Downtown Rescue Mission June 2017 Newsletter

MISSIONM MENTS June 2017

M Y G O O D, G O O D

Father

HIS LOVING ARMS

He will always accept us back into His loving arms

B KEITH OVERHOLT, MBA President/CEO

“JUST AS A FATHER HAS COMPASSION ON HIS CHILDREN, SO THE LORD HAS COMPASSION ON THOSE WHO FEAR HIM.” Psalm 103:13

eing a father is one of the greatest joys of my life.

God truly blessed me with two wonderful girls who are both the apple of their Daddy’s eye. There is not anything I would not do to keep them safe and healthy, but there is one thing I can’t do for them that has to be their own decision, and that is to receive Jesus as their personal Savior and live their life for Him. I am so thankful that both of my daughters have already made that decision.

Thinking of Father’s Day always reminds me of the parable of the Prodigal Son. The son asked to leave his father and take his portion of his inheritance and even though the father loved him dearly, he did as his son asked. During the son’s travels, he wasted all of his inheritance on foolish things.

He eventually ended up eating with the pigs in the pigsty. The son finally humbled himself and traveled back to his father to ask to be one of his servants. When the

HOPE LIVES HERE

father saw the son walking towards him, he greeted him with great joy!

His wayward son had returned and the father threw him big a party.

Here at the Mission, we see many folks who have gone astray from their Heavenly Father. They have chosen paths that I am sure have saddened God. In fact, we have all at one point in our lives chosen incorrect paths. The wonderful thing about our Heavenly Father is that He will always accept us back into His loving arms.

It is an amazing thing to see the people who come to the Mission turn their lives back to God or accept the gift of salvation for the first time. Just as I find great delight in my own daughters, I know that God our Heavenly Father is overjoyed when someone turns from their worldly lifestyle and comes back home to Him.

Meet Scott, a graduate of Downtown Rescue Mission’s discipleship recovery program. Check out his story & our new website at www.downtownrescuemission.org

MISSIONMOMENTS | June 2017

M Y G O O D, G O O D

Father

G

rowing up in Russia without a father in an orphanage is one of the hardest things for a child. My father left me on the street at the age of two. I do not remember one moment with him or my mother. An older woman found me and took me to an orphanage. Those at the orphanage became my family.

The older boys became my big brothers, and I learned to do everything they did. They taught me everything from how things operated in the orphanage and how to fight to how to play sports and which lines to cross within the orphanage because they were rebels. When fights broke out, no staff members stopped them because that was not their job and they did not want to get stabbed. Those who ran the orphanage were only responsible for feeding us, making us sleep, and do our homework. Their job was not to love us but discipline us. Most orphans ended up as members of mafias or being recruited for the army. The army began training orphans when they turned five years old. This is all you had to look forward to in life as a second-class citizen; most orphans died before they turned twenty.

“IT WAS THROUGH MY PARENT’S LOVE FOR ME AND THEIR CHRIST-LIKE EXAMPLE THAT I SAW THE FATHER’S LOVE FOR ME” I remember hearing about Jesus when I was six.

American missionaries came and preached to us in the orphanage. I had never heard of Jesus before, I had only heard about the virgin Mary. You can say seeds were planted in my young heart that would eventually, many years later, grow into salvation. It was only after being adopted by a Christian family from America at age ten that I learned more about Christ. They had me in church every time the doors

were open. I wish I could say that my eight siblings and I, all who were adopted, grew in Christ and talked about Him regularly but we often just fought and argued with each other. We were not used to being shown affection and told what was right and wrong. However, it was through my parent’s constant, unyielding love for me and their Christ-like example that I saw the Father’s love for me and gave my life to Him when I was fourteen.

I have been through many things in my life and have felt many emotions, such as loneliness, anger, and hopelessness. However, by God’s grace, I have been accepted as His son, a co-heir with Christ, through faith in Christ’s finished work on the cross.

I can truly say that He has never left me or forsaken me. I am loved and have been redeemed. I give all of my praise to the One who first chose me, adopted me into His royal family, and sent Godly parents to illustrate this truth firsthand.

Ivan London

MISSIONMOMENTS | June 2017

HAROLD BREWER Mission

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IN MY WORDS

t Intuitive Research and Technology Corporation (INTUITIVE) we feel that it is extremely important to give back to our community. Through community service, donations, and monetary contributions, we are working to make a positive difference in the lives of the people that live in Huntsville/Madison County. The Huntsville/Madison County community is important to INTUITIVE because that is where the majority of our employees live, work, and play. When our community is strong and thriving, our employees have a better way of life.

“SOME OF OUR BIGGEST, MOST IMPACTFUL COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECTS ARE WITH THE DOWNTOWN RESCUE MISSION.” INTUITIVE employees want to give back to their community, but sometimes it’s difficult to make a difference on your own. It is important for us to offer ways that we can all work together and allow employees opportunities to get involved during their work time.

