Tuesday, August 22, 2006

A Mission Sleep Over?

We are blessed with a number of wonderful volunteers.  For example, each Friday, Sherry, a volunteer beautician, comes to the Mission: Hair Salon and gives hair cuts to our men and women.  I am amazed that this talented woman, who could easily be working in a salon, sacrifices her Friday cutting homeless people’s hair.  In addition to being a good beautician she also is a Christian and will play Christian music while she is working on our clients.  We have a sign up list for the beauty shop and she is always booked two weeks in advance.  There are many opportunities for volunteering and being involved in the Mission’s ministry.  You may think you don’t have a special talent, like hairdressing, to share with the homeless.  However, oftentimes we just need some willing hands with time to share.

 

This weekend the women’s recovery program had a special activity: “a Mission Sleep Over”.  This may sound a little strange for a Mission but several weeks ago one of our staff took about 20 recovering men to Spring Mill State Park for an overnight camping trip.  This allowed the men to bond and to share about their recovery in a relaxed setting.  The women decided to have a complementary event, “a Mission Sleep Over”.  This past Friday about 50 women cooked their food on a barbecue grill, shared with each other how their recovery was progressing, and prayed for strength and wisdom to continue in a positive path.  They watched a movie together and went to sleep around 2 AM.  Our Recovery Program Manager, Virginia Taylor, bedded down with them in the recovery building on a hard wood floor.  The next day they got up at 6 AM and met again, sharing their concerns with one another.  Eyes filled with tears, many reported that this was a very encouraging time. 

 

Our Down By The Wayside Choir performed at Shiloh Baptist Church and St. John’s UCC on Sunday.  This has become an annual event at St. John’s UCC, where their members invited the choir to be a part of their annual picnic.  Virginia Taylor reported that the choir had a wonderful time performing at both churches and is always looking for good opportunities to share the Gospel and how God is helping its members recover from Alcohol and Drugs, which has, for many, been the root problem resulting in homelessness.