJV)