Mission Moments January 2023

KEITH OVERHOLT, MBA President/CEO

This year (2023), will be my 24th year at the Downtown Rescue Mission. Wow, the time has flown by!  I was only 30 years old when I started working at this wonderful ministry. During those years the Mission has seen tremendous growth and expansion.

hope — help to overcome hunger, homelessness, addiction and abuse, and eternal hope that can only be found in Jesus Christ.

GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL NATIONS, BAPTIZING THEM IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND OF THE SON AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND TEACHING THEM TO OBEY EVERYTHING I HAVE COMMANDED YOU....”

In my first year (2000), we served around 95,000 meals. Last year (2022), we served over 325,000 meals.  Our recovery program averaged around 25 men and women my first year, and now we average 90 men and women in our Life Transformation Program.  Back then, we slept an average of about 100 men and women per night, and now we average 287 men, women and children.

It’s amazing to see the growth throughout the years and the many outreaches and ministries that have been added, but the main purpose of the Mission has always stayed the same. No matter how many meals we serve or how many times our beds are slept in, the only thing that truly matters is sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Through the years, our goal has been to offer help and

This year, we are planning for more growth, but that growth only matters if we can continue to share the Gospel.  That is why we do not accept any Federal, state or local funding that would hinder sharing salvation through Jesus Christ.

We depend on our donors and our thrift store sales to help us maintain our Christ-centered ministries where we are not hindered by any regulation that would interfere with our main purpose of sharing God’s love.  We will always stand on “The Great Commission” in Matthew 28, where we will go out and make disciples and baptize them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Thank you for supporting the ministries of the Downtown Rescue Mission!

Happy New Year!

“THEREFORE

“NOW, I AM NOT PERFECT, ONLY GOD IS PERFECT. I AM WORKING ON THINGS. THE DOWNTOWN RESCUE MISSION IS A BLESSING FROM ABOVE. A STEPPING STONE IN GETTING BETTER. A SOLID FOUNDATION THAT WILL NOT CRUMBLE OR FALL DOWN.”

I always said that I was never too old to learn new tricks, never too old to learn, and be open. I got to a point where I have reached the bottom. Do I learn from what happened to get me to that bottom? Or do I plead insanity and continue doing the same thing, expecting a new response? It was time for me to have a new response. It took me some time to get to a place

where I knew that I needed to ask for help. I needed to make some changes and it was time

I am currently here at the Downtown Rescue Mission with my son. I will not get into all that I’ve been thru to get here. I just strongly believe that I had to go through everything to get here. Would not change anything that I went through to get here. No matter how bad it was. It molded me / God molded me into what I am today. Now, I am not perfect, only God is perfect. I am working on things. The Downtown Rescue Mission is a blessing from above. A stepping stone in getting better. A solid foundation that will not crumble or fall down.

MISSION IN MY WORDS

SHARING GOD’S LOVE WITH OTHERS

Iam so thankful that God led me to the Downtown Rescue Mission. I teach a couple of mornings a week and get to babysit on other mornings for moms so they can attend class. I have taught four classes: Steps, Jesus in Me, Recovering Redemption, and Who Am I: My Identity in Christ. The women of Owen’s House are committed to learning about the truths of the Gospel, which I know changes lives.

We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. God in His graciousness sent His son Jesus to pay the price for my sin so that I could be made right before God. I am filled with gratitude for what Jesus did and is doing in my life, and I am thankful that I can be useful through the grace and mercy of God in telling others about our precious Savior. It has been a joy to meet the ladies, hear their stories, and witness lives being changed for eternity. They have been such an encouragement to me. I look forward to spending time with them each week.

The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. The Downtown Rescue Mission is all about sharing God’s love with others and discipling them in what it means to experience true repentance and fellowship with God through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. To God’s glory, lives are being changed forever!

Hello,

my name is Lori and I have been teaching as a volunteer since January 2012.

At this time, I am privileged to teach three classes: The Book of John, The Weaving of God’s Love, and Dangerous Prayers All three books have been written and designed to meet the specific needs of the ladies.

Part of my job in teaching the ladies is watching the transformation God performs in their lives. Having them for their first two phases of the program allows me the honor of laying down a strong foundation in their relationship with Christ.

I look forward to another ten years with the Downtown Rescue Mission if God allows it.

–Lori

RAYTHEON TECHNOLOGIES

Technologies began partnering with Downtown Rescue Mission in 2020 as part of the company’s efforts to ease food insecurity in Huntsville. The company sponsored the annual Thanksgiving Turkey Box Drive, and 70 employees came to help box up the Thanksgiving sides that Sunday before the holiday. Employees were thrilled for the opportunity to help so many families here in Huntsville and to bring their own families along to help with the cause.

Raytheon

Raytheon has continued to partner with Downtown Rescue Mission for the Turkey Box Drive as well as other projects, like creating a vegetable garden for the Mission’s kitchens and helping serve breakfast to

the male residents. Employees are excited to give their time to the Mission and to see the impact they can make to ease food insecurity and share kindness, love, and compassion with those who need it.

We are grateful for the Mission’s partnership and for the positive impact the staff and volunteers are making in our community.

–Natalie CSR Manager