OLYMPIA UNION GOSPEL MISSION — Restoring hope...Transforming lives since 1995 August 2014 | Vol. 18 No. 7

Olympia Union Gospel Mission | 360.709.9725 | 413 Franklin St NE, Olympia WA 98501 | OUGM.ORG

Have you ever had your feet washed and socks and shoes put on by someone when you were an adult? You might be saying “no way, no one is going to touch my feet.” Little do you know what might unfold…

Words could never actually describe what occurred in the parking lot of the Olym-pia Union Gospel Mission, Tuesday, July 1 from 5-7pm. One person said it was like being on hallowed ground.

Samaritan’s Feet (a non-profit orga-nization whose goals are to bring a life-changing message of hope, love, and compassion to each child or adult they provide athletic shoes to) contacted the Mission about hosting a foot washing, shoe distributing event July 1. All we needed to do was provide volunteers and an approximation of how many shoes we would need. There were only a few weeks before the event, so prayer was paramount. Little did we know what was about to unfold…

The band began leading worship tunes as folks filed over to have their feet washed. There was an air of excitement and antici-pation as feet were dipped into cool wa-ter, an unexpected relief from the heat. Names were exchanged, stories shared, prayers were bountiful, along with plenty of hugs and words of encouragement. It didn’t stop for two solid hours as over 200 people came and went, shoes were distributed, the line was gone and the parking lot was empty. As suddenly as the people had appeared, they were suddenly gone.

Tears filled the eyes of volunteers. They knew they had been a part of something unexplainable, they were on hallowed ground.

Thank you to the Jonathan Stewart Hope Foundation who sponsored the Samaritan's Feet distribution at the Olympia Union Gospel Mission. The foundation was created by for-mer Timberline High School, Oregon Universi-ty, and current Carolina Panther running back stand out, Jonathan Stewart. We are forever grateful to both organizations for making this event possible and for inviting us all to be a part in an unforgettable day.“I have been wearing these boots for

two years. It’s great to have new shoes.”

Prayer

Jonathan Stewart

washing feet and

providing new

shoes for young

and old!

Samari tan’s Fee t?Nathan “Cody” Howard, the Director of Street Ministries, planned a picnic-type menu complete with hotdogs and potato salad during the evening event. He called on the different ministries for help, including City Gates and Gethsemane. The parking lot was even spruced up. Little did we know what was about to unfold…

We worried about the number of volun-teers. Would there be enough individ-uals to show up needing shoes? Would the clients even agree to have their feet washed, let alone dipped into cold water from an outside spigot? With the rising temperatures, emotions among the clien-tele were running high and disturbances were more frequent. Little did we know what was about to unfold…

The weather report that morning was predicting the hottest day of the summer - another reason to pray. Phil Campbell, from Samaritan’s Feet, brought the boxes of shoes and coordinated with Cody on set-up outside. It was so hot that after-noon you could smell the shoe rubber baking in the sun.

Canopies and chairs were moved into place, while the worship band started to warm-up. It was an hour before the event and other than those helping set-up, there wasn’t a soul in the parking-lot. We may have thought it, but no one was willing to admit that the event could be a total failure. Little did we know what was about to unfold…

Volunteers randomly showed up and Phil took them aside to talk about the differ-ent tasks involved from foot washing to sizing up feet. With the 5pm start time just minutes away, he got them each settled in to their jobs. Completely dis-tracted by the fact that the exact number of volunteers we needed had shown up, there at the entrance to the fenced area stood a long line of people waiting for a new pair of shoes. Little did we know what was about to unfold…

“This feels sooo good!”

“As soon as feet touched the water and the washing began, there was, in a sense, a cut off from the rest of the world – a place where Jesus was us-ing the hands of another to do what He had done so many centu-ries ago.”~ Volunteer

Phil Campbell, Samaritan’s Feet, with Cody

Olympia Union Gospel Mission | 360.709.9725 | 413 Franklin St NE, Olympia WA 98501 | OUGM.ORG

HAVE YOU SEEN ME?I’m the stooped old man draped in dirty clothes that reek with cigarette smoke, cheap alcohol and body odor. I’m burdened with choices I made and those that were made for me. Long ago I lost hope that life would be anything but the despair I experience daily. You look through me and not at me… I’m invisible. On the occasion that someone actually “sees” me there is fear or contempt in their eyes while my eyes reveal the sadness and emptiness of my soul.

HAVE YOU SEEN ME?I’m the angry teenager who spews contempt at you when you decline to hand over your “spare change”. Everyday I wake up angry and at the end of the day when I fall into my self medicated sleep, nothing has changed, anger still fills me. That thick shroud of rage is the shell that protects my vulnerable, frail, inner self. My alternative dress, multiple piercings and numerous tattoos get your attention. I want attention. I act out and am vile because of the deep pain and disappointment I can’t hold in… I’ve been hurt and I want to hurt.

