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How Do You Say Thanks for Too Big a Gift?

Just before Christmas I heard an outstanding message by Pastor Chuck Swindoll on our local Christian radio station, KKLA 99.5 FM. He was discussing the definition of gift, with baby Jesus in mind. He started with the Merriam-Webster definition of gift; something voluntarily transferred by one person to another without compensation. I felt this was an excellent definition. A gift is given without any expectation of compensation or anything in return. In the case of the gift of baby Jesus, Chuck went on to say that sometimes we receive extraordinary gifts that dwarf anything we could give or do in return and gifts that make a simple thank you seem like not quite enough.

This is how I feel about the many generous contributors to Union Rescue Mission. You
overwhelmingly responded with year-end gifts and helped us reach a daunting $4.5 Million goal! We had to reach this goal in order to move ahead with launching a much needed jobs program for our graduate men and women, and moving ahead with our plans to relocate 12 moms and up to 30 precious children from the dangerous streets of Skid Row to the safety and peace of Hope Gardens. There was absolutely no way we could do this without your extraordinary gifts. We were completely powerless on our own. Your extraordinary gifts dwarf anything we could do or say to properly say thank you, but all we can do is say Thank You, from the bottom of our hearts! We can also express our thanks by helping URM move ahead with our good plans to bless our graduates and our moms and children.

In Acts 20:35, Paul says that Jesus taught, “it is more blessed to give than to receive”. I would agree with that completely. I’d add, “It is much easier to give than to receive”. It is easier to be on the giving end and it is more difficult and humbling to be on the receiving end, especially when the gift is extraordinary and overwhelms anything you could do to return the favor.

With all of the practice I’ve had with 34 years of ministry and 34 years of depending on the gifts of others you’d think that I would have developed a certain level of humility and become an expert on saying “Thanks”. However, when the gift is too big, like the gift of baby Jesus, or too big, like gifts of a much needed $4.5 Million, my words of thanks do not seem like enough.

I’m getting ready and struggling with accepting and saying “thanks” to yet another too big of a gift. My wife, Bonnie, is getting ready to donate her kidney to me and give me the gift of a longer life. I get tears in my eyes even writing this. It’s a humbling gift, and causes me to crumble. It’s so big and such a sacrifice that I’ve tried every way that I can to talk her out of doing it – to no avail. I’ve told her that I don’t mind the 12 hours a week of dialysis, that I feel fine, and that I appreciate the extra time I have during dialysis to write personal thank you notes to our URM contributors. I thought I had her on the ropes and ready to say no in front of the surgeon when we were discussing potential complications, but then the surgeon said to me, in front of her, “As a type 1 diabetic, you only have a 50% chance of lasting only five years on dialysis. That sealed the deal.  We find out Friday, January 4th, the January date of the transplant surgery.

Please keep us in your prayers. Pray for the protection of my wife, Bonnie, as she shares this too big of a gift with me. Pray for me, that I will somehow know how to humbly accept this too big of a gift, and live up to being the man that she must think I am. Sometimes, it seems, thanks is not enough.

Thank you!

Rev. Andy Bales, CEO

Giving 105 Percent

I spoke to a church yesterday about our work here at Union Rescue Mission and I have to admit just how thankful I order generic viagra was to be alive and representing URM and Hope Gardens.  After a year in which I had a heart attack, a quadruple bypass surgery, and kidney failure, I am thankful to be strong enough to continue in my job as CEO and to energetically get up and speak about our involvement in transforming the lives of our precious guests.

This may sound odd, but when I was battling for my life for several months, especially the entire month of July, my wife will attest to the fact that what I was most concerned about was not my life, but being able to return to this work and the people that I love so much.  I know it does not make sense.  You can’t return to work if you’re not alive and well!

However, this work and these precious people are what drove me to persevere, listen to doctors, follow a strict diet, work through cardiac rehab, step into dialysis, all in an effort to gain the strength to carry on in this ministry.

In this Christmas season, I am most thankful for the strength to carry on.  I am so thankful it is difficult to put into words.  Thank you for all of your prayers and support!

I am definitely strong, however, I am concerned as well about having enough resources to carry on in this ministry.  Our URM Board of Directors has mandated that we raise 105% of the budgeted revenues by January 1st, in order to open a newly renovated 16 unit building at Hope Gardens and before hiring a jobs assessor and a job developer to serve URM graduates.  The board of directors wants to be certain that we can sustain this ministry. The 16 unit building will serve at least 12 more moms with 30 precious children, rescuing them from homelessness and Skid Row.  The jobs assessor and developer will pave the way for our graduates to escape homelessness in the best way I know, a life transformed followed by a job, and then a home.

