Rescue Portland October 2012
Under the Bridge God Pulled Kristie Out of Danger and Despair Kristie shivered, half-asleep and dazed as she lay on the cold cement. Cars whizzed above her across a bridge in Portland, a world away from the stench and filth around her. Kristie was... - Continues inside -
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Hope is Hope a Dangerous Thing Thing is a Dangerous Have you felt the total darkness of a hopeless situation? Kristie felt it in her heart as she stared up beneath a Portland bridge – utterly alone. Kevin felt it as he poisoned his body with alcohol, willing himself to die. Both of these hurting souls represent a plague of hopelessness in the men and women who come to the Mission for daily survival. They suffer internally in a cauldron of anger, hurt, isolation and fear. Thanks to the support of friends like you, we’re able to offer them meals, shelter, a welcome smile, a refuge of safety – and something incredibly powerful: HOPE. A classic line from “The Hunger Games,” one of this summer’s blockbuster movies, sticks in my mind: “Hope is the only thing stronger than fear.” The film’s villain, in a tyrannical reign of oppression, says of the people under his power: “A little hope is effective. A lot of hope is dangerous.” So it is with the homeless men and women we serve. We often find that as they receive food and care from us, a little hope begins to take root. As we learn their names and listen to their stories, hope grows. For the men and women who embrace recovery, hope bursts forth into purpose and life. And hope doesn’t end there. The hope that Kristie and Kevin have experienced inevitably touches others. They can’t help but share the healing work Christ has done in their hearts. Hope spreads to other hurting people and new seeds of transformation are sown.
P.O. Box 3713 Portland, OR 97208-3713 503-MISSION (647-7466) www.PortlandRescueMission.org
Mission Needs Socks are a constant need for men and women on the streets. We also need: • New undergarments • Blankets • Backpacks • Deodorant (spray or solid) • Disposable razors • Toothbrushes • Toothpaste • Travel-size toiletries • Jeans • Life Recovery Bibles (NLT)
Thanks for helping us do a dangerous thing. Thanks for giving hope.
• Yard equipment: mowers, weed-eaters, leaf blowers, garden soil and pea gravel
Praising Him for His provision,
• Office furniture: conference table (8‘ x 4‘) with 10 chairs • Couch/chair set Eric Bauer Executive Director P.S. – Thanksgiving is coming quickly. We’re gearing up to serve 46,000 meals in the next two months. Your special holiday gift will help feed and care for hurting people this holiday season. Thanks.
Please bring donations to the Burnside Shelter at 111 W. Burnside, Portland, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Short-term street parking is usually available at our front door.
Next Step Renovation Work is under way to renovate Next Step, our men’s addiction recovery site in northeast Portland. The expansion will double our capacity, leaving more space for emergency care (meals, shelter, relationship-building) with homeless men and women at the Burnside Shelter downtown. The project will be complete in summer 2013.
see the bitterness I had, to forgive people who have hurt me. When I do have conflict, I don’t have to react in anger.” Kristie regularly volunteers at our Administration Office, picking up valuable workplace skills to help her in future employment.
The guilt melted away too. Kristie had built up many regrets over her addiction, her failed marriage and the turmoil it caused for her son.
“Forgiving myself was a huge step for me. I feel like God is giving me a clean heart.” Kristie’s son, now an adult, sees
Under the Bridge (continued from front cover) ...completely alone – and frightened. ...completely alone – and frightened. Despair overwhelmed Kristie. “I was so emotionally
the change in her and has reached out to restore their relationship. “I’m finally doing something right in my life,” she says. “I’ve broken a lot of trust with him, and I’m gaining that back. I hope that God restores our relationship more as we spend time together.” Thanks to the support of friends like you, Kristie found refuge, healing and the first steps toward a life filled with hope. Counseling, spiritual renewal and life skills at the
tired that I just wanted to crawl under a rock and not even
Mission have given her stability and confidence. She looks
live at that point,” she recalls. “I was so sick. But I kept on
forward to college and a career in an office setting.
drinking.“ It wasn’t that Kristie hadn’t tried to get her life together.
God has healed Kristie’s hard and wounded heart into one filled with peace and gratitude. “I have something to
She’d been in and out of recovery for nearly 10 years. But
live for. God loves me and cares for me, and that makes me
none of the treatment programs seemed to get at the root
feel worthy.”
anger that boiled inside her. Kristie hated God, resented people who had hurt her and loathed herself. Unable to deal with those feelings, she repeatedly pushed people away and fell back into addiction. Through an old friend, Kristie found Shepherd’s Door,
Women like Kristie have meals, shelter and hope thanks to your compassionate support. Thank you.
Portland Rescue Mission’s ministry to women and children. She knew some of the women in recovery and was amazed at the changes she saw. “Their faces had softened, their behavior, their actions and their demeanor,” says Kristie. That was the kind of transformation she was starving for. “The recovery process has helped me release those resentments that I built up,” Kristie says. “I’ve been able to
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Kristie recovered from addiction and homelessness. Watch the whole story. www.PortlandRescueMission.org/Kristie
Slow-Motion Suicide I had ruined the best things of my life. I felt like dirt, so I was going to drink myself to death. I called it ‘slow-motion suicide’ because I didn’t have the guts to pull a trigger. Now that Kevin has graduated from the New Life Recovery Program, he’s living on his own and excited about employment opportunities.
“I decided to drink until I was dead.” Like many men and women who come to Portland Rescue Mission for help, Kevin had completely given up. Anguish from his mistakes overwhelmed him. He’d been
get help. But I don’t know where to go.” He remained in the hospital for nearly three weeks and then the counselor helped him get into the Mission. “Portland Rescue Mission has changed my life in every
beaten down so many times, he couldn’t bring himself to get
possible way,” says Kevin. “I didn’t know where to go. I didn’t
up and try again.
have hope. I didn’t have faith. I didn’t believe in myself. The
Kevin felt truly hopeless. Just 17 when he got married, Kevin wasn’t ready for adult life. “I was angry because my father had died, and I took it all out on my wife,” he
Mission helped me find those things again. They brought Jesus back into my life.” Rather than living in regret, Kevin owns his mistakes and
remembers. Then his mother got sick with cancer. Kevin
has moved beyond them. “I don’t have to be that person. I
looked for refuge in alcohol, dooming his marriage further. “I
don’t have to live in the past. There is a way to move forward.”
tried, but it was too little, too late.” His wife left and took their baby son with her. Years later, Kevin wanted to try a second marriage. He
Kevin recently graduated from our New Life Recovery Program. He has housing and is excited about employment opportunities. He eagerly shares his story with others who are
desperately wanted to be a good father and husband. He still
going through tough times to give them hope. His life is filled
carried guilt and shame from the past and remained broken
with purpose. “God lifted me and let me know that He has
inside. After being engaged for two years, his fiancé left, taking
things for me to do yet.”
their nearly two-year-old son with her. Kevin has not seen nor heard from them since. The heartache of his failures destroyed Kevin. “I had ruined the best things of my life. I felt like dirt, so I was going to drink myself to death. I called it ‘slow-motion suicide’ because I
Your gift today will help more men like Kevin escape homelessness and devastating addictions. Thanks.
didn’t have the guts to pull a trigger.” Kevin ended up in intensive care many times. “My heart
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stopped twice. They said if I drank again, it would be the last time. I didn’t have more than two years to live.” A hospital counselor asked Kevin, “What do you want? Do you want to die in here?” Kevin made a choice. “No, I want to
See how Kevin found hope with the New Life Recovery Program.
www.PortlandRescueMission.org/Kevin