Some of our biggest, most impactful community service projects are with the Downtown Rescue Mission. By the third week of November, the hallways at our headquarters are piled high with over a thousand boxes of macaroni and cheese, stuffing, and mashed potatoes. This is part of our Thanksgiving food drive in support of the Downtown Rescue Mission. Once employees have collected enough boxes of grocery items and toiletries, the Downtown Rescue Mission truck will pick up the items from our office. The items

are then assembled into boxes and delivered to lowerincome families to enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner. Many of our employees volunteer to deliver the food boxes throughout the community.

As soon as Thanksgiving is over, our employees are at it again collecting donations for the Downtown Rescue Mission Christmas Toy Drive. We spend the first three weeks in December collecting toys for underprivileged children in the Huntsville/Madison County community.

In addition to supporting to the Downtown Rescue Mission, INTUITIVE employees also contribute to Care Assurance System for the Aging and Homebound (CASA) and deliver needed items to local animal shelters. While our focus is on helping children, seniors and homeless animals, our charity organizers try to incorporate projects for other charities in the area. We sponsor different 5k races, participate in the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Bike Ride, and other various events.

Our charity coordinators do a great job at organizing community service projects throughout the year that excite our employees and encourage them to get involved. INTUITIVE has a responsibility to act as a corporate citizen to help build a better community.

While working together to build a better city, we are in turn building a stronger company! It feels good to make a difference in the community where you live or work. When we work together as a team, we can accomplish big things! The positive feelings we share through community service helps drive better day-today business for INTUITIVE. - Harold Brewer, Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board / President of Intuitive Research and Technology Corporation

MISSIONMOMENTS | June 2017

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ebuilt is a weekend men’s conference geared toward discipleship. The goal is equip the church with tools for biblical multiplication. It is not a program, but is an honest look at practical and biblical discipleship. Why? We desperately need a strong community of disciples who are making disciples. This is the biblical way we will see our community changed by the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Tim Lafleur will be our keynote speaker for the conference. He served as the campus minister for 20

years at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, LA. He pastored various sized churches for 30 years, many even while at Nicholls. Tim was the Disciplemaking pastor at Brainerd Baptist Church for 4 years. He assisted in expanding the discipleship ministry from 12 the first year to over 1,200 in 2015. He currently serves as the Campus Development Pastor at Long Hollow Baptist Church in Hendersonville, TN. Mark your calendars for FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY, AUGUST 25-26, 2017, at the Downtown Rescue Mission. The cost is $45.00 per person and includes your conference fees and a copy of the book Growing Up: How to Be a Disciple Who Makes Disciples. Sponsorships are also available, including event sponsorship, disciple tickets (12 tickets for the price of ten), and program ad spaces. For more information, please contact Tonia at 256-713-4343 or tonia@downtownrescuemission.org.

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hen the church becomes an end in itself, it ends. When Sunday school, as great as it is, becomes an end in itself, it ends. When small groups ministry becomes an end in itself, it ends. When the worship service becomes an end in itself, it ends. What we need is for discipleship to become the goal, and then the process never ends. The process is fluid. It is moving. It is active. It is a living thing. It must continue to go on. Every disciple must make disciples.”

Tim Lafleur

— Robby Gallaty, Growing Up: How to Be a Disciple Who Makes Disciples

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FATHER’S DAY SALES

ark your calendars for our upcoming Father’s Day Sales on Friday and Saturday, June 16-17! Our seven area thrift store locations will be discounting men’s clothing, sporting goods, and electronics by 50%, mattresses by 30%, and furniture by 20%. Thank you for supporting our stores and helping us provide hope to so many lives throughout the Tennessee Valley. For more information, please go to https://www.downtownrescuemission.org/what-we-do/thrift-stores.

MISSIONMOMENTS | June 2017

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e would like to thank COLSA Corporation and BBB North Alabama for their sponsorship of our inaugural HOPE MULTIPLIED community match campaign! Through their generosity and the donations of our amazing donors, we have been able to see the hope of the gospel multiplied at DRM.

HELPING CHANGE LIVES EVERY DAY! Statistics for April 2017 Meals Served Lodging

INDEPENDENCE DAY PICNIC

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n Monday, July 3, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., friends, neighbors, employees, families, and guests are invited to join us for an afternoon of FUN celebrating both our Nation’s freedom and freedom in Christ. This year’s event includes a BBQ Cook-off contest, Kids Zone, Face Painting, and Karaoke!

To sponsor this event, please contact Tonia Beverly at 256.713.4343 or tonia@ downtownrescuemission.org.

If you are interested in participating in the BBQ Cook-off contest, please contact John Niemeyer at 256.713.4311 or john.niemeyer@downtownrescuemission.org.

We thank Northrop Grumman for sponsoring this community-wide celebration event!

WAYS YOU CAN GET INVOLVED

20,355 5,667 835

Food Boxes

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to help the Downtown Rescue Mission care for the homeless/hurting people of our community!

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Downtown Rescue Mission 1400 Evangel Drive Huntsville, AL 35816

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Visit us online at downtownrescuemission.org or call 256-536-2441

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1400 Evangel Drive, Huntsville, AL 35816 256-536-2441

www.downtownrescuemission.org