In order to reach 105% of our revenues by January 1st, 2013, we need to raise $4.5 Million in December.  That may seem impossible, however, in December of 2005, we raised nearly $5 Million!  We need not only some miraculous large gifts, but we need many of our friends to give what they can, and it will all add up to enough and will change lives!  Please, in this Christmas season, consider giving all you can to transform the lives of our women, children, and graduates.  Your gift could make all of the difference in the world for someone.

Thank you,

Your co-worker in Christ,

Rev. Andy Bales, CEO

The Mission Newsletter – December 2012

The Tragic Consequences of a Life Invisible

Steven’s ankles are swollen, his abdomen bulges grotesquely, and weariness consumes him. Forty years of heavy drinking earned him cirrhosis of the liver. Thanks to Union Rescue Mission, he’s sober now and on a waiting list for a liver transplant. But it’s a long list with no guarantees. Without the transplant, he has just months to live.

But he’s not worried. “God never gave up on me,” he says. “Over the past 40 years, he’s carried me past a lot of graveyards, and I believe he can do it again.”

Steven grew up the son of an uneducated, but hard-working father, who sacrificed a lot for his family. “My father wasn’t a selfish man. But I was. I didn’t want a slow nickel, I wanted a fast dime — and I wanted it now,” Steven says.
He got married in his early 20s and started working in the record industry. But before long, he was also a “full-blown” alcoholic.

“I became a black-out drinker and couldn’t remember what I did when I was under the influence,” he says. What he did was forge checks and rob banks, landing in prisons all over the country. He lost everything and ended up living on the streets.

“Most people saw me as a homeless drunk living behind dumpsters. But when I drank, I didn’t have to see me. I was Casper the Ghost,” he says.

In February 2011, his health was failing and his face was a “bloody mess” from a beating he received on the streets. He hadn’t bathed or eaten much in three months and his entire family had long ago given up on him.

He’d had enough and came to Union Rescue Mission. “I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior and I signed up for my man card. I was 57 years old and I had to grow up and take responsibility for my life. I did everything He asked of me,” he says. And he did much more than the basics. He learned about responsibility and even reconnected with his siblings and renewed his wedding vows with his wife.

Everything in his life improved — except his health. That’s when doctors informed him he had cirrhosis.

“What’s my New Year’s wish?” he asks. “Sure, I want another chance at life. But what I really want is just to love on my family for as long as God gives me. I want to give back and love on people. I want to share the good news of Jesus Christ with them, because I’m so grateful for what God and Union Rescue Mission have done for me.”

New Years Wishes from the Street

For people experiencing homelessness, ringing in the New Year is not a celebration — it’s a painful reminder of their personal misery and the hopelessness they feel at not being able to do anything about it.

At Union Rescue Mission, however, we give these men and women the chance to hope and dream again. Your generosity gives hurting people the foundation they need to take their first steps toward a whole new life.

In this issue of The Mission, we celebrate and honor the hopes and dreams — and the courage — of the men and women at URM who choose to transform their lives in 2013.

Todd

Last year, I was living on the streets. But Union Rescue Mission completely changed my life. My dream for 2013 is to attend Pepperdine University’s Business Entrepreneur Program, and to attend Los Angeles Community College to study architecture. I want to be an architect —that’s been my life-long goal.

Todd, 46
Union Rescue Mission Christian Life Discipleship Program

 

 

 

I was a stay-at-home mom raising five kids when my husband decided to leave us. I didn’t have anywhere to live. I thank God He led us to Union Rescue Mission. Now I’m at Hope Gardens, and I know my kids and I have a future. My goal for 2013 is, first, to make sure my kids are stable. Then I want to go to college to study anesthesiology.

Raven, 34
Union Rescue Mission Hope Gardens Family Center

 

 

 

I was a drug addict for 43 years, but thanks to God I’m clean and sober today. I’ve lived a crazy life and I’ve written a book about it. In 2013, I hope my book is a blessing to people and I get the chance to travel the country promoting it. I also want to attend Hope International University so I can study the Bible and learn His Word.

Stanley, 58
Union Rescue Mission Apprenticeship Program

Things to Do Before Year End!

