b'AThe Evangelist of the Slums A Assssoocciiaatitoion nH iHstiosrtyoryI f there was one man who could be considered thefather of North Americas rescue would be Jerry McAuley, an Irishmissions, itcame of age inimmigrant whoabject poverty on New York CitysLower East Side. hated and feared ruffian, McAuleys addictions, andthievery,inrabble-rousing took him from stintsManhattanregularin Sing Singjailhouses to a seven-year apenitentiary. But it was there thatstretchdramatic conversion, set inhe hadservice message from amotion by a chapelturned preacher,former partner-in-crimeOrville Gardner.After his release, McAuley newfound faith, butstrayed from hismeeting, heduring a Spirit-filled prayerearnestlycame rushing back to the Lord. He seeking His ways andbeganthroughout oldpreaching His WordPointshaunts, including the neighborhood. He married hisinfamous Five Jerry McAuley on his girlfriend, Maria Fahy,former-prostitute wedding day in 1872whose own faith took root after She soon joined him in and dance halls.ministry, seeking to convertwitnessing Jerrys changed life. Afterwomen and girls in the local saloons working short terms at odd jobs, Jerry would find aMcAuley had a whileplace to bring derelict men. Hevision of what God wanted him to do:Jesus cleaned them up on thewould then clean them up on the He raisedinside. outsidein Newmoney by soliciting friends in the city and York and Newgiving his McAuleys tookJersey. With thetestimony at camp possession of aencouragement of ameetings Side, and used theto fixformer bar and brothel atbenefactor, Fredrick Hatch, themoney316 Hand for Men, later know asand refurbish the place. InWater Street on the Lower EastWater Street Mission andOctober 1872, they opened York CityMcAuley Mission.HelpingRescue Mission. Today, it is the NewFor the next twelve years, the were instrumental inMcAuleys words and incountlessactionsChrist. In all theirthousands coming to faith acceptance theyendeavors, the tender love andmany in the city.showed to the down-and-out won overDuring those years, Jerry and Maria also Cremorne Mission at 104 West 32ndopened thethe CremorneStreet, right next totheGarden, a saloon and dance hall. In time,usingMcAuleys models, other impassioned followers started similarChrist-people in surroundingmissions to minister to destituteneighborhoods and eventuallysurrounding states. By the turn of the mission ministry wascentury, rescueOn aspreading across the continent.September afternoon in 1884, Jerry went to bewith his Lord. His death was the he had contracted while in Singresult of tuberculosisconditions. It seemed that all ofSings deplorableopen-casketNew York came to thethefuneral to see this unique man. To them,he wasEvangelist of the Slums; to us, he was theHelping Hands for Men at 316 Water Street pioneer of rescue missions in North America.7'