58 WWW.AGRM.ORG MAY/JUNE 2017 DAY-TO-DAY S ometimes I take a step back and stand amazed by what God has done with our missions. Outside of government agencies, there is nothing and no one like AGRM members working on homeless- ness in America. What drives us? It’s more than merely a belief in God that distinguishes us from other work being done in the field of homelessness. Our core belief really has three parts, and the last one is our great distinctive and drive. We believe (1) in God and (2) His saving work in Christ (3) that He wants to give to our clients. In other words, we believe in the return of the prodigal son. Our faith in God’s saving desire for homeless people stands in contrast to the harm- reduction nature of government- funded interventions, which assume that freedom and restoration are not very likely. We believe in more for people because God does. To some this might seem crazy, and I suspect that harm-reduction and disability- based strategies really do reveal a core belief in the hearts of their progenitors that homeless people are “damaged goods.” Let us be the noisy contra- diction! At one point, Jesus was the only person who believed in His own mission. After receiv- ing the Holy Spirit, His disciples believed in Him at that level too, sometimes to the point of their own torture and death. I became a follower of Jesus while I was serving with the Army’s only regiment of Rangers. I noticed even then that my leaders were true believers in the Ranger mission, the Ranger legacy, and the Ranger brotherhood. That meant they believed in the rea- son for the Rangers—the why. As CEO of a rescue mission, I must be our organization’s Believer-in-Chief. No one should be a deeper believer in why a mission exists here in the first place. This is our crucial message: God is unwilling to write off one single person. He has a great plan and future for the life of each person in a tent under the freeway, each kid in a minivan with his or her family, each man or woman trapped in addiction. He will never quit on them, never give up on them, and never stop trying to save them. Since we and our missions are His, this is the blood in our veins, the breath in our lungs, and the cry on our lips. And while we will pursue this belief if none follow, we know that people are far more likely to follow leadership that flows from ardent belief. Some will always doubt that change is possible for our clients. But I believe. Ĩ LEADERSHIP LAB Mike Johnson Simple Belief in Others We can’t give up on those who come to our missions because God never gives up Mike is executive director of The Rescue Mission in Tacoma, Washington. He is a graduate of Pepperdine Uni- versity, a former Army Ranger, an ordained minister, and father of seven children—all adopted. You can email Mike at mikejohnson@trm.org.