To Comfort Those Who Mourn

"My child just died at the Hospital."

The out of town mother who visited our Mission Mart on Knoxville, not far from the Hospitals, was there to buy something to bury her child in. Shell-shocked, she needed something to wear to the funeral herself.

At times like this, our store staff forgets this is a store. Mission Mart becomes a place of ministry. Staffers Julie and Karen came to the aid of this shaken woman and did what they could to "comfort those who mourn" as Isaiah 61 says. We certainly provided the clothing that was necessary and appropriate--at no cost--as we should have at a time like that, but Julie and Karen took time to pray, too.

Ministry By the Numbers - September 2009

A dapper Rev. Craig Williams visits a resident of his adopted block on Starr Street, offering a food basket and an encouraging word.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SEPTEMBER 2009

Decisions to follow Christ for the month
368

Average number of homeless women & children housed nightly
46

Families served with free clothing, furniture, appliances & housewares
525

Attendance in our Sunday School, weekly
39

Attendance at our RiverWest Bible Study
7

Elderly Services home, hospital or nursing home visits
58

Formerly homeless women moving out successfully
4

Food baskets given away at our RiverWest Satellite Office
19

Average attendance at the Lighthouse Diner
23

Kids enrolled in after-school tutoring
55

Churches involved with Adoptablock
13

Food baskets given away through our Garden Street Benevolence Center
577

Attendance at our South Side Manor Bible Study
9

College Club kids enrolled at ICC
14

Food baskets given away at our Harrison Homes Satellite Office
49

Attendance at our Harrison Homes Bible Study
9

Attendance in our Chapel services, Laramie Street, weekly
40

Attendance in our Chapel services, Garden Street, weekly
275

Attendance at our B’Nai B’Rith Bible Study
8

Pastoral care visits & counsels (non-elderly)
42

Hot meals to the poor
7,888

FINANCIALS FROM SEPTEMBER 2009

Monthly revenue vs. budgeted
$229,268/$173,851

Monthly expenses vs. budgeted
$276,288/$229,629

Positive or Negative on the Month
- $47,020

Yearly revenue vs. budgeted
$1,900,888/$1,824,659

Yearly expenses vs. budgeted
$2,167,118/$2,208,606

Positive or Negative on the Year
- $266,230

How we’re doing versus budget
+ $117,717

The Lord has blossomed our pastoral care ministry. In September 2009, He allowed us to conduct 100 visits—58 in Elderly Services and 42 in Pastoral Care. We really are beginning to saturate 61605 with God’s love.

Fresh Fire Church of Canton has been reaping the harvest on their adopted block on the South Side. They are now doing a home bible study with 15 people in attendance!

Jamie, a resident in the New Promise Center came here from Davenport, Iowa because she was trying to escape an abusive situation. The man that she resided with constantly abused her and caused her to be hospitalized many times for various injuries. She finally had enough of it and checked herself into the hospital for a suicide attempt. They did not have room for her so they transferred her to Singer Mental Hospital in Rockford, IL. They in turn recommended the South Side Mission as a safe place that she could restart her life. When Jamie first arrived she was in tears most of the time and very afraid. She admitted that she had been diagnosed with HIV, but had stayed with her abuser because she believed that no one else would want her. She also did not have one family member that she even talked to because of the poor choices she had made in the past. On her intake paperwork she put down her abusers mother because she did not know of anyone else that we could call in an emergency. Jamie stayed here for seven weeks and faithfully attended all classes. She recommitted her life to God and began to read her bible. She received a certificate of confirmation for completing the discipleship class. In one of the meetings that we had she even joked "I might not have anyone for you to put down on paper in case of emergency but now I do have someone on my side, I have the Lord."

Alethia is one of the very positive role models for the ladies in the shelter. She has a bright employment future because she was able to complete a very comprehensive lead and asbestos training and get licensed by the state. Alethia took a leadership role in chapel on September 20th.. She got up to share a very powerful testimony of God keeping her through intense pain. She had difficulty getting through her testimony, but she was able to share some very hurtful parts of her life and declare, "I am still here!" She challenged the ladies at the end of her testimony to give it all over to God and if they had not given their heart to Christ to do so. The altar was filled with well over a dozen ladies. They had seen the change in Alethia and they knew it was genuine. This was a first—a resident giving an altar call!

Urban Sustainable Farming - The Wave of the Future

As part of our Five-Year-Strategic-Plan, we are investigating beginning an urban sustainable farming program. South Side Mission would eventually grow its own vegetables, farm its own fish, and share each with others. Will Allen, a MacArthur Genius Grant winner and his Growing Power charity in Milwaukee, WI have an outstanding enterprise going that does just that. We will be visiting Growing Power later this month to see what we can learn from them. Watch this video and let me know what you think!

Ministry By the Numbers - August 2009

Father and son fun! August 15, 2009 was the annual David Vaughan Investments Hike for Hunger to benefit the food programs of South Side Mission. Held at Forest Park Nature Center, the event raised more than $37,000 !

