Well, tonight is our board meeting. We are part of the new school of thought which has four board meetings per year. We might call a quick meeting in between if something is pressing. Oh, say... we receive word our Shelter is going to be condemned.

But other than that we fare very well! Tonight is exciting because we are electing two new members to our board: Lila, and Paula. They will share with us THEIR stories and then we'll be on to business as usual.

We have a full schedule tonight. It's our annual budget meeting, so Brian, our Treasurer, will be presenting the numbers. He and Ken and our volunteer CA have been working hard at getting things ready for tonight.

It's hard to believe our budget has grown from less than $20,000 to over $600,000 in 6 short years. God has been very good to us and has allowed us to minister to hundreds of people each year.

What else are we planning to discuss? Well, we'll give reports and updates of how exciting things are in the ministry. Things like how we didn't miss one night of providing emergency shelter in the move to our new building!

We'll be keeping Dave, our secretary busy, as we have the most motions we've ever had! Not only does the board approve the finances, and our auditor for this past year's budget, they will also need to approve things like looking into a new Outreach Centre or Thrift Store.

Being a director of a ministry is so much fun. (Can I use that word here?) Not only do I get to observe and participate in seeing lives change every day, I also get to attend to business matters and in keeping our charity alive and well so that we can continue to provide for the poor for many years to come.

Farrah's Fat Lip

Farrah fell last night at Art Class and got a fat lip! Our church has an Art Class ministry lead by Murray, one of our board members. It is hosted in a different home each week.

He has opened it up to our LifeChange residents, and many of them love the opportunity to go!

It's a neat ministry where your level of expertise doesn't matter. Your age doesn't matter either! Myrna goes. She's 64! Farrah is 3. She was pretty proud of her fat lip during snack time yesterday, as Carol, her mom, and I chatted.

You might remember Carol from a previous blog. She is the one who had her baby in our Mission. And I do mean RIGHT in our Mission! In her bedroom!!

So, as the story goes, Farrah was crawling around as Murray chased her, and she fell down and bit her tongue. "I'm bleeding!" she exclaimed, her tongue hanging out! Somehow she also managed to get a fat lip in the process. Later, she was doing her finger painting, and she decided to flirt with Murray again. She pretended to hide under the table. She ducked again. And on the third time down, "WHAM!" She hit her face on the table and got a bloody nose!

If you would dare to host Murray's extreme art class in your home one day, please let me know and I'll pass it on!

HAPPY LARRY DAY!

Today was "HAPPY LARRY DAY!"

That's right. Larry has been gone for an entire MONTH!! Sometimes I think Larry must run this place, he's been missed so much.

Larry is our LifeChange Resident Manager. Larry is an integral spoke in our wheel!

So, where has Larry been for the past month?




And what has Larry been doing?

Kissing Fish!




Some of us were able to spend some time with Larry up at the lake and he took me on his boat!




It was a beautiful sky!




Larry and I hosted a staff campground outing! We cooked steak over the firepit, played poker, and Jack made a blazing fire!



In the meantime, we all pulled up our bootstraps and waited eagerly for the day when Larry returned home from his bike ride to the lake! Yes, he rode his bike all that way!! There was many a day when staff would look at each other and exclaim, "I miss Larry!"

So, today, residents and staff alike wore our "Happy Larry Day" stickers. Jon wore his to the post office. I wore mine out for lunch. Vicki even wore hers to the bank where the ladies passed their greetings on to Larry! But I think the happiest of them all was our LifeChange Program men.

Larry is the epitome of today's Dictionary.com Word of the Day, a real sui generis!

Maintaining Missionary Momentum

Maintaining
To preserve. To keep up or carry on; continue.

Missionary
One who is sent, especially one sent to do religious or charitable work. One who attempts to persuade or convert others to Christ and His teachings.

Momentum
An impelling force or strength. The tendency to continue movement in a single direction.

Most people find it easy to start something new. It's always an exciting, sometimes trepid, adventure. But what happens when the "rush" ends? When it's no longer a thrill, or the newness wears off? Most of us begin to falter, stagger, and end up quitting.

