Our good friend Minnie looks for a loaf of bread at South Side Mission's Benevolence Center, 2919 W. Garden Street.South Side Mission does not accept nor do we desire government funding.
The Lord has done a great job over the years of seeing to it that He will meet all of our needs and some of our wants as well. Furthermore, government funding comes with strings that keep highly-Christian organizations from being assertive with the Gospel. As such, we want to keep being faithful to our Mission statement, which reads "to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ to the poor and in His name to love, feed, house, clothe, and teach all those He sends to us."
So, the budget crunch in the state of Illinois does not affect our funding.
However, it does affect the people that we serve. If there's less government assistance going to the poorest of the poor, the people we serve most often, we may have to step up and provide more assistance to them.
We are already serving record numbers of poor people this year. Our Benevolence Ministry, last year at this time, was helping 800 to 900 families a month with free food or housewares. Now we are serving 1,000 to 1,100. But the Lord has responded in kind. Our pantry shelves have not been empty all year. Thanks be to God.
As SSM Board Member Danny Schell says, "the Lord kept the doors open yesterday. We'll trust Him for today, too."
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