The Sparrow's Nest

This is the Sparrow's Nest. This is one of our 24/7 facilities where we serve women who come to us at all hours of the day for help. Avis Files is our Director of the Sparrow's Nest.

Did you know the Cherry Street Mission Ministries has a 'No Wrong Door' philosophy? What that literally means is that you'll never hear us say; "I'm sorry, you've come to the wrong place." or "I'm sorry, we don't offer that here." The reality is, we serve all who come to us, because fundamentally we believe they have been sent by God for us to serve. It's not that we claim to do everything, in fact we don't - but who can.

If someone comes to one of our seven ministry sites, and needed a particular service we don't offer, we say; "Have a seat, while we connect you with the provider that will help you." In fact, there are several services we now offer simply because we have this philosophy of service.

The Sparrow's Nest is a 54 bed facility. The first floor is primarily used in service to those who are in emergency need or are candidates for our Ready For Life (RFL) Program. The second floor is used for the women in our RFL.

As a matter of fact, if you'll go back to the home page of our web site; cherrystreetmission.org and click of "The Voice of Compassion" you'll be able to read many stories of women and men who have been served Christ in a way that has transformed their lives.

If you are a supporter of our work - thank you. These many lives are changed because of your foresight and hope that transformation of the human condition is indeed possible.

Dan Rogers

Bob

One of the great things about working with people is, if you're observant, you will see them transform right before your eyes. Now, I know that sounds like it's an instantaneous thing, but in fact the 'right before your eyes' statement is in fact a process. Which is why you need to be observant.

I'm always amazed when occasionally I'll encounter, within the service community, a provider who can't tell a recent good story about someone they saw transform. Honestly, I don't know what the motivation would be to even go into work if the transformation of people being served wasn't visual. But maybe that's the problem - it's not visual in some organizations because it's not visualized.

Anyway, what about Bob?

Bob is one of our guests, as he's been in the Ready for Life program for most of this year. Bob's a good hearted individual with a ready smile and a decent attitude towards others. He's helpful to our staff, and usually has a ready word of encouragement for the men in the program.

The other day he stopped me in the parking lot - smiling ear to ear he told me that Matt Clapp, our Lead Case Manager, helped him get a job at a local meat store. Happy? That wouldn't quite describe or capture Bob's outlook or attitude. No - I would say, deeply optimistic about his life and future.

Even as I write this, I'm full of joy for Bob. It's more than 'It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy' thing - it's AMAZING! It is the ultimate in; "once I was lost and now I'm found." Bob has a job - but Bob also has Jesus ... he's allowed God to be bigger and smaller than anything he had experienced before hand. I'm so glad he received Christ before receiving a job - life will make much more sense now because of that order.

There are many more Bob's in our program; searching, waiting, hoping. There are also many more potential Bob's who don't know, or haven't accepted hope yet. Pray for them ... won't you?

Next week ... The Sparrow's Nest.

Dan Rogers

The Invisible Bridge

As you know, on Wednesday August 1st the 35W bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis Minnesota collapsed. As of this date, there are still people missing. The subsequent news reports on the many bridges across America in trouble, has caused many of us to consider or be suspicious of the bridges we cross to and from work or school. A new anxiety is creeping into everyday life.

We all know about the other bridges in our lives - the ones we cross everyday. The bridge of relationship to family, friends and coworkers. Relationships like bridges need to be looked at and inspected constantly and when we don't, when we travel heavily across them without regard to sustainability - they too collapse eventually under the weight of it all.

The fact is, even with the best care and inspection of our relationship bridges they collapse anyway. Because they're supported by fragile material - people.

So. If we can't truly trust the steel and concrete bridges and we can't truly trust the relational bridges - where's the hope? Where's the security? What's the barrier that keeps anxiety from creeping into our heart and paralyzing our lives?

Good question.

What about the Invisible Bridge? Art Erickson, also of Minneapolis, calls the Invisible Bridge the; "Ultimate bridge not made by human hands." That's it isn't it? We can only trust the bridge that is Christ Jesus. He is the only one who can bear the weight of our 'travels'.

When Jesus is the only bridge we travel, He ends up being the only bridge we trust. But when we build a relationship bridge to anyone or anything else and we've not built it on Christ - it won't matter how careful we are or how often we inspect it. A bridge made by you or me is under a constant state of deterioration.

Conversely, a bridge that is Christ isn't subject to such environmental erosion and will not collapse. That's the message of the Gospel and it's the message to the hundreds of men, women and families who are served each day at Cherry Street Mission Ministries.

Dan Rogers

Last Night

This is my son Caleb. He is entering his second year at Mount Zion in Harrisburg Pennsylvania. Mount Zion was started by David Wilkerson and is a school of ministry that equips young people to be Missionaries, then sends them to the far reaches of the world.

This summer Caleb has been interning at Family Christian Center in Sylvania where he has been assisting Pastor Mark Mylek in an outreach to Woodside Terrace in Holland on Monday nights.

He's also been an intern at Cherry Street Mission Ministries this summer on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. He's been assisting Chaplain Ernest Jackson, learning how to serve and minister at the same time.

Last night Caleb was scheduled to speak at the Ministry Hour at our Madison Street facility and asked if I would be there - I'm thinking wild horses couldn't keep me from going. What a wonderful message he presented! One of the cool things he said to the one hundred or so men and women assembled that night was; "When I come back here next summer, I don't want to see any of you still here." WOW! What a powerful statement of faith.

I'll tell you what else that statement does - it inspires faith to the rest of us. What must we do to complete his statement of faith? Can we see what this young man sees as possible? What attitude does this level of faith foster in our work and service towards others?

Thanks Caleb!

Dan Rogers