It's rarely a "That's it, I'm done" attitude. More than likely, it has crept up behind you when you weren't looking, and other things start taking it's place.

Well, this happens to missionaries, too. They become dull and lose their edge. And there is only one way to get it back.

"For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." -Hebrews 4:12

Is God Your Everything?

I will praise God to the ends of the earth.
I will exalt Him and lift His name on high.
He is faithful and true to His Word.

In my time of sin and sorrow He remains.
In my time of trouble and tribulation He is sure.
When my enemies begin to circle about me,
He is my Defender and my Shield.

When it seems I am forsaken,
not a friend in sight,
He looks on,
silently waiting for me to call upon Him,
to draw strength from His unending power and might.

I will praise Him for His faithfulness and mercy.
He is my Salvation - my Fortress.
I will sing praises to the ends of the earth.

-a prayer from my journal today

Saturday, August 26th, 2006
9:00 - 5:00
3535 - 8th Ave
(corner of Argyle & 8th in North Central,
across from Sacred Heart School.)
Back Alley

Love Letter from Kenny

Yesterday turned out to be quite a harried day for me. Our interview with 100 Huntley Street went really well on the weekend. I was talking about how it is not longer the "Ken and Michelle Show" because we have a strong team of support and hard workers. Well, how ironic. Between all the staff who were either off duty, sick, or on vacation, I ended up being the only one here for most of the day!! So, how did this pan out for me?

Let's see here. I did the men's house meeting. I answered phones. I answered the door. I dealt with resident concerns. I made lunch. I put out two snacks for coffee breaks. I made supper. I put two fine option people to work helping me. One did phones. The other made sandwiches for the next day's Drop In Centre. I hosted several people here from OptionS and introduced them for our lifeskills class. A lot of the board and workers joined in because it was being taped by 100 Huntley Street. Right, so I dealt with the tv crew, too! Well, needless to say when Jon showed up at 4:00 I asked him if I could leave early. I was pretty frazzled!

So, what did I do next? I drove to see a friend out of town! We had a blast!!

Here's an encouragement note from my husband I got tonight as I was catching up on some projects at the office:

hi,

well, you seem to have survived the nuclear meltdown of a Monday alone at the Mission. Most people, that is 99.99%, would be lying under their bed in the fetal position, sucking their thumb and quivering like jello. Especially after working all week then saturday and early sunday. You aren't a work a holic because you not only work hard but you play hard. I'm happy you go out to see your friend or the boys or whoever, and I'm amazed you can bounce out of bed the next day and do it all over again. I get tired just thinking about your work or your play schedule. But I think you're happy, and that makes me happy. I mean as happy as an ogre can be.

=}

"Make it so!"

Speaking of mistaken identities, I took another Personality Cyber-Quiz. Superheroes and Star Trek. I can't help myself! I even have a Star Trek coffee mug!

Your results:
You are Jean-Luc Picard

A lover of Shakespeare and other
fine literature. You have a decisive mind
and a firm hand in dealing with others.



Speaking of a firm hand, I lead RAP this morning. RAP is our weekly house meetings where we discuss things that apply to everyone. There is a section for "beefs" and "bouquets" and "business."

Anyway, I'm sort of a no-nonsense kind of gal... I had been given fair warning that the "complainers with bad attitudes" were in full force. Wait for it... Wait for it...

And then it came. "We don't like the food!!" I had them a little off balance to begin with. (Part of my plan...) I just changed the normal meeting place of the meeting. Then I had a piece of blank paper and I held it up.

"If you sign this attendance sheet and I can't read your name, you will not get credit for being here and you will receive a demerit. So, since you came, please print clearly so you won't be marked as though you weren't."

Tough, but logical. Yes, I am a cruel taskmaster of attendance.

