CONTENTS
A
Special Time for a Special Couple
IUGM BOARD OF
TRUSTEES ACTIONS
What
About Our Name?
Happenings
- Our Missions
Publications
A
Special Time for a Special Couple
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| Rev. Dr. F. Dickson and Mrs. Phyllis Marshall
& their arrival in New Castle in 1949 |
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July 16 was a very special day
in the life of Dick and Phyllis Marshall. On that day the New Castle, PA community came
all out to honor this couple who took a small mission, on the verge of closing in July
1949, and developed a multi-service major mission in a city now with 34,000 residents. An
Open House, Special Program and a Reception highlighted the day.
It was 35 years ago that I had the opportunity to get to
know the "hearts" of this grand couple. Delores and I were called to start a
youth ministry for the CITY RESCUE MISSION in New Castle. I will never forget the day Dick
and I walked through the old candy warehouse that Dick dreamed would be a youth center. In
the company of pigeons and their droppings, Dick and I "saw" a gym full of kids,
a library for studying, a craft room, and shared a vision. He rejoiced that someone else
could see something positive in this broken down old building. Dick then turned me loose,
supported me, and gave me the resources to develop the Ira Sankey Youth Center. Thousands
of children's lives have been touched by this program over the past 35 years.
Phyllis opened her home to this young couple, and baby, and
was always there for us. Her children's lives today say a lot about her godly mothering.
At the same time, she started and built an outstanding Women's Auxiliary for the mission.
She has truly been a partner in this wonderful and
visionary ministry and it has been just that.
Several years ago in a visit to New Castle, Dick drove me
to the top of a hill, suddenly pulled off the road, and as the car hung over the hill,
shared more vision for more ministry. This is the Dick Marshall I know, always looking for
ways to better reach and serve the poor and the broken. From the small beginnings, the New
Castle mission today serves men, women, families, and pregnant teenagers from a number of
facilities. Its state of the art youth center, which replaced the "old candy
warehouse," is a model facility for youth ministry.
Dick Marshall is today a New Castle institution. He is
heard daily on local radio. When he visits local hospitals, he is asked to come into rooms
of people that know him by reputation. He has sung his way into the hearts of thousands
with his beautiful singing voice, and has been given almost every award this community
has. He was made a doctor by Geneva College, Beaver, PA, who recognized the outstanding
service of this servant.
Last year Dick stepped into a difficult spot, as he became
the replacement Bible Teacher for the Grand Rapids Convention due to the death of Maurice
Vanderberg. A whole new generation of rescue workers got to know a man who was not just an
icon from the past, but a visionary rescue leader, who shared his heart, and how the Word
of God should shape a rescue ministry. At this past convention, Dick McMillen who, like
me, had the privilege of working not just for, but with Dick Marshall, honored Dick with a
Presidential Citation. Little did New Castle know on July l5, 1949 what this gentle and
loving couple would mean to their community, but they know now. My congratulations and
best wishes are combined with thousands of others whose lives they have touched. I am
proud to claim Dick and Phyllis Marshall as friends; but more than that, mentors. - Steve
Burger
IUGM BOARD OF
TRUSTEES ACTIONS
From Spokane Board Meeting, May 21, 1999
- A criteria was established for Honor Roll and will be placed
in the Policy and Procedure Manual.
- An International Advisory Committee will be appointed by the
Executive Director to advise in areas relating to international involvement.
- Great Thanksgiving Banquet program
and budget was adopted.
- Dues policy was adopted for missions operating in multiple
cities.
- Issue of a name change for the IUGM was referred to the
Executive Committee, and the Executive Director will be gaining members' input.
- Task Force Resolution on missions expanding into other
cities was accepted. It will be sent to Executive Directors of member missions.
- Providence, RI will be the IUGM's Major Expansion Project
with $40,000 committed for 1999-2000. The Northeast District has started the Providence
Rescue Mission.
- Dues for organizational members were increased by 5% as
agreed upon in the five-year plan in 1995.
- The President will appoint a committee to review the past
five years, and work with the Executive Director in setting new goals. The current
five-year plan ends in 2000.
Members desiring copies of the minutes of the Board Meeting
should call Madeleine Wooley, IUGM, at 800-624-5156.
