The Unseen Here and
Now . . .
Stuart
Revercomb
Stuart
Revercomb is a marketing consultant and joyously married father of four
children. He seems to remember someone once telling him he ought to be
a writer. "The Unseen Here and Now" -- Thursdays.
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"Thursday's Fare"
The Mission Heart
As the Director of Operations for the Roanoke Rescue Mission I've always had a hard time answering the question, "So, what do you do?"
"Well... lots of things...", was always my response. If the person posing the question didn't seem particularly interested past the formality of asking, then I usually gave the quick and easy answer : "It involves dealing with mechanical systems for our facilities and overseeing computer and information networks..." I never liked giving such an answer. It sounded terrible - and if that were the extent of my job, I suppose it would have been. But for those that asked with genuine interest I gave the full boat :
"Well lots of things... 'that involve dealing with mechanical systems for our facilities and overseeing computer and information networks'... but the Mission isn't exactly a Mission - its lots of missions - hundreds of them, thousands really. To start, we have 8 different divisions located in 4 separate facilities :
- The Transient Division works with the homeless population, providing food, clothing and shelter to over 100 people a day. During the winter months their ranks can swell to over 150 and its not uncommon for men to sleep on air mattresses and chairs when the beds run out. Many are seemingly hopeless addicts, while others are stranded motorists or men left destitute after a prolonged hospital stay. Quite a few are surprised to find themselves out of a job that had seemed so permanent just a few weeks before.
-The Family Shelter has 48 beds for women and children, many whom are fleeing abusive relationships. It offers classes in everything from parenting to job placement skills, and has its own laundry and recreation area. The children romp and play and make it a generally lively and happy place - in spite of the difficulties their mothers face. The women who work there are Saints. Trust me on that.
-The Recovery Program houses 52 men in a 9 month, Christ centered, 12 step substance abuse program that has an extraordinary success record. The program offers courses in everything from personal hygiene to advanced mathematics and boasts one of the finest learning center / computer labs available anywhere. But there is so much more going on than the resources available. Most of the men here seem to know that this is where the madness can stop and new life can begin. There is a spirit - The Spirit - in the place, and He is hard at work. Tutors teach. Gifted men and women preach. Hearts and minds open. Laughter is heard. Old and young - black and white - simple and wise.... Miracles abound.
- The Kitchen is often not viewed as a "Division within the Mission" - but it is just that, and perhaps at the end of the day, its the most important. In support of the three "missions" above, the "kitchen mission" serves over 216,000 meals a year - 590 meals a day over breakfast, lunch and dinner. But its not just food the kitchen serves - its love and hope and compassion from a group as dedicated to helping others, as any in the world. It not always perfect - its not always smooth, but as the bread is broken, lives are slowly, if not surely, being rebuilt. Good things happen over shared meals, and we share a lot of them.
- The Thrift Store / Industrial Division recycles over one million pounds of used textiles annually, the majority of which ultimately wind up overseas. It also provides a perfect mechanism by which one family's junk can become another family's treasure. For most of us, the working poor are "out of sight, out of mind", and we have no idea what something as simple as that old infant's bed in the corner of the attic means to the young family that purchases it at the Mission. Or what a good gently used pair of shoes or pants can mean to someone trying to get by on minimum wage. We drop it off casually and feel the relief of a life less cluttered. They walk out the door knowing they're that much closer to "making it."
- Jubilee Acres is a 14 acre facility located at the base of Cawtawba Mountain that offers an invigorating and unique outdoors experience to over 100 disadvantaged youth every year. Aside from serving the children in residence in our family shelter, it is also used for church and Recovery Program retreats and Mission staff training events. The staff who oversee the Jubilee operation know how to connect hearts with the great outdoors and let "nature" do the rest. Funny how it always works.
- Art On A Mission is a "unique and one of a kind" store that retails gifts, antiques and collectibles as well as fine commissioned art from Artists throughout the Mid-Atlantic. The first such store to be placed in a popular mall setting, "AOM" is succeeding beyond all expectations, as is its small walk-in chapel that has become a regular stop for customers as well as mall employees. It's amazing what a whisper can do when its allowed to be heard. All proceeds from Art On A Mission go to our new Mission Medical Clinic for the homeless.
-The Medical Clinic will be opening on July 1st. Staffed by our resident Nurse Practitioner and visionary extraordinaire Sandy Sayre, the clinic has been well supported by Carilion Hospitals and numerous medical personnel throughout the valley. It will serve the homeless and others who have virtually no access to health care. It is a true "mission of mercy" in the greatest tradition of all the staff and volunteers who have served the Rescue Mission over the last 55 years.
I know, because I am honored to have been among them. I say, "have been" because I am leaving soon - answering a call to pursue my writing full time, and to allow room for a soul who has arrived at the perfect time to pursue his full time call as Operations Manager for the Mission. I say "among them", because in many ways I have never been one of them - in the end they have sacrificed so much more than I have, to serve the very least of this world. The vast majority could double their income tomorrow if they chose to - and most more than have the need, but they keep right on giving. They have a "Mission Heart" and their small and giant acts of love are what make up the "thousands of missions" that go on each day at the place that I have been blessed to call "work" these past two years.
If you've ever left such a place - any place you love - for some other "place" that beckons persistent and clear on the morning tide, you know how I am feeling right now, and will for a while I suppose...
The heart leaps... the heart weeps....
I will miss you guys.
I love you all.
Keep saving them.