So, we dealt with the food issues. They "got it." I was able to explain how this sort of bad-mouthing spreads. And how it was hard to be appreciative of how much they had been helping out in the kitchen, when back-biting was going on in the background. I also said there are a lot of ring-leader personalities on program right now, and that those gifted with leadership had the ability to take it either way.

"People WILL follow you whichever way you choose to walk. So walk in such a way that is an example to follow."

And then I told them that type of behaviour was unacceptable and would not be tolerated from this point forward.

We'll see what happens, but I've got to go check lunch in the oven now.

Click here to take the Star Trek Personality Quiz

This humour is starting to grate on me.

We have a shopping list on the bulletin board. Our paper shredder hasn't been shredding for a month. I finally remembered to put it on the list. Shredder. Jon, our Mission Shopper, came back with this.

Calling all Robs... Calling all Robs...

I received a call that went something like this:

"Hello, may I speak to Mel?"
"Sure. Is this Rob?"
"Yes."
"Where are you?!"
"I'm at home right now." (I hear children in the background.)
"Where? What city?" (I didn't realize he had kids.)
"Regina."
"Rob, why did you leave us?!"
"...Could you have the wrong Rob?"
"Maybe. What's your last name?"
"Hughes."
"Oops. Ha! I'm sorry!! I thought you were someone else.
Let me go get Melanie for you."

Whoever Rob is, he must have REALLY been wondering!

Mistaken Identity

I'm a little disconcerted, having recently googled my name and came up with the following images:
and even: A BOY??!!

A DOG???!!!!

Will the real Michelle Porter please stand up?

Oh, wait. There is one online google image reference to "Michelle Porter." It's from an online book review. Here it is: What? Don't you recognize me?

Phase 3 - Action

You can plan til the cows come home but if you don't practise your plan, you're in for a long, frustrating haul.

Jesus said to him, Rise, take up your bed, and walk.John 5:8

Jesus made the man whole, but it was up to him to get up, pack his stuff, and move on! Phase 3 allows our men and women to work out their goals and plans in an environment that is safe and structured.

One year seems like a long time, but when a person graduates from LifeChange, they are still like birds just leaving the nest. They leave confident, and yet, a little unsure, as a new toddler testing out their legs. Support is important! We have formed an alumni group. They have new churches, jobs, social structures, and volunteer responsibilities. All of us, no matter what our background, were built for community.

It reminds me of the African proverb, It takes a village to raise a child.

Phase 2 - Preparation

We just saw Kathleen off to Saskatoon's Calder Centre, at the request of her social workers and husband. She will be back here in one month to continue her work in the LifeChange Recovery & Discipleship Program. I for one will miss her because her daily chore is helping in the office and she is GREAT at it! I'm sure her 5 children are going to miss her too!

Once a man or woman completes the first 3 months of LifeChange, their program becomes much more individualized. Our goal is to work with them and the people in their lives that are pulling their strings, so to speak.

Robert needed a "break" so he took a leave of absence to take the government sponsored program at Calder.

Alison wanted to volunteer at a Bible Camp. You can pray for her because she has severe back problems and her back has seized up and she is bedridden and stuck in Saskatoon! She never made it to camp. Pray she comes back to us quickly!

John does not qualify for social assistance. For his program, he was "fast-tracked" so he could get a job to pay his rent and have some spending money. He is now back to driving truck and working at paying off a car and paying back the Mission his rent and board money for his stay here during Phase 1.

LifeChange is an intensive year of learning, humility, submission, and surrender. Phase 2 is particularly challenging because it is a time when men and women set goals for themselves. Through a series of assignments and meetings, they discover their talents, desires, and abilities. The goal of LifeChange's Phase 2 is to set goals for life!

It's where men like John realize that their disability severely limits their choice of vocation. Or where women like Alison test their wings in service. As their Phase 2 Coach, Melanie is excited to help people discover their hidden and unknown strength.

We all get excited to watch people exchange despair for hope. Anxiety for peace. Death for life.

Phase 1- Stablization

It's nerve-wracking for a person to walk up to the door and sign up for the LifeChange Program. Imagine leaving everything you know to be familiar - even if it is familiarly bad.

