Eric Bauer, Executive Director of Portland Rescue Mission
A note from Eric Bauer (Executive Director of Portland Rescue Mission) …
God can do the impossible. But it is hard for us to believe that without seeing it first. Even Jesus’ most faithful followers abandoned hope when he was brutally killed. It didn’t matter that he had explained it all before, that he would rise again. It didn’t matter that they’d seen Jesus bring other people back from the dead. Their grief and fear drove all faith from their hearts. Jesus was gone.
When I’m driving around town, I see men and women living in tents under the overpass or panhandling to get by. I don’t know them, but I have heard hundreds of painful stories from people in similar situations who come to Portland Rescue Mission for a hot meal and a dry place to sleep.
For too many of these hurting people, a new life seems impossible. Like Jesus’ followers, grief and hurt drives hope from their hearts. Each night is filled with fearful, fitful sleep. Each morning brings the uncertainly of survival. It is a slow, living death.
(Make a donation today to the Mission to give hope and restore life to men, women and children in 2016).
You and I have a unique gift to offer these hurting people. For the man caught in addiction, we can dream of a new life of freedom. For the woman and child desperately looking for safety, we can cast vision for a new life of stability and healing. We share with them our faith, because we’ve seen the impossible happen. As a wounded person surrenders to God’s forgiveness and accepts His healing grace, the hard shell of hopelessness gives way to fresh, verdant life!
Thanks to your partnership, we rejoice each day as we see men, women and children, once paralyzed by despair, now walking in new life. Thank you for believing the impossible. Thank you for giving hope.
Walking with you in life,
Eric Bauer
Executive Director
P.S. Our 2016 Spring Newsletter is out! Take a look at it and see how Portland Rescue Mission is giving hope and restoring life as we embark on Easter and beyond. Your special gift today will help us continue our work.