1. Make a Year-End Gift to Union Rescue Mission before Dec. 31

2. Visit our Gift Catalog at urm.org/giftcatalog to give a gift to a guest at URM this holiday season

3. Get some info about volunteering by visiting urm.org/get-involved or emailing volunteer@urm.org

Wishing for Work

As 2012 comes to end, I can’t help but joyfully look back at all the transformed lives who’ve come through Union Rescue Mission, thanks to people who care — people like you. I think of all the men who overcame addictions, others who found new jobs, and mothers with new-found hope.

Yet plenty of challenges remain. Last summer, we were home to a record number of families, including an average of 165 children per night. I think of all the parents who need jobs. I think of all the men escaping the streets, but who now face the daunting task of finding work that offers a livable wage.

My New Year’s wish? Jobs. If people are going to escape homelessness, they must have jobs. In 2013, I’m looking forward to working with investors who will help us create new job opportunities for our men and women. Union Rescue Mission is in the business of saving lives. Heading into 2013, I pray that with the help of increasing numbers of generous people like you, we can make a real dent in the numbers of people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles.

Blessings,

Rev. Andy Bales, CEO

Christmas Gifts Making a Difference!

The comfort of home, the joy of fellowship, the excitement of shopping! All for a great cause.

    
The Friends of Hope Gardens, is a group of compassionate women with hearts for service that have joined forces in support of the women and children living at Union Rescue Mission’s Hope Gardens Family Center.  This December 2nd you will have an opportunity to link-up with the Friends of Hope Gardens at their Annual Christmas Boutique!

Stop by to shop for a few unique, handmade, adorable Holiday gifts for yourself or loved ones. The Christmas Boutique will be held at the home of Robert and Anna Lou Weir:

4690 Encino Avenue, Encino, CA 91316 from noon until 3:00 p.m.

All proceeds will benefit the women and children at Hope Gardens Family Center.

Hope to see you there!

The Mission Newsletter – November 2012

Alexis’ Family Christmas

“To me, Christmas is all about celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ,” says Alexis, a confident 15-year-old who lives with her mother and three younger siblings at Union Rescue Mission’s Hope Gardens. “But what makes Christmas Day special is family. It was the one day a year we could just eat, hang out, and be happy together.”
See, most of Alexis’ family life has been anything but happy. Her mother, Edy, has struggled with drugs throughout her life and was unable to care for Alexis. Her father had his own struggles and left the family, so Alexis was raised by various aunts, uncles, her grandmother, and even the foster care system.
“I really didn’t have a childhood. It didn’t feel normal,” she admits. “But I think it made me grow up and be more mature, so I could be there for my brothers and sister.”
But the holidays were different.
Every Christmas, her family would gather together for a day filled with good food and joy — including everyone but her father. “If I could have just one perfect Christmas wish come true, I would celebrate it with my mom and dad together, in one place, with my brothers and sister,” she says.
Last year, Alexis’ mother finally came to Hope Gardens to get her life back on track. Six months later, Alexis knew it was time to rejoin her mom. “All children want their mother. Even though my mom messed up, I wanted to fix our relationship and I could see how Hope Gardens was helping her,” she says.
Since rejoining with her mother, Alexis can focus on being a kid again — and her softball skills. “I’ve been playing softball since I was 5,” she says. “I love the game and I’m the leader on my team. I might even get a college scholarship someday. I see girls quit all the time, but I’ve learned that you can’t ever give up. You have to keep trying, no matter how hard it gets. And that’s true in all of life.”
Reconnecting with her mom at Hope Gardens hasn’t always been easy, Alexis admits. But this Christmas, she knows their relationship will just get better.
“I’m so thankful for Hope Gardens because of all the ways they’ve helped my mom and what they’ve taught her about how to deal with life,” she says. “And they’ve also had such a positive influence on me!”