It takes a valiant woman to pack up her house and move into a dorm lifestyle for an entire year. Baby steps, we tell them. But when they get that phone call, they have to get here fast! We have a very long waiting list. Our women have come from all over the province: Saskatoon, Meadow Lake, North Battleford, Manitoba. Well, so have our men, for that matter.

What do we offer that other programs do not? Consider this quote:

Just how effective "Christian recovery" can be is powerfully illustrated in an SRI Gallup study of recovery from homelessness conducted for a rescue mission in Knoxville, TN. This study, conducted by a secular research organization, had no thought of "Christian recovery" principles factored into it. They identified six critical "life themes" that were strongly present in the lives of people who were able to recover from homelessness. The following are listed according to their degree of importance:

Spirituality - as a source of personal strength and as the basis for rebuilding relationships with other people.
Self-Insight - by overcoming denial, acceptance leads to a new and accurate knowledge of oneself.
Security - feeling safe both physically and emotionally
Self-Awareness - being in touch with one's own emotions
People Support - having others who care enough to be truly involved with one's life (the total opposite of "disaffiliation")
Suppression - being reconciled with one's past and able reject negative thoughts, worries, and a poor self-concept

And so, as life would have it, over the course of the year men and women are learning to overcome life-controlling problems such as addictions, mental health issues, disabilities, etc. But that first day. How disorienting. Who can they trust? Like the first day at a new school, they wonder what the buzzer signifies. Which room are they to meet in? Their head might be aching from lack of sleep on the bus ride here. Their usual coping mechanisms of "just one drink to calm me down" are swiftly taken out from under them and so they pace, or cry, or just sit.

It's My Birthday!

100 Huntley Street!

Guess what??!! We're going to be on 100 Huntley Street this fall!! I've wanted to be on the show for years.

What a wonderful opportunity this will be to tell 250,000 viewers about the ministry of Regina RESCUE Mission!

This Saturday we will be host to the crew of Crossroads and will give them a tour, as well as interviews of Ken and I as founding directors, Len as a staff member who graduated from the program years ago, Vince, who graduated this year, and a current program resident.

Pray for a great Gospel outreach and response from viewers!!

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Every day my staff think more and more of others, and less and less of themselves. Each one of them has a passion for serving God that leaves no doubt in my mind that their priorities are right. Ken and I are priviledged to work alongside these men and women every day:

Melanie, Jon & Vicki, Larry, Grant, Len, George, Jack & Mesfin.

Last weekend Ken and I attended two family reunions. One was in Saskatoon and it was my grandmother's 80th surprise birthday party! Well, she knew because she had secretly read my email to Auntie Peggy that she had left open on the computer! Imagine, my grandma, reading email. Hm!

Our other reunion in Swift Current, with Ken's 13 Uncles & Aunts! That's just his dad's immediete siblings!! We had a blast and enjoyed catching up with Ken's missionary brother and family from Germany.

All this to tell you that Dad told a hilarious story abour our 4 year old nephew, Adrian.

Adrian wasn't eating his veggies, and Dad told him he better eat his vegetables so he can grow big and strong. If he doesn't, he was going to shrink!

"I don't want to shrink!" Adrian replied.

"You don't even know what shrink means."

"Yes I do!" And he began the story using his fingers to demonstrate that "Shrinking is when you get smaller and smaller and smaller until there is nothing left of you! And then you have to be born again!"

Well, isn't that the perfect anaolgy of what it takes to serve God.

"He must increase, but I must decrease." John 3:30

Last night at Bible Study we were on the third of four videos in a series by Charles Stanley, on Loving God. Did you know, that once you know God personally, there is only one way for you to express your love to God? The answer is rather shocking.

It's obedience.

The Old Testament says that to obey is better than sacrifice. In the New Testament, Jesus says that if we love Him we should keep His commandments.

Obedience is the key to loving God. If you say you love God, and do not obey Him, you are missing the Love Boat.

