Rescue Mission staff and supporters, after much thought and discussion the board and I have decided to spin off a department of the Rescue Mission, the Jail Ministry at the Pierce County Jail. Our hope is that the Jail Ministry will continue to serve at the Pierce County Jail, but as an independent ministry or as a part of a larger Prison Ministry.
In anticipation of some of the questions you may be curious about, let me give you some information about how the process will work and the factors that led to the decision.
1: The Rescue Mission has for the past 5 years been seeking to continually focus on those services that are fundamental to the core purpose: Providing help, hope and healing for the homeless. The Jail Ministry is definitely a life transforming program, but it is also a very specific kind of ministry which is not exactly in our core services. There are however, several local organizations that focus solely on reaching those who are incarcerated. If we can find such a partner, it would afford the Jail Ministry better growth and collaboration opportunities. The Rescue Mission will continue to be a resource for the Jail Ministry in the future. 2. We have had several conversations with other agencies about a potential partnership, but have no solid plans at this time. 3. Chaplin Rich and his staff are a blessing to the Pierce County Jail and to the Rescue Mission and our hope is that any partnership would consider their faithful service. 4. We have spoken with Chaplin Rich about the Jail Ministry becoming independent and we remain open to this option. 5. The Rescue Mission will do all we can to make sure that there is no lapse of service at the Jail. 6. The Rescue Mission is in a contractual agreement with the Pierce County Jail and we will be working to resolve any issues that may arise from any future partnership. 7. There is no time-table for this transfer of responsiblity, our first goal is that we find an arrangement that will best suit the future growth of the Jail Ministry while allowing the Rescue Mission to focus on our core outreach to the homeless.
I hope you’ll all be prayerful and supportive of the great folks at the Jail Ministry and for the best possible outcome for future effective ministry. Please know that I’d be glad to talk with anyone who has any questions or concerns about this move to help you better understand how this decision was made. Please contact myself or Jann Sonntag to set up an appointment.
I’ve written in the past about making a STOP-DOING List, a list of those things which you have been doing because they seemed like the right thing to do- but now are not longer carrying the same value or punch that they once did. I’m also big on making To-Do lists and goals so that you can be sure of doing first things first and not being carried about by what is urgent but not important.
Today i ran across a document on my iphone from October of 2009 which a STOP-DOING list I made after listening to a inspirational talk from John Pearson at his Management Buckets Seminar. I’d forgotten about this particular list but I was please to see that I had already ’stopped doing’ 4 of the 5 things that were on the list!
When I saw the list all the frustration and anxiety I had about not doing those things came flooding back to me. Yet when I looked at the list I also know that I’ve not missed any of those activities and I’ve got more time to do the truly productive things.
It’s hard to let go of some tasks and activities that you’ve always done, but there is so much power and freedom in focusing on those few things that are REALLY critical to your success and happiness.
(for those staff of the Rescue Mission, please continue to look for tasks, duties, forms, events that we’ve been perpetuating that no longer are connected to our core purpose of LIFE TRANSFORMATION. Feel free to talk through with your director how you can refine your job and focus on the truly important things. We love to add new thing, but we also need to develop the talent of editing as we grow.)
Thanks to some friends in the community I was hooked up with Comcast Newsmakers/CNN Headline news for an interview about family homelessness and our Adams St. Family Campus.
Here is the video. Tell me what you think about it.
To my surprise I received a call from the News Tribune Friday afternoon informing me that a complaint had been filed by the Americans for the Separation of Church and State to the Obama Administration asking that a $350,000 grant to the Rescue Mission for our Adams St. Family Campus be revoked.
While I’m not going to respond officially to the complaint unless asked to by the Administration, I do have a few thoughts on the subject.
1. Christians must not be discriminated against. We have just as much right to build shelters for homeless families as any other group and any suggestion otherwise must be challenged.
2. Providing we abide by the rules/laws of such funding, we should be able to apply and use public funds when we provide a public service, which we most certainly do.
You can see my other responses to the charges in the article linked. Tell me what you think.
With all the problems and challenges that clients of Rescue Mission’s both here in Pierce County and around the country are facing, why do we maintain focus on development of the spirit and the mind as the priority in our programs? With all the people living on the streets, hungry, struggling with raising families out of a van and on the move, shouldn’t housing be the top priority?
In a simple answer, NO.
That’s not to say that we ignore the practical challenges that people are facing, quite the opposite. Shelter, transitional housing, feeding programs and other practical services are fundamental to our work getting people off the streets and back into productive lives.
Fundamental, but not the ultimate priority.
Here’s the important lesson: Contentment and strength come from the inside. Many people pursue products, money, and a better house looking for happiness and contentment. Some find out that those things alone won’t bring happiness. That is why we focus on HOPE. Hope is a spiritual component. Happiness is an inside job.
This truth isn’t true for productive Americans, but not false for the poor. No, stuff won’t bring happiness to the homeless either. Only by addressing the needs of the spirit and mind can we help them get contentment and build a happy, healthy life and family.
Let’s keep building housing and shelter for those without a place to lay their heads, and do so with a passion so that no man/woman/child has to sleep on the streets. Let us continue to feed those who are hungry and hurting because they have physical lack in their lives.
But as we do those things, let us not think that these things alone will bring happiness. Body, Mind and SPIRIT.