Through the Fire Into God’s Future

My daughter, Alexis, is an achiever — big time. She’s a leader and a positive influence on so many other kids, and I’m proud of her. But, as her mom, I can’t take any credit. From the day she was born, I was never really there for her.
I didn’t know how to be a parent. My own mother struggled with personal problems and was never there for me, so I never learned. And as a drug addict since the age of 16, I wanted to go out to the streets instead of raise my children.
But I reached a breaking point two years ago when I gave birth to my youngest daughter. I already had three other children, including Alexis, I had never mothered. I had never been responsible and never made a right decision. Suddenly I felt empty. I was sick and tired of hurting my family, especially my children, and I wanted a new life. I wanted to change.
So I went to Hope Gardens, where I hoped to become the mother and the person God wants me to be. When I arrived, I was determined to be open to whatever God wanted to do in my life. I’ve been here almost a year now and I am excelling. Best of all, I have all my kids with me again and we’re learning to be a family. And I’m even getting ready to start a new job. I am ecstatic!
Thanks to Hope Gardens, I’ve learned to leave my past behind me and walk forward in faith into God’s future.
I’ve spent a lifetime walking through fire, but God finally helped me get it right.

Hope for the Holidays

Here are a few ways you can bless others — and enjoy God’s blessings in return — during the holiday season.

Give a Gift through our Online Gift Catalog Store and help change lives this Christmas.

 

 

Sign up for Rev. Andy’s Advent Email Devotionals as we remember the true meaning of Christmas.

 

 

Give a Year-End Gift to make the New Year brighter and better for men and women experiencing homelessness.

 

 

Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). To me, that statement summarizes completely everything that Christmas is all about — and it’s what Union Rescue Mission is all about.

Yet as we head into the holidays, that verse and this holy season hold special meaning for me. Last summer, I experienced a heart attack and needed quadruple heart bypass surgery. The problem was, as a diabetic with bad kidneys, most doctors didn’t want to operate on me. Few gave me any long-term chance to survive or live a healthy life.

I’ve lived my life well and feel like I’ve done what God asked of me, so I wasn’t afraid. But I thank God, I did find a willing doctor — and I am alive and healthy. I’m back from the brink! And this Christmas, I have a new determination to share the real message of Christmas to all our guests on Skid Row — that Jesus came into the world to bring them — and all of us — new life and hope, which only He can give.

Merry Christmas!

Rev. Andy Bales

He Has Written You On His Hands

I recently received a call from the leader of another Mission.  He was enduring a difficult time in leadership much like one I experienced not too long ago.  It has really shaken him up, and I understand his pain. Not long after that call I received another call from a loved one who just didn’t know how he could carry on in this life.  He’d attempted suicide twice in the last few weeks and was focused on ending his life.

It is difficult to know just what to say to someone who is so discouraged, especially when you are facing lots of challenges yourself.  However, I was really helped by the daily devotional that I send out to my team every day.  It is called Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon, and some times it hits me right between the eyes! The scripture and lesson that helped me know what to say to these two gentlemen, and to myself, came from Isaiah 49:16.  I shared it with both of these men and I also shared it with about 300 people experiencing homelessness when I preached in Union Rescue Mission’s back parking lot last Sunday for the Love LA Service.

“Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands.”

-Isaiah 49:16

“I have graven thee.”It does not say, “Thy name.” The name is there, but that is not all: “I have graven thee.” See the fulness of this! I have graven thy person, thine image, thy case, thy circumstances, thy sins, thy temptations, thy weaknesses, thy wants, thy works; I have graven thee, everything about thee, all that concerns thee; I have put thee altogether there. Wilt thou ever say again that thy God hath forsaken thee when He has graven thee upon His own palms?“

-Charles Spurgeon, Morning and Evening.

If you believe God has forsaken or abandoned you, don’t be mistaken.  Not only has he not forsaken or forgotten you, but he has written you on the palm of His hands!  Wow, how encouraging is that?  What a picture that is of Jesus Christ, even from the Old Testament, in that when He took those nails into his hands on the Cross, He wrote us into his hands, all our pains, all of our sins, and all that we are, into His hands.  I hope this will encourage you as much as it has me.

Bless you,

Rev. Andy Bales, CEO

180 Students from University of LaVerne Serve URM

Last Saturday, we were honored to have 180 incoming freshman from the University of La Verne visit URM to serve and learn more about us.

After a quick welcome, the students got right to work on a variety of service projects such as serving lunch in the kitchen, playing volleyball and ping pong with the CLDP men, and serving ice cream to the single men, women and families. Many students scrubbed our walls and stairwells, and others took to the streets to provide cold water to the community!

We wrapped up with testimonies from 5 inspiring men that are recent graduates or currently in the program. Some students even got up to share ways they had been touched throughout the day and during their service projects!

Thanks to all the students and staff from University of La Verne who made this event a success!