HAVE YOU SEEN ME?So you noticed me. The clothes I wear and my body lan-guage tell you I am for sale. At a young age I learned people like to use me but now at least I can get paid for the viola-tion. No one loves me, no one cares. Deep down inside me I want to be loved but who could love someone like me? I don’t even love me. I work for money. Money that can buy me a few hours of peace in a fantasy land that isn’t filled with pain.

HAVE YOU SEEN ME?Why do you look at me so strangely? The voice in my head tells me not to look at you. We talk to each other but not to you. I can go from giggling to tears in a blink of an eye. The real world is hard for me to distinguish from my reality. Voices speak to me but you can’t hear them. They are real, are you? Today I’m afraid to leave my bed; panic fills every inch of my being. Today I feel only sadness, darkness and depression. What will tomorrow hold? Will I be flying as high as a kite with smiles, laughter and joy consuming me? I can’t stop. Life is a roller coaster with its highs and lows. Will it ever end?

We are some of the faces of the homeless and shelter dwell-ers. We are the 21st century lepers; outcasts, feared and often despised. Who will value us? Who will give us hope?

The voice of another homeless soul says “I HAVE SEEN YOU. Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my load is light” My disciples can show you the way to me. They will be my hands and feet in your lives.

Love,Homeless while there,Jesus

Donate at OUGM.org

TODAY.

Of all the services offered by the Mission, I believe that aid to the Street Dependent and Low Income population is the most challenging.

THE CHALLENGESLet’s face it, often times: A. they do not look like the majority of us, B. they do not dress like us, C. they do not

have the opportunity to bathe as often as us, D. many suffer with the handicap of mental illness that goes untreated, E. they are often uneducated, F. they have chosen to suppress the pain inflicted on them during childhood or by traumatic events by self-medicating with drugs and alcohol, G. profanity is a natural part of their speech, the list goes on and on.

So, why care? Because God cares! Jesus warned us that the poor would always be with us. So none of us should be surprised that no amount of social engineering and different programs really makes a permanent change. Only God can change us all.

4 TIPSHere are four tips that I believe sustain us in working with the “Street Population.”

First – although it does not come naturally, we need God’s perspective and we get that by asking Him for help through prayer. The gospel of James is rich in advice and guid-ance for us at the Mission. Second - we are not to show partiality. A very hard teaching but we have to remem-ber that we are all children of God.Third - James teaches that our “Faith Without Works Is Dead.” I don’t interpret this to mean that every one of us needs to be volunteering in a clothing bank or soup kitchen, but all should be sensitive to the physical, spiritual and emotional needs of the poor. Fourth – although evidence may be hard to find, we need to remember that the broken and hurting person is “in process” and that when God looks at our clients, he does not see the liabilities, but instead the possi-bilities.

Although I definitely DO NOT condone the antisocial behavior of Mission clients, when I try and look at them as God does, my heart softens, I am more comfortable being around them and I look for the possibilities.

Your donations make this work possible, so on behalf of everyone the Mission serves – THANK YOU! I would encourage you to let us show you around and introduce you to some of “God’s work in process.”

Loren “Skip” Steffen, Execu tive Direc tor

Skip talking with Database Manager Lori Vandervate

Thank you to all the individuals that contribute articles for the Mission's newsletter.

Olympia Union Gospel Mission | 360.709.9725 | 413 Franklin St NE, Olympia WA 98501 | OUGM.ORG

Give thanks in all circumstances; for

this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus

I Thess. 5:18

Cheryl stopped by the Mission to thank staff and volunteers and tell them how much she loved them because they pointed her back to God.

During the winter, Cheryl had been kicked out of the house where she was living with nowhere to go. She, like many others, came to the Mission desperately seeking help. Staff was able to secure a safe place for her to stay while helping her look for a job. Volunteers listened to her story and encouraged her that she was loved by God and suggested a church home for her.

Then one day she disappeared and no one had heard from her again until just recently. Cheryl was full of gratitude for all that was done for her at the lowest point in her life. She wanted to share that she was now employed, was able to purchase a vehicle and best of all, she had returned to the Lord and had a won-derful church family.

Can you lend a listening ear? Sometimes that is all it takes to make a difference in a person’s life. Call Jerry at 360-709-9725 to discuss volunteering at the Mission.

This is what has been happening in the last twelve months at the Mission.

99,000 meals were served at the Mission – up 19%

162 decisions for Christ – up 35%

5,110 days of addiction recovery housing – up 14%

$775,000 donated healthcare services – down 29%** Affordable Care Act gave medical clinic patients access to alternative sources.

Thank you to all the Olympia Union Gospel Mission donors that make this happen. God bless you all!