You gotta get on the ship by receiving Him into your life. You can't love someone you don't even know! And you're going to have a hard time doing what they say if you don't love them. Oh, it can be done, but it's some kind of forced submission or obligation. It doesn't stem from love at all.

So, the measure of our love is obedience. Are we walking on the edge of "What can I get away with?" That's not love. Are we letting our emotions cloud our judgement, and doing or saying things that make US feel good, with no regard to others? That's not love.

If we REALLY love God, we will be passionately longing to do what He asks of us. We will be searching for HIS will, not glibly following ours, or doing what seems right or feels good to us. If we REALLY love God.

Living for Eternity

Last week in our daily staff prayer times we have been reminded that Christianity is not easy. We don't get to choose the good life AND choose God. If we choose God, HE chooses the life we will have.

"For consider him that endured such hostility of sinners against himself, lest you be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood." Hebrews 12:3&4a

It is understood throughout Scripture that those who choose ETERNAL life will not have it easy in this earthly life. You see, if Heaven is our home, we are put here on earth for a purpose, and that is to bring as many people as we can with us to Heaven!

Contrary to public opinion, it is NOT about getting married or buying a house or raising children or having grandbabies or having fun or family. In fact, Jesus said,

"There is no man that hath left house, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the Gospel's, but he will receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life."

That's quite a paradox. Yes, if you sacrifice, there will be earthly reward, but right alongside it will come persecutions: suffering, trials, heartache. But, the hope we have is in our Heavenly reward of eternal life.

The Edmonton Adventure

Well, this is my last post about Edmonton, but I couldn't NOT comment about our Hope Mission friends! Bruce, their CEO and our friend, has taken us under his wing since Day One. We have appreciated getting to know him and all the help his mission has provided us.

Where we have been around for nearly 7 years, they've been operating for 77! Where we have two facilities, they have 9! Where we have a budget of $600,000, their annual budget is 8 MILLION! Where we have 10 staff, they have over 100! We can glean a lot of experience and wisdom from them!

One of the fun things we got to do was visit the Mission's Bible camp. They obtained a beautiful, large piece of property called Brightwood Ranch. There, they reach out to 70 impoverished youth per day, offering a full camping ministry, including an extensive horse and outback program and a petting zoo! We met some of their key staff and were excited to see how "on fire" they were.

This city girl was very excited about all the barn kittens!

It had rained and mud was EVERYWHERE. This is Ken trying to dance it off his new white shoes. Blinding!

None of us could resist the petting zoo! These are our friends, Colin and Lila. Lila's joining our board of directors this month!

All this to say that we are blessed to be part of an association where we are all working hard at "Building Lives Worth Living." What an awesome partnership. Thanks to our Hope friends, Bruce & Karen, and Steve & Debbie. We had a great time!

$25,000

Did you know Canada has a thousand dollar bill?!


Besides visiting friends in Edmonton last week, we also went on business. One of the items on our agenda was to visit the June Warren Publishing Company.

You may recall, back in May, we sent out a letter with the following info:

Every summer donations typically drop, even though the needs of the hungry and homeless persist.

But this year we're very optimistic!

That's because we have an exciting opportunity made possible by a generous donor, JuneWarren Publishing, Ltd., who has provided a matching gift of up to $25,000 for our work this summer. If we can match it dollar for dollar by May 25--for a total of $50,000---it will ease the burdens of sumemr tremendously.

We were able to tour the JuneWarren office last time we went to Edmonton. This time, we received a cheque for $25,000!! That's a LOT of money!

Vicki was reminding me that last summer we were all praying in our paycheques. (Literally!) Thanks to the generous matching cheque from JuneWarren, we are able to minister without having to shoulder personal and ministry financial burdens.

Wow. Wow. Wow.

Our little Mission is making a spiritual impact on so many lives, and Ken and I are humbled and grateful to our friends at JuneWarren who love the Lord, and who are able to assist in an incredibly generous way to fulfill the dream of rescuing the least, the last, and the lost.