Retirement with a Twist

So, Paula starts tomorrow. We're all so excited about the change at the Womens Home. Jack and Paula sold their home and are moving in as House Parents of the Womens Family Home. Jack took early retirement from the U of R as a Dr. of Engineering about 7 years ago. Since then, he has been long time (near full time) volunteer with the Program Staff and will be adding the role of Associate Pastor of the Good News Chapel. He and Ken are going to be buddies.

Paula followed the footsteps of her husband and has recently resigned from her government leadership job in the IT department of Community Resources. She has served as a volunteer, board member, and executive member of WARM.

She sent Jack and me a very cool email about a surprise her staff and co-workers did for her. I hope she doesn't mind I share it here. I was just so blessed by their actions and sensitivity to Paula's personality and passion.

Wow, they just put on a surprise retirement tea for me, complete with coursage, speeches, and a zillion good wishes. Knowing where my heart lies, instead of gifts, they collected some food for the Mission (including left-overs from the tea), and $295 in donations, plus $65 in gift certificates from the Cornwall Centre. They even used their cell phones, [to covertly invite Jack] in case we had call display!

When I attended Millar College of the Bible we had a new President who coined a slogan, "Say a good word for Millar." By the end of the school year, that phrase became annoying to me. However, I now see the value in it. Word of mouth advertising can be very powerful!

What do your friends see resonating from you? Did you ever stop to consider that your actions and reactions in life sum up to reflect your passions? You are what you think about, talk about, spend money on. If you love God and live for Him, but others don't see it, something is wrong. You are living a lie. If your friends and family don't know you are a Christian, or that you go to church, or that you volunteer at a RESCUE Mission, something is wrong and you are not being true to the real you, or the Lord.

I was thankful Dr. Peeler asked us to memorize this verse in college:

"Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and always be ready to give an answer to everyone that asks you for a reason of the hope that is in you." -1st Peter 3:15

Scary Women & The Story of the Two Trains

A lot of our residents were in a grumbling mood on the weekend. I have a theory that they don't really want the women to move across the street on Thursday, although that might be difficult to prove.

I was speaking to them before class to ask them to help us with the clean up last week and I said, "Guess what? We got Sacred Heart!" They all cheered. That was so nice. It showed that they are making the Mission a real part of their lives and heart. With no notice, they all showed up after class to help us clean and prep the walls in Jack and Paula's apartment for painting.

Then I said, "And guess what else? That means the women are moving out!!"

Well, doubly loud cheering accompanied by clapping! Except for Al. He looked sad. I think that's because our three year old is his little buddy. He sneaks her candies out of his pocket.

Larry happened to be teaching that class yesterday. Its a known fact he is scared of the women. He is so glad not only that they are moving across the street, but that Paula is joining our team to be their resident manager. Up to now, it has been on Larry's job description. Although, by his avoidance of them, you'd never know it!

The women, however, love Larry. They sew him curtains for his office. They give him pictures of themselves with their children for his bulletin board. You know. Stuff like that. Larry is everyones big brother around here.

Yesterday he tried to convince Melanie to teach all the classes twice so we didn't have to have them co-ed anymore. The classes are going to be in our new hall, down below the church, on the parquet dance floor! The men, horror of horrors, will be sitting in the same room for one hour per day on the dance floor.

Mel panicked thinking, "I don't have time to teach the same class twice per week! Ask me in 7 years." She's been so busy she said she feels like she is travelling on two fast trains. She gets on one train in the morning and it travels from 9 to 5. It's destination is moving the women's home across the street in two days, and getting the new women's home staff trained so she can go on her two week honeymoon.

She jumps onto the second speeding train at 5:00 every night. That train is the train of wedding details and plans, packing her stuff to take to Murray's, selling her house, attending two bridal showers, as well as entertaining the many close family members from both sides who want to spend a few days visiting and helping the bride and groom to be. At 10:00 she goes to bed and her head is spinning from all that travel. Sometime in the night she usually gets up and makes a list or two. Then it's back onto the speeding train at 9:00 a.m.

Just a normal week at the Souls Harbour RESCUE Mission!

If you care to join this high speed adventure please log onto our website and fill out a volunteer application form! We'll get back to you shortly... hopefully before 7 years are up!

Oscars

Oscars. Academy Awards. Ellen. Phooey. I hadn't heard of even one of the movies that were nominated for Best Picture.

I have decided to make my own Oscar Awards.

Best performance before a wedding. Nominees include 5 staff. And... drum roll... the winner is, Melanie Van Herk! Yes, that's right. Of the 5 nominees she has kept her head on, accomplished her work, and continued forward in perseverance!


Best supporting role of a front line worker for 2006. Lots of nominees here, and honourable mentions are many. But the Oscar goes to one man who has withstood the most change over the past year, and has come out, not only unscathed, but ahead! The winner is George McKenzie! He has seen his former home and workplace hit the dust (literally) and nearly found himself homeless. The Souls Harbour Soup Kitchen came to the rescue, and George helped fix up a space on their second floor. He moved the guests over and now lives there and looks after the least, the last, and the lost of our Mens Emergency Shelter.


Biggest sacrifice. Imagine quitting your job and selling your home. Downsizing it in half or less than half. Now imagine moving in with 9 women. Not your ordinary women, either! The movie is much harsher than that. It is women who sell themselves for one last hit. It is women who, despite the threat of losing their child, party all night. It is women on methadone. And women coming off of crytal meth. This years biggest sacrifice award goes to Jack and Paula Katzberg!