ALL I NEED IS A BUS TICKETHank had been released from prison and was in Olympia with no means to pur-chase a bus ticket to go home to Aber-deen. He asked where he could get help and was told, “If anybody can help you it’s the Olympia Union Gospel Mission.”

He walked to the Mission and talked to a staff member about his need and was giv-en the money for his ticket home. A few days later, he returned to the Mission and offered to give the money back. He said, “I don’t know what I would have done if it hadn’t been for you.” The day room su-pervisor told him, “Keep the money and if you see someone in trouble that needs a helping hand, help them.”

Simultaneously, Dick noticed a fellow named Steve who came downtown in Olympia with his little red pickup truck and passed out sandwiches and the gospel to people on the street. Dick and his friend, George Wehes, joined Steve in his street ministry.

Soon these two men began thinking about starting a mission work here in Olympia. They formed a Board and Dick became President. They sought help from both the Seattle and Spokane missions and support from the local churches.

For a while he stepped back from working with the Mission to minister to a growing population of imprisoned teen boys. Several came to know the Lord, but changes came about and the facility was moved some dis-tance away, which made it a natural transition for Dick to come back to OUGM as a volun-teer.

Today, Dick enjoys discipling guys in the program and teaching Bible studies. He loves encouraging folks to volunteer at the Mission.

“We need to encourage one another, so that we take Christ out of the church and into the community,” Dick explains.Of his work at the Mission Dick says, “I must be humble, and respect people no matter where they come from. When I teach, I stay within the confines of Scripture and try to always be true to the Bible.” Then he added, “Christianity will work for each individual in a way unique

to him or her.”

Dick Hardy has his footprints firmly impressed in the foundational cement of OUGM. He knows Jesus Christ is key to a real life change. He encourages Christians to realize they can’t keep salvation a secret. “We were called to be salt and light out in the world, so whoever and wherever we are, we need to share the salvation message of Jesus Christ. Be willing to give salvation away to anyone who will receive it,” he says. Isn’t that the essence of volunteering at OUGM? Giving the gospel away to others! Thank you, Dick, for your service and your encouragement.

What does it take to be a volunteer here or any-where serving the Lord? Dick Hardy, a vi-brant Olympia Union Gospel Mission (OUGM) volunteer says this, “It’s a question of taking that first step, reaching out

and overcoming the fear, embarrassment, and thoughts of inability that hold you back.” So three years ago, Dick came to OUGM to teach a Bible class. But Dick really has a much longer and fuller history with the mission. In fact he was one of its founders! Stories like this always start way back in a person’s life…when Jesus Christ became his Lord.

Dick grew up on the east coast and on a blind date, he met his wife Marian. His wife became a Christian, but it was 10 years later that Dick finally yielded his life to the lord. Galatians 2:20 was impressed on his heart:

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (NKJV)

“The cross is an object of death and we are to die to our old life and begin living in the new life Christ has given us,” Dick explained.

He’d been feeding on God’s Word steadily for some time, when he realized it was time to start feeding others. So he began visiting the prisons to build relationships with inmates, which has turned into a thirty-year adventure in volunteering.

“We need to encourage one another, so that we take Christ out of the church and into the community.”

Be Sal t and Ligh t

Written by Donna Morse , volunteer

Dick HardyFai thful Vol

unteer

In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha; she was

always doing good and helping the poor. Acts 9:36

Non-Profit OrgU.S. Postage

PAIDOlympia, WA

Permit No. 624

IN MEMORY OF

Don Ingalls, from David & Barbara Vimont

William Grindstaff, from Tom & Elsa McLain

Tom Iverson, from Edith Pill

Karen & John Attridge, from Sally Downs

John Baumgert, from Sally Downs

Dorothy Herness, from Bob & Charlotte Phillips

Summer Reading ~ Same Kind of Different as MeBy Ron Hall and Denver Moore, with Lynn Vincent

What difference can one life make? A lot! What are the chances of a self-centered, wealthy art dealer and a stone-cold, angry untrusting street man making friends? Little. Yet it all came together as Debbie Hall volunteered at the Fort Worth Union Gospel Mission. She encouraged her husband, Ron, to join her serving food once a week. Then they met Den-ver Moore. Socio-economic and racial lines were crossed—both ways—as Ron and Denver began a friendship. Later it was their shared grief over Debbie’s death that brought out fully what each man could teach the other about life and faith. Written through Ron’s and Denver’s voices, you hear from each perspective how God used their friendship to spill over, blessing their community and beyond.

Same Kind of Different as Me brings encouragement for you to reach out further than your current world. It might be tough at first, give you angst or make you cry. But through it all your heart will warm, and you will see that different is really the same.

“I hope people will recycle

the love they’ve

been given to somebody that’s not

so easy to love.”

D. Moore