HIGHLIGHTS FROM AUGUST 2009

Decisions to follow Christ for the month
583

Average number of homeless women & children housed nightly
46

Families served with free clothing, furniture, appliances & housewares
601

Attendance in our Sunday School, weekly
40

Attendance at our RiverWest Bible Study
14

Elderly Services home, hospital or nursing home visits
45

Formerly homeless women moving out successfully
0

Food baskets given away at our RiverWest Satellite Office
42

Average attendance at the Lighthouse Diner
30

Food baskets given away through our Garden Street Benevolence Center
596

College Club kids enrolled at ICC
14

Food baskets given away at our Harrison Homes Satellite Office
51

Attendance at our Harrison Homes Bible Study
12

Attendance in our Chapel services, Laramie Street, weekly
47

Attendance in our Chapel services, Garden Street, weekly
299

Number of churches involved with our Adoptablock program
17

Pastoral care visits & counsels (non-elderly)
66

Hot meals to the poor
8,150

FINANCIALS FROM AUGUST 2009

Monthly revenue vs. budgeted
$269,301/$178,851

Monthly expenses vs. budgeted
$229,258/$240,784

Positive or Negative on the Month
+ $40,043

Yearly revenue vs. budgeted
$1,671,658/$1,650,808

Yearly expenses vs. budgeted
$1,889,166/$1,978,977

Positive or Negative on the Year
- $217,508

How we’re doing versus budget
+ $110,661

August numbers were outstanding. Last year, $72,000 in contributions came in August. This year, $185,000. There is no way to explain this other than the Lord.

The Lord allowed us to meet a major ministry goal of the last seven years! In 2002, there was not a single Christian club meeting inside any District 150 public school in zip code 61605, Peoria’s south side. We thought that was unacceptable. So representatives from Youth for Christ, the Gideons, Child Evangelism Fellowship, and SSM started praying about and investigating a ministry to Manual High School. Since then God has opened the flood gates…

2003 Manual High before-school prayer meeting starts, operated by SSM
2005 Trewyn Middle School before school prayer meeting starts, operated by SSM
2005 Garfield Primary School before school prayer meeting starts, operated by CEF
2007 Tyng Primary School before school prayer meeting starts, operated by SSM
[in 2009, the District 150 school board closed Tyng Primary School]
2008 Harrison Primary School before school prayer meeting starts, operated by SSM
2009 Roosevelt Magnet School before school prayer meeting starts, operated by SSM

God did it! That’s all of them! Praise God, who "begins a good work and is faithful to complete it!"

Hope Builders major outreach week was August 10-14th. Hope Builders is South Side Mission’s effort to provide 36 homeowners this year with free, "big ticket" home repairs like roofs, siding jobs, remodeling, etc. It started out a joint project between South Side Mission and Metro Peoria Baptist Association. This year was the fifth year for Hope Builders. Now we have representatives from other churches join us, too.

Fifteen projects were completed the week of August 10-14. Roofs continue to be the over riding need. This year had the most roofs completed of any year to date. This year was also our highest number of volunteers, 141. Those volunteers came from 15 different churches. LS Building Products continues to be the primary donor of materials.

Case Manager Phyllis Jordan writes: Yvette, a former resident has held a job for nine months. This is the longest she has ever kept a job. She has reunited with her teenage daughter and they have a home and are doing well. Her daughter is an honor student and has learned to trust her mother again. She is grateful to SSM for allowing her to return when she was really down.

Recession? No way. Expansion!

Matt Sommer, the guy you see in all those Mission Mart commercials, is our Associate Executive Director, Retail. Here he is completing another happy transaction at our Sterling Avenue store.

Hey! Did you hear that South Side Mission is opening another Mission Mart thrift store? It's true! But don't take our word for it.

Here's the story WEEK News 25 ran about Mission Mart Morton.

And here's what the Morton Times-News had to say about the store.

Mission Mart Morton will open October 1, 2009 in the Field Shopping Center in Morton, 2135 South Main Street.

Mission Mart is a ministry of South Side Mission in which anyone can get low-cost clothing, furniture, housewares, and appliances, sold in a Christian atmosphere and with a smile. All donations stay local. Yearly, Mission Marts provide more than $600,000 in revenue for South Side Mission.

Victory !

Youth for Christ volunteer Scott Gore prays with three young men from Manual...

In 2002, there were no Christian clubs meeting inside any public school in zip code 61605, Peoria’s south side. We thought that represented a great opportunity for our Lord. So along with representatives from Youth for Christ, the Gideons, and Child Evangelism Fellowship, we began praying for a ministry to begin at Manual High School and then every public school in zip code 61605 thereafter. For a year, we prayed about it while our phone calls to administrators went unreturned.

Then the Lord broke through.

In October, out of the blue, we got a phone call from an administrator at Manual High School requesting our help beginning a chapel program for the school. This is just what we had prayed for. From then on, every Tuesday, representatives from South Side Mission, Youth for Christ and volunteer pastors conduct before and after school Bible studies and prayer meetings for interested students and staff.

In the photo above, Manual High School students are praying to ask Jesus into their hearts and lives at a Youth for Christ event in Colorado this summer. This is a culmination of seven years of prayer and outreach. God is good!

Jesus was not finished with just Manual, though. Two years later, He opened up Trewyn Middle School. Now we conduct a Wednesday morning Bible study and prayer time there each week. Our friends at Child Evangelism Fellowship got into the act, too, opening up Garfield Primary School the same year. Now they partner with Bethany Baptist Church to conduct an after school Good News Club for participating students on Thursdays. Last year, God provided an opportunity at Harrison Primary School, where we now operate a before-school Bible study and prayer meeting on Fridays. And this fall, the Lord completed the circle of Peoria public schools in 61605 by opening up Roosevelt Magnet School with a brand-new Thursday morning prayer meeting and Bible study.

“He who began a good work in 61605 is faithful to complete it!”

Great New Video on SSM Elderly Services

There's a great new video about South Side Mission's Elderly Services Ministry. You can see it here.

Thank you to Mission volunteer Rick Burdette for his great work producing and donating the video!