Recently I ran across a twitter post from Kevin Smolker, CEO of BookTour.com about the fact that one of my favorite authors Malcolm Gladwell had eschewed the use of facebook and twitter. Here is the link to the Globe and Mail article from Canada that interviewed Gladwell and prompted this blog post. It’s an interesting and quick read.
Even before this interview I’d noticed that Gladwell hadn’t been on any social media. His absence is notable due to his penning the book that started a new understanding of how people start ’social epidemics’ The TIPPING POINT. Since my first observsation I noticed that some people had used Malcolm as a example for why you don’t need to be on any social media.
As I have said before on this blog, I think Facebook and Twitter can be an enormously powerful tool for good and that every non-profit, church, leader needs to jump in and find out how and why these tools can be useful in the future. Having said that, clearly there are exceptions to this rule. Here are a few that are highlighted by the interview with Malcolm Gladwell and a few of my own.
1. You Already Are So Famous/Successful that It Just Degrades Your Brand. In his funny book B- movie actor Leslie Nielson once stated that the less an actor works the more he gets paid for his work. Until before long, he’s being paid 5-10 Million to NOT act in movies. As humorous as that is, it’s true. The great actors limit themselves to the big movies where they can make a mark. Another way to look at it, there’s a reason Ashton Kuchar is on twitter and Bruce Willis is not. Ashton is doing amazing things and is incredibly innovative, but if he were as famous as Bruce Willis would he ever have had to do those things to get noticed? Probably not. Most don’t have an over-exposure problem. In fact they are not getting their message out.
2. You already have major outlets for your ideas/message. When Malcolm Gladwell writes a book it becomes #1 on the New York Times list immediately. He writes for the New Yorker and his ideas are spread by his fans all over the internet. You and I? Not so much. We need to find new ways to reach out to those who care about our ideas/values/Mission.
3. You don’t have anything to say and nobody to connect with. Some people really do love and feel the need to be isolated. But for the rest of us who want to connect with our kids, grandkids, friends, and lost acquaintances these kids of tools are fun and useful.
In the end it’s up to you to make it something meaningful or just a obnoxious intrusion into your life.
First off it needs to be said that I’ve long admired Mandela for his moral leadership in the face of what can only be called the evil behavior of the South African government that held the majority black population as second class citizens, and who held him as a political prisoner for decades in the prime of his life. Despite this repression, Mandela stood tall. And while he himself would be the first to admit that not every political decision he made was right, on the major issue of his stand – that every man is equal and should be allowed a vote – he was right on.
This book was terrific, full of practical advise and each lesson laced with great personal insights from Mandela’s personal life. How do we know that these insight’s ring true? Because Richard Stengel is personal relationship with Nelson Mandela, forged over years of being his personal biographer, has given him an insiders perspective of Mandela’s life.
Stengel is quick to reveal that Mandela is not a saint, and gives us an honest and unvarnished view of the man who was the historical leader. Nevertheless, there are many great lessons for us everyday leaders and many things to admire about the man.
Although I’m not going to recite all the lessons in this book, suffice to say that it’s strongest lessons are that Mandela was a mature, courageous leader who used patience and strategic leadership to overturn one of the greatest injustices of modern time, and he did so in a peaceful way.
While there are some who are slow to admit it, we’ve all done things that we regret and if we had a chance might do over differently. Without the realization that we have made mistakes, we’re unlikely to have any useful reflection that will help us to avoid those same mistakes in the future. Learning from our past failures is how we make a better decision in the future.
If you are struggling with moving beyond your mistakes and pains here are a few things to remember:
1. Don’t sacrifice the future for the past. While it’s natural to re-visit the past, it’s not healthy to live there indefinitely. At some point replaying the past begins to hurt your present and threaten your future. Often when someone leaves an old job for a new one, they will spend an inappropriate amount of time talking about their past job at the new employer. Big mistake. The current employer begins to get the feeling that you aren’t living the present, appreciating the job you have RIGHT NOW. So it is with relationships as well, and with many other things. Live in the moment.
2. Seek Forgiveness/Resolution. Sometimes you can’t put the past behind you because you have unfinished business. The best thing to do is to see forgiveness, or if you are the one who has been wronged, a resolution. Often you’ll not get the resolution you desired, but it will at least close that chapter and help you move on. Seek forgiveness if you are the offender, and readily offer forgiveness if you have been offended. Don’t let past offenses ruin your present.
3. Live Totally in the Present. Starting new goals, challenges and healthier habits is the best and fastest way to put old things behind you. If you are still living in your mess, you’ll just be continuing in the old rut. Break out and start some great new habits. Before long the past will be the past and you’ll be living the life God had always designed for you to live.
What are some ways you’ve learned to put the old things behind you?
Many people do not live, instead they suffer, get sick, spend their time waiting for stuff to happen or watch others do life instead of living life themselves. This is called EXISTING. Instead, start living.
As much as we hate to admit it when we are in the midst of painful, trying seasons of life, many of the greatest breakthroughs in our understanding and personal & spiritual growth come as a result of the testing we face at those times.
Painful seasons of life, whether they come as a result of your own mistakes, circumstance beyond your control, or the carelessness of others, can help us to repair and prepare for future usefulness. But only if we are open to the possibility and are willing to accept the painful lessons these seasons bring.
Don’t be too proud, or too hurt, to consider that GREAT THINGS CAN COME FROM PAINFUL SEASONS.