What About Our Name?
We have always been talking about our name!!!! I joined the
IUGM in 1967; and since that time, I have heard people discussing and arguing over the
name International Union of Gospel Missions. During my early tenure in leadership,
a name change was discussed. Over 80% felt the name should be changed, but there was no
consensus on what that name should be.
We are now again discussing our name. The IUGM District
President's Council sent a resolution to the board asking them to "revisit the issue
of name change." The board has asked the Executive Committee to study the issue, and
bring recommendations to the fall board meeting. I have been asked to gain response from
the membership on this issue.
HISTORY
The organization was founded in 1913 as the International
Union of Gospel Missions. It was a successor to an organization titled the Rescue
Mission Workers, or something very close to that. Sidney Whittemore had been president of
the Rescue Mission Workers, and became the acting president of the new organization. We
are not clear about the reasons or the history of the Rescue Mission Workers, but we know
that the Philadelphia District was meeting in 1905, and moved from the one affiliation to
the other.
The founders envisioned an international organization of
urban missions, and used the word union, which was popular in that day to express a
relationship of common interest. Groups like Scripture Union, Sunday School Union, etc.,
used the name for the same purpose.
From the very beginning, our members used very diverse
names. The first missions in the United States and Canada used neither the word Gospel
or Rescue in their name. Some used the words City Mission, which is what
most groups in Europe were called. The word Rescue was first used in the title of
an American mission in Syracuse, NY in 1887 when the Rescue Mission of Syracuse was
founded. However, David Nasmith, founder of the City Mission Movement, used Rescue Home
for his ministry to women in the 1840's. One of the earliest uses of Gospel Mission
in a name is the Union Gospel Mission of Fort Worth, TX, founded in 1888. Most missions
started in the past 25 years either use the word Rescue or neither word in their
name.
Today in North America:
- 112 member mission use the word Rescue in their title
- 26 use the word Gospel
- 7 use both words
- 105 use neither word
Outside North America:
- 7 members use neither word, but instead use the words City
Mission
- 2 use the word Rescue in their title
Historically, the words Rescue Mission, Gospel
Mission and City Mission have been attached to our work. Both Rescue and
Gospel have strong Biblical connotations, and reaching the City is presented
as a mandate in Scripture. Long lists of Bible verses can be given relating to these three
words.
WHERE WE ARE TODAY
Let me share with you where I think we are:
- Our name is International Union of Gospel Missions,
but only 4% of our member ministries are outside of North America
- We use the word Union that most people don't under-
stand and I have to constantly explain
- We use the word Gospel Missions when only 11% of our
missions identify themselves with that in their name (another 3% have both in their name)
- We use the word Mission, and 81% of our missions use
that in their name.
GOSPEL MISSION-RESCUE MISSION
When I ask our own people what they operate, most tell me
they operate a rescue mission. When I see their newsletters, fundraising letters and
newspaper ads, the vast majority uses the words rescue mission. Some use rescue
ministry, but I have not heard for a long time any of our people saying they run a gospel
mission. Part of the reason may be that gospel mission is a term which has
wider meaning, used by foreign mission organizations (like World Gospel Mission) to relate
to missionary work in general. Most Christians that I have talked to know what a rescue
mission is.
HOW ABOUT RESCUE MINISTRY?
Rescue ministry is a good inside professional word,
and may be a better word for some of our ministries who work in specific areas of rescue
(jail work, rural rehab, youth ministry, etc.); but most Christians, much less the general
public, have any idea what we are talking about. Dr. W. E. Paul in Romance of Rescue (Osterhus
Publishing House, Minneapolis, 1946 and 1959) shared that rescue missions were not just
men's works and used as his definition:
A missioner is one sent from a body of believers, the
church, with good news for a body of unbelievers that will deliver them from actual or
impending calamity.
He defined rescue missions as "life-saving crews"
who "venture out into the sea and rescue lives and ships that have already gone upon
the rocks." Children and youth outreaches, community missions, jail and hospital work
were considered rescue missions. Many think of gospel or rescue missions in a narrow
sense, so we have education to do.
