This Week at the Mission...

November 10 - November 16.

This is a short week for me; I'm only working 4 days and then flying home to South Carolina for an extended weekend.  I haven't been back to Winnsboro since last Christmas, and 11 months is too long to be away from your roots.  Luckily, I'll be able to get a double dose, as I'm flying back for Christmas in a little over a month.  

Even though the week has been short, it has been all but short from eventful.  The guy I wrote about last week - the guy making the weird comments to his sister - decided to leave on Monday, claiming some absurd resemblance of claustrophobia as the primary precipitate for leaving the program.  On Tuesday night, we found out that two of our clients had been in a long-standing relationship - 11 years; and, in our recovery program, relationships are a big deal.  They had been in the program for a little over 2 months, and were both doing fairly well in the pursuit of their recovery.  However, for two months to go by, to not say anything about the extensive past you've shared with another resident is not something we, as a staff team, take lightly.  Both residents were discharged first thing Wednesday morning, and the guy immediately got high. This is the reality of the work we do - many of our residents do not know how to cope with stress or how to deal with situations that are outside of their control.  The conclusion is that they pick up drugs or a drink to help numb the pain, and begin the cycle all over again.  The sad part is that these particular individuals have the knowledge necessary to lead sober lives - they just don't have the desire or the patience to weather the storm.  

Wednesday also witnessed the sign-ups for our annual Day of Thanks.  Last year, the 15th Annual Day of Thanks was a momentous occasion.  The Mission gave out more than 200 turkey baskets to needy families in the city, while also serving between 250 and 300 thanksgiving meals to members of the poor and homeless community.  This year, we expect to do the same.  The sign-ups are quite stressful, though, because there are more people than turkeys.  Our AmeriCorps Vistas, Meryl and Michelle, had to sit through the verbal abuse and be the bearers of bad news, facing reality head-on: the needs of our city's poor and homeless are sometimes greater than our means to provide for them.  

This Week at the Mission...

November 3 - November 9.

The community at the Mission continues to gel. We have a good group of guys and gals in house right now, and it makes a huge difference. Sure, there is everyday chaos that needs managing, but, overall, the residents here are supportive of one another and are striving, together, to break the cycle of addiction in their lives.
Thursday night, I found myself monitoring some phone calls for some of my clients. During one guy's call to his sister, the following remarks were made:

-random observations on religion: "when i'm in the shower, I look up and there's a tapestry that says "what would Jesus do?" And I wonder, 'What would Jesus do?' You know, cuz he was really on the ball a lot of the time."


-describing the word 'Gnarly:' "It basically means extreme, and a little bit scandalous. Like if you looked in the fridge and pulled out a block of cheese that was really moldy, you would say, 'whoa, that's gnarly.'"


For the record, there is no tapestry in the shower, but I did locate the tapestry in question, and it is in the bathroom, above the sinks. I guess this was an honest mistake.

This Week At The Mission...

October 20-October 26.

There's only one event I want to write about from the week.

Yesterday, I received news that one of our former clients overdosed and passed away.  He was a client who had recently relapsed from the program, and came by on Friday to pick up his belongings.  From the Mission, he went to a restaurant in Lowell where he entered the bathroom and proceeded to get high on heroin.  A waitress found him in the bathroom.

This is the most tragic thing to ever happen in my tenure at the Mission.  He was on my caseload a week and 2 days ago, and now he's gone.  I am in shock over this situation, and the residents at the Mission are going about life as usual.  Tragically, this is 'normal' for them, and they have experienced death as a result of getting high time and time again.  For me, it was hard to swallow - I saw this guy yesterday and the last thing I said to him was, "Hang in there, buddy."  

There is solace in knowing that a couple of weeks ago he was baptized, that we were able to have conversations that suggested at least a desire to know more of God, and I find hope in the fact that his baptism represents a change happening in his heart, that Jesus gave him new life, and that now he is with Jesus and the cycle of addiction has been broken in his life forever.

This Week at the Mission...

October 6 - October 12.

I only worked for three days this week, because our church went on a "Church Getaway" to New Hampshire on Friday.  It was a great decision to take off Friday and Saturday, since last week I worked A LOT.  

Two of my guys went MIA this week, one on Thursday night, and the other at the beginning of the week.  Today in the 10AM group, a senior resident said, "It's hard when someone you're close to doesn't listen to your advice and just decides to leave one day.  It's hard to watch someone go out like that.  It makes me not want to get close to anyone else."  I looked at him and said, "Welcome to my world."  

On a lighter note, Damon, who many have heard tell of before, celebrated a year of sobriety on Friday, the 10th.  It's a big deal.  Damon was in the Mission when Tyler and I first moved, and he was the first man we were close to who relapsed.  Many people prayed for Damon on that occasion, and also for us to know how to love him.  Damon is a special man, and it has been an answer to prayer to see him come back and fight for his sobriety.  I am really proud of him, and I was able to congratulate him on Friday over the phone.  It's excellent to watch him achieve this milestone.

Praise God for His faithfulness in Damon's life!

This Week at the Mission...

September 29 - October 5.

Wrapping up September, there's not a whole lot to report.  The Mission continues to run smoothly and we continue to see new folks enter our community.  

The week itself was wild, because I ended up working a lot of hours, 7 more than scheduled, due to various occurrences going on at the Mish.  Overall, though, it was an uneventful week.