Volunteers Needed: Special Kitchen Projects

We are currently in need of volunteers (up to 20 per shift) to help us with some projects in our kitchen. During the times listed below, we need volunteers who are able to help us pull everything out of our kitchen or bring it back in. If you are interested in helping with this project, please contact Erin at ehennings@urm.org. If you have a group who is interested in serving in the kitchen and would be willing to stay later or arrive earlier please let us know as well.

September 3 (load out) 2:30pm-4pm
September 4 (load in) 5am-6am
September 17 (load out) 2:30pm-4pm
September 18 (load in) 5am-6am
October 1 (load out) 2:30pm-4pm
October 2 (load in) 5am-6am
October 15 (load out) 2:30pm-4pm
October 16 (load in) 5am-6am
November 1 (load out) 2:30pm-4pm
November 2 (load in) 5am-6am
November 15 (load out) 2:30pm-4pm
November 16 (load in) 5am-6am
December 3 (load out) 2:30pm-4pm
December 4 (load in) 5am-6am
December 17 (load out) 2:30pm-4pm
December 18 (load in) 5am-6am

The Mission Newsletter – August 2012

Sometimes it’s tragic what too much freedom can do to a child.

Growing up in Louisiana, my father was a mean, abusive man. My mother sheltered me from him — and the world — as best she could. When she finally couldn’t take his abuse anymore, she left him and moved us to San Diego.

I was 13 and tasted freedom for the first time. I saw all the big, bright lights and got a taste for the party life — marijuana, barbiturates, acid, speed, and PCP. I loved it all. Then, in 1987, I tried crack. My life spiraled out of control.

I finally moved to Los Angeles in 2006, where I had relatives who dealt crack. Within a month, I smoked away every last penny I had. My girlfriend and I ended up sleeping on the sidewalks of Skid Row outside Union Rescue Mission — we fell . . . all the way to the bottom of the world.

Every day we hustled for a few dollars and more drugs. Every night, we lay down on filthy sidewalks that reeked of human waste and slept in a drug-induced coma with giant rats that crawled over us in the darkness. In winter, we shivered in the rain, in summer — never bothering to eat or drink much — we withered, dehydrated from the heat. Summers on these streets sapped my body down to 150 pounds of skin and bones.

And I didn’t care. Because all that mattered was that next hit. By 2008, however, it seemed like the world was closing in on us. We were surrounded by the constant presence of police, drug dealers, and thieves, and I knew we couldn’t survive much longer. I told my girlfriend, “We can’t fight this anymore. We need help.” And I promised her, if she came into Union Rescue Mission with me, I’d take care of her for the rest of her life. So that’s what we did.

It was a challenge at first. So I prayed, “Lord, take this disease from me. Give me the strength to complete this program so I can live a Christ-like life.” I read my Bible every day, went to the classes, worked the 12 steps, and stayed close to God. Slowly I recovered my life.

In time, I even found a job for the first time in more than 20 years. And with that foundation, I kept my promise to my girlfriend. On June 19, 2010, we married.

That’s the power of restoration that Union Rescue Mission — and you — offers men like me.

It’s nearly impossible to describe the disaster we call Skid Row. It’s a filthy, violent inferno populated by people who are drug addicts, alcoholics, gangsters, predators, ex-cons, prostitutes, and those struggling with mental illness.

But is that all they are? It’s easy to apply those ugly labels to them. But these unfortunate men and women are more than that. They’re someone’s mom or dad . . . brother or sister . . . son or daughter. They are precious human beings who are suffering in immeasurable ways — and I’m so grateful they have people like you who care.

Thank you for investing in people trying to escape these streets. You’re helping them climb out of an underworld of disease and evil, and enabling them to rejoin a world of health and hope. Your gift is changing lives.

Blessings,

Andy Bales

URM Kids Compete in Mini-Olympics

In the spirit of this years Olympic games in London, the Rose Bowl Boys Water Polo Team decided to host a special event for the kids at URM. The team is preparing to compete in the Jr. Olympics at the end of this month but wanted to take some time to do something to benefit the community. It seemed only fitting that they host a “Mini Olympics”!

Participants were able to compete in 8 games, from ring tosses to football throws, and were rated on good sportsmanship, character, and positive attitude. Awesome prizes (including tickets to Magic Mountain!) were given, snacks were eaten, and everyone had a great time.

Thank you so much to the Rose Bowl Boys Water Polo team, Coach Luther, and all the parents who helped make this day of fun possible! We wish you the best as you compete next week!