INTERNATIONAL CONCERNS
The IUGM began to look at the issue of international
in the late 1980's and joined hands with other city mission organizations around the world
to form the City Mission World Association. It has three purposes:
- networking, and developing sister-partner relationship with
missions in different parts of the world;
- developing strategies and programs to start and strengthen
urban mission endeavors in under developed parts of the world;
- encouraging and assisting urban missions in countries
formerly part of the Soviet Union.
The IUGM has determined that its best way to serve is to
help set up sister associations in places like Africa and Asia, and work as a partner with
those associations, and work with the CMWA in developing sister-partner relationships and
strategies to help new and struggling missions.
We are moving to the recognition that the IUGM is really a
North American organization, and is best able to join hands with other existing
associations like the European City Mission Association to promote and build rescue
mission ministry.
The Board of the IUGM is now looking at the concept of an
associate membership for those outside the North American continent.
WHAT SHOULD OUR NAME BE?
I hope that we can keep it simple. Something like Rescue
Missions of North America, or The Rescue Mission Movement or just The Rescue Missions
would be much easier to identify who we are. An alternative would be Gospel-Rescue
Missions. I think the time has come. Please share with us your thoughts. Send a letter or
FAX me your thinking (please no e-mails, they are too hard to reproduce and share). Our
FAX number is 816-471-3718. We need to hear from you.
Happenings -
Our Missions
- BOISE (ID) RESCUE MISSION has entered the public phase of
their $1.5 million capital campaign for their new home for Women and Children. Over 70%
has been raised with renovation on the building to be completed in October.
- NEW ORLEANS (LA) MISSION is celebrating its 10th year of
operation. Founded by the IUGM in 1989, the mission has continued to grow and expand its
outreach. Mac Thornton, Executive Director, shares that plans are now before the city for
a 300-bed dormitory on the second floor of the mission building, plus a 25-bed unit for
program men. The mission has just bought a house for a women and family ministry that will
house 26. It's great to see what God has done in the ten years. It started as a vision,
and now is a reality.
- MIAMI (FL) RESCUE MISSION is planning to build an Activity
Center, across the street from the Men's Center in downtown Miami. It will include a
gymnasium, weight room, activity/arts and crafts room, and classrooms. It will be aimed at
neighborhood children offering after school programs.
- PHOENIX (AZ) RESCUE MISSION has recently purchased the last
five 4-bedroom homes in their neighborhood to be used for their new family outreach.
Renovations are currently underway.
JEFFERSON COUNTY RESCUE MISSION, Pevely, MO is a small mission with a big vision. Beside
feeding, housing, and clothing the needy in the river towns south of St. Louis, the
mission, under the direction of Mike and Louise Sardo, furnish perishable and
non-perishable foods to two non-profit drug rehabilitation centers, and a missionary
working with the Navaho Indians in Ganado, AZ. They call it their "Food To Go"
program.
- Home of Grace, Vancleave, MS - May 16th was an exciting day
at HOME OF GRACE, Vancleave, MS as they broke ground for the new facilities on their new
campus, This will include a Multi-Use Building (kitchen/dining room, classrooms, chapel,
medical clinic, educational center, library and offices); Men's Cottages (each cottage
contains four apartments, 4 men per apartment-86 men in total); Admissions Building and
Activity Building. This new campus will take the place of the present facilities, which
were devastated by floodwaters.
- HUNTINGTON (WV) CITY MISSION will soon open a new women and
family shelter next to other mission facilities. They plan to tear down the oldest mission
building and construct a new chapel on that site. The mission is celebrating 60 years of
service to the Tri-State community.
Publications
MOUNTAIN MOVERS 10 STEPS TO LIVING VICTORIOUSLY. A
practical workbook and guide for moving the "mountains" in your life. Excellent
for rescue missions and rehab centers. "I have found Mountain Movers to meet the
needs of people struggling with different problems and compulsions in life. It uses the
principles of God's Word to facilitate a real life change in people's hearts. I can highly
recommend the Mountain Movers program." - Gary L. Schauf, Program Dir., New Hope
Home, Pensacola, FL. Contact Naaman Recovery Ministries, 534 7th Street NE, Sioux Center,
IA 51250, (712) 722-2227. #05-266
From the July1999 edition of HAPPENINGS,
monthly newsletter of the International Union of Gospel Missions
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