Thursday, November 5, 2009

Living Water Rescue Mission

Living Water Rescue Mission

By Shelly Burke, Editor

Chaplain Ted Pearson did not intend to open another Rescue Mission; he keeps plenty busy as the Director of the Columbus Rescue Mission. Over the last few years, however, he kept hearing people say, “We need to do something in York. There is a need for a shelter there.” Realizing that God was behind the people voicing the need for that shelter, Pearson listened.

”God had to lead this and make it work,” Pearson said when I talked to him last week. Pearson talked with the Board of Directors at the Columbus Rescue Mission, and they gave the OK to pursue the project and see where God led. A Board of Directors from York was developed, and includes several people from the Columbus Rescue Mission Board. The Living Water Rescue Mission in York will be a satellite of the Columbus Rescue Mission.

Pearson said the people and businesses in York have been supportive of the idea of a shelter in York, and they’ve been involved in the search for a location for the Living Water Rescue Mission. Pearson is confident of their continued support and encouragement as the project progresses.

Finding a location was time-consuming. Any property has to be brought up to current code (for electricity, plumbing, etc.) before people can sleep there, and that can be costly. A property has been located, and Pearson and everyone involved hope they’ll be able to buy it. They need the $95,000 purchase price by December 1st, plus an estimated $105,000 to renovate the building and bring it up to code.

It’s an old building, but Pearson spoke with enthusiasm when he said, ”God’s people will destruct it, and then reconstruct it up to code. They will be a part of it, and take pride in it.” The project will proceed in stages, and people will move in as the space becomes habitable. Pearson hopes that single men will be able to move in by next spring, and eventually plans to have rooms for single men, single women, and families.

One population the Living Water Rescue Mission will serve is people who visit friends or family members at the York women’s prison. ”They will need somewhere to stay when they visit, and women in the prison will need somewhere to stay when they get out,”Pearson remarked.

Pearson anticipates serving wide variety of people who will need the services of the Living Water Rescue Mission. He assures readers that, ”God will do incredible things with the people whose cars break down on the interstate and come to us, and those who stop in York for some other reason. He will send us people from all over the country, with problems and needs different from those we see in Columbus. This is God’s ministry, His mission, His work; He will do incredible things here.”
(Watch for updates on the progress of the Living Water Rescue Mission in future issues of the Nebraska Family Times.)
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The Rescue Mission asks for your prayers as they provide services at the Columbus Rescue Mission and move forward with the Living Water Rescue Mission.
The Rescue Mission will be delivering Thanksgiving food baskets and serving a Thanksgiving meal. Donations of food, plates, plasticware, etc., are needed and appreciated, as is a donation of time to help put together baskets, cook, serve, or clean up.
If you would like to make a monetary donation, send it to: Columbus Rescue Mission, 1471 25th Ave., Columbus, NE 68601. If you would like to donate goods, call for current needs; (402) 563-1096 or check the blog at http://www.columbusrescuemission.blogspot.com/.