Eric Bauer, Executive Director of Portland Rescue Mission
A note from Eric Bauer (Executive Director of Portland Rescue Mission) …
After a decade-long fulfilling career as an engineer in technology development, God interrupted my life with a call to serve people suffering on the margins of society. I never saw this coming nor understood where it would lead. But I knew it was a divine interruption of my chosen career plan and a reordering of my passions. With halting obedience, I eventually surrendered to this call. The result has been a grace-fueled journey that has enlarged my heart and taken me from a self-centered life to a life centered on serving others.
I like to think of the Mission as a similar gift of interruption to us all. For hurting people without a home, caught in a downward–sucking spiral of helplessness, we pray the moment they step inside the Burnside Shelter is one of heavenly interruption–a sudden awareness that they are noticed, seen, welcome and loved. An act of kindness or word of encouragement that ignites hope for a different life.
(Make a donation today to Portland Rescue Mission to give hope and restore life to men, women and children in 2016).
For the men and women in our wide range of programs, the Mission is a haven of interruption, breaking into a life of despair with 3-12 months to heal, refocus and rebuild for a stronger life.
For our staff and volunteers, the Mission provides a wonderful interruption to the “normal” self-focused life we might otherwise be drawn to. Every day is a chance for God to change our thinking and expectations. If we’re actively looking for it, He’ll bring opportunities for us to positively interrupt others by taking time to pray with someone or speak truth and love into their lives.
In this New Year, my prayer is that God may bless you too with the gift of interruption. That you’ll have the wonderful opportunity to pause, reflect, rethink and grow. That you’ll welcome interruptions as a chance for God to do something unusual, challenging and remarkable.
Thank you for being such a vital part of this ministry,
Eric Bauer
Executive Director
P.S. Our 2016 Winter Newsletter is out! Take a look at it and see how Portland Rescue Mission is giving hope and restoring life as the New Year gets underway.