Sam is a model citizen. He’s been married for 21 years and has three teenage children. He’s been working for the same company for 25 years. He’s an elder at his church and teaches Sunday school. He served six years on the Board of the Milwaukee Rescue Mission.
And he credits all of it to God, the Milwaukee Rescue Mission and people like you. Sam came to us in 1980 when a judge in Flint, Michigan told him to “get out of town or go to jail.” He bought a bus ticket to Milwaukee and found himself at the Milwaukee Rescue Mission, just looking for a meal and a bed. He ended up accepting Christ as his savior, and he got off the drugs and alcohol that threatened to ruin his life.
“I chose God’s road that leads to Heaven.”
Right after his graduation from the program, Sam started giving back to the Mission that gave so much to him. He worked on staff as a desk man and ministered to children and young adults living in the inner city through our outreach programs. “It’s better to build a fence at the top of the mountain than a hospital at the bottom,” he said at the time. “If we reach these kids now, they likely won’t end up at the Mission as drunkards later!”
When we first shared Sam’s story in our August 1981 newsletter, he said, “I don’t know what the future holds. My tomorrows are in His hands. But this I do know--the Holy Spirit that caused me to come to Milwaukee will keep on leading me until someday I will see my Lord face to face. What a great day that will be!”
“With God’s help, you can do anything.”
The faith, confidence and hope Sam found at the Mission in 1980 have filled the 28 years since then with joy. But he hasn’t forgotten the addictions that drove him to the Milwaukee Rescue Mission in the first place, or what it took to get him past them.
Sam knows firsthand that a real ministry is about more than food and beds; it’s about teaching a person to walk with God. “I still feel a connection to the Mission because that is where I was first saved. The Mission was my spiritual boot camp. It was my footing for developing as a Christian.”
Having been a guest at the Mission and later serving on the Board has given Sam a unique perspective on the role our donors play in changing lives. “Your donations are well used,” he says. “Your money goes towards redeveloping [people] who are made in the image of God. They may have marred that image with sin, but they are all made in God’s image and you help them to restore that.”
Sam still comes to MRM and shares his testimony with the men there. “I tell them to trust in Him and let Him lead. I never in my life would have believed the things I do now!”
