Spring Newsletter Highlights
From Digging in Dumpsters to a Restored Life!
On a typical morning before dawn, John would go to the movie theater in Rohnert Park and search through the garbage for popcorn to eat. “I would only eat off the top, because that’s the freshest thrown out food,” he remembers. After a day of drinking stolen alcohol, John would pass out, hoping never to wake up again. A half a dozen times, he nearly got his wish.
It’s hard to say when things started to go wrong for John. One of five children, he was sensitive and quiet. He never felt like he quite fit in. Fear that he would not be accepted made him vulnerable to peer pressure. By 18, he had become a full-blown alcoholic. The rest of his life became a battle to stay sober, broken up by long periods of homelessness and utter despair.
“Just before I came into the Mission, I wanted to die,” John tells us of his final stretch of life on the streets at the age of 57. “I couldn’t believe it when my eyes would blink open each morning. Every time I would think, ‘Oh God, how come I’m alive? ‘” More than half a dozen times, John’s eyes blinked open in a hospital bed. Surprised nurses would tell him, “Wow, you made it!” But the news was not what John wanted to hear. “I’ve got to tell you, I was disappointed,” he shares about his closest calls .
“You’re filthy, you’re
sleeping in the bushes.
By then, no one wants
to help you anymore. If
it wasn’t for Redwood
Gospel Mission, I would
probably be dead.”
Besides suffering from alcohol poisoning on multiple occasions, John was hit by a car and could often be found wandering around bloodied up without knowing why. “I will never forget my children coming to find me and my youngest breaking down and sobbing, saying ‘Dad, what happened to you?’” My face was so bloody and banged up, but that was just normal to me.
Begging to Stay in Jail
On occasion, John would be arrested for being drunk in public or stealing alcohol that he could never afford to buy. Although he begged to be kept in jail so he would have a bed, each time, they held John for 12 hours and then released him back to the streets in the middle of the night. Each time, he would walk the three hours back to Rohnert Park and go back to his nightmare again. “I don’t know why I kept going back to Rohnert Park,” says John, “It was where I lost my last home and so that’s where I stayed.”
Easter Is About Jesus and New Life
John found an unlikely champion in his wife, even though the marriage was in ruins. One day she picked him up and took him to Redwood Gospel Mission. He had been there before but only for a meal and a place to stay. This time, things were different.
“I remember sitting out back at the Mission and I had never really prayed before,” said John. “I looked up in the sky and said, ‘God, I can’t do this anymore. Please help me.’ After that, things started to change.”
" I came to a place of
beingutterly hopeless.
The despair was just
overwhelming."
John stuck out the Mission’s recovery and discipleship programs, growing stronger in his faith and learning ways to face life without alcohol. He had the opportunity to learn basic life skills and to serve others. After graduation, he took a position managing a men’s transitional home, where his experience and hope became a light to others still on the journey of homelessness and addiction. Two years later, he continues working in ministry and finding joy serving the Lord and those in need. Today John tells people:
“Praise God for Redwood Gospel Mission, they led me to God through Jesus Christ. It just changed everything for me. This Easter to me will be about Christ, and about my new life that he’s given me. I just never dreamed this was possible.”
“The new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” 2 Corinthians 5:17
Easter Meals and Hope just $1.79!
Your gift goes far this Easter, thanks to so many caring people who donate food, give their time and share what they have to make this important outreach possible. Just $1.79 is enough to provide a good hot meal . . . even our Easter ham dinner!
God’s Love Made Real
You can trust your meals will be served with the same love and care that we would show to Jesus. You’ll be demonstrating God’s love tangibly by meeting our desperate guest’s most urgent physical need for food, greeting them warmly, looking them in the eye, giving them the dignity they’ve lost be being on the streets.
Who Will You Help?
This Easter, we are seeing more families than ever because of the economy. Some are escaping abuse. We’ll see seniors and the disabled whose fixed incomes have fallen far below what it takes to live. Others have been evicted and sold off everything they’ve owned because they lost their jobs. Without a phone or address, these men and women can’t get work. Without work they can’t buy food. Survival becomes a desperate struggle. Even eating garbage is not out of the question.
New Life Starts with Your Meals!
Each person who receives one of your meals will learn about the true Easter story. They will learn that Jesus’ amazing comeback from death is something that they can experience in their own lives! Not only will you share a message of hope, but your meals also come with an invitation to enroll in our recovery programs. Over the years, hundreds have gone on to productive lives because they first came for meals that friends like you provided. Through practical help and discipleship, moms and dads can get back on their feet and become an example of God’s power to transform lives to their families and often many others.
Please feed as many hungry and hurting men, women and children as you can.
Give to God
“Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward them for what they have done.” Proverbs 19:17
We often think of Christmas as the time to give gifts. But really Easter is when God gave us the greatest gift of all . . . the opportunity to have eternal life through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Doesn’t it make sense to show our gratitude by giving back?
The Bible instructs us that when we give to the poor, we are also giving to God. This Easter, your gift of meals is also a gift to God. Because meals cost just $1.79 each to provide, even children can share in the work of reaching the poor.
Including your children in the act of giving is a great way to teach them compassion and to love the Lord by showing kindness to the poor. For more ideas on how you can make your Easter more meaningful by partnering with the Mission, go to our website at: www.srmission.org
Jeff’s Jots
The poor and needy are so blessed to have a foundation of support that goes deep into our community. Caring friends like YOU understand that your compassion and service to those who have lost all hope changes lives and changes our community. You are feeding the hungry, clothing the poor and offering hope and a new life to those who have no one else.
You can be the difference! You can change lives!
If you are a new friend, I am so excited for you! Your life many never be the same. Rather than donating a few dollars for a temporary feeling of having done something good, you’ve joined with others in Sonoma County who truly want to have a lasting impact on people’s lives.
To help you on your journey, we have dedicated an entire section of our website for articles, Bibles studies, books, classes and other resources to help you become even more effective as an advocate and leader in this life-changing work.
I realize not everyone can get down here and personally minister to our hurting guests. Not everyone can take up a collection or put together an event. But if you have time, talent or other resources, my hope is that you will answer God’s call to share them in the interest of helping the poor that He loves. If life takes you in other directions right now, you can still pray. And those prayers can do a lot of good!
You can see by John’s story what amazing miracles are possible through your support. With Easter just around the corner, I hope you will consider helping with our upcoming meals one of your top priorities. You can be sure God will bless and reward your efforts!
Jeffery W. Gilman