Best team player of 2006. This Oscar goes to Donovan and Bonnie Carroll, who saw a bigger vision and future for Souls Harbour, and eagerly, but with trepidation, appoached us on a merger venture. After the loss of Donovan's mother, the founding director of the soup kitchen, this wasn't an easy step. But it represented vision and cooperation for us all. Congratulations!


Oscar for lead visionary. Well, who could have imagined in seven short years owning a beautiful facility outright, having another one built for you by three levels of government, merging with the best known soup kitchen in town, starting an inner city church, leading a successful LifeChange recovery program, and offering emergency help of food and clothing to homeless and hurting individuals. This years Oscar for lead visionary definately goes to our CEO, Rev Ken Porter.




I'd like to thank the team, the Queen, my family, the Academy, and most of all, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Premier Calvert's $100 million dollar announcement

Had I been interviewed at Friday's exciting announcement by Premier Lorne Calvert, and I wanted to be interviewed, I would have said the following:

This funding is great news for CBO's like Souls Harbour RESCUE Mission. We serve men, women and children 365 days a year who are trapped in a life of poverty. Affordable housing is just one way Souls Harbour RESCUE Mission leads families into a life of hope and dignity. Souls Harbour RESCUE Mission will definately apply for this funding to build more community housing in Regina's impoverished neighbourhoods.

And you can quote me.

$100 million plan to revitalize Saskatchewan neighbourhoods

Premier Lorne Calvert today announced a $100 million plan to revitalize Saskatchewan neighbourhoods with the greatest need.

The plan includes $60 million to provide the single, largest expansion of HomeFirst for affordable housing for families in northern communities and the inner cities of Regina, Saskatoon, Prince Albert and North Battleford. A further $40 million will support inner city initiatives in Regina and Saskatoon targeted at education and skills training and the development of healthy, vibrant neighbourhoods.

In Regina, $15 million will be targeted at two initiatives. The Regina inner city trades and skills centre, a partnership with Regina Public and Catholic school boards, the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies (SIIT), Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology (SIAST), the Dumont Technical Institute and industry representatives such as the Saskatchewan Construction Association, will develop a new approach, in consultation with the community, to better engage youth in learning and the labour market.

The second initiative will be a North Central community services centre aimed at improving services to the inner city and linked to the future revitalization of Scott Collegiate. Planning for the centre is underway and includes the provincial, federal and municipal governments, Regina Qu'Appelle Regional Health Authority, North Central Community Association, Regina Public School Board, Regina Police Service and community-based organizations.

Your friend in Jesus, Brian

Ken and I received our start in Rescue as the head chaplains at another mission. One of our former resident graduates wrote us a poem:

Life with you has been precious and great.
You two have brought me to the gate.
God has put something together that can't fail.
He picked two angels and gave them sails.
The Holy Spirit will always guide you on.
Our friend Jesus has sowed a tight bond.
Your souls are gifts sent from up above.
Since we've met, all I've felt was love.

Your friend in Jesus,
Brian.

Happy B-day to me.

Our tradition since we were founded is to host a Friday night Coffee House as an alternative social event to the bar scene. We often have groups who come and sing and play and usually have a bit of a testimony time. We serve coffee and goodies. George, our "Shelter Shepherd" and long-time program graduate, runs our Coffee House and just loves this ministry. He writes a weekly brief report for Vicki. Here are some great comments:

Kathy seemed to be happy to be back. One girl from Briercrest was crying during the singing. I think they were happy tears.

About 14 extra students came and sang to us. They're going to be coming for a few more weeks and I'm looking forward to it.

I read Luke 10 to them and after I was done they clapped their hands. I pointed upward to tell them that God gets all the glory.

All nine from the [emergency] Shelter were in attendance.

Dennis asked for a Bible and he got one.

A lady who is born again from Iraq talked to us and the other kids read Scripture to us. A good turn out.

I read Philippians Chapter 1 & 2 to the people. I say people because more women and children are starting to come now.

And the best one is here. It was August 11th and we didn't read this report for several weeks...

Lots to eat and drink. A good turn out. Happy B-day to me.

I am sure George was wondering why we hadn't wished him Happy Birthday!! We all had a good laugh at that one! Quite the subtle way to let someone know it's your special day!

Busy Busy Busy

We have one week to make a home for the women! We took possession of our new church and rectory, and we are moving in nine women with their children in on March 1st! Due to a lawyer oversight, our possession date was delayed, so Donovan is working overtime to make this happen!

Larry and George joined him, and three resident men are also assisting. What kinds of things are being done??

-dividing a room in half
-rearranging walls to create an apartment for Jack and Paula
-lots of plumbing and electrical
-drywall
-and much more things beyond my expertise!

Heather had the men and women on our LifeChange Program moving lots of furnishings over today for their weekly work bee.

And Vicki is coordinating lots of work groups from churches to paint and clean!

Thanks to all who are making this vision a reality!

Cute Story

One of our moms in recovery was at the doctor's office with her son. The doctor told her she couldn't take the medicine with alcohol.

"Do you drink?" he asked her.

"No," she replied

Her young boy piped up, "But she used to!"

Possession Day!

In the words of COO, Donovan, 'Hallelujah!'

Where was I?

1. Our website was down. Frustration.
2. California! Fun!!
3. Sick. Fatigue.


I'm back!