Wise Men Still Seek Him

We’ve all seen the pageants with boys and girls dressed in their dads’ bathrobes, crowns and makeshift turbans carrying pirates’ treasure chests, bags of potpourri and their mothers’ perfume bottles down the center aisle of the church to lay next to a baby doll Jesus. I have even heard of the wise men singing rap:  “. . .and truthfully/we were blown away/by a king/with no bling.” In her story, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Barbara Robinson has one of the magi bring a much more practical gift – a ham.

This Christmas, I’d like to introduce you to three men who, at first glance, might seem equally improbable wise men:  The first, Jeff, grew up in foster care.  Twenty years old, he recently re-united with his biological family and quickly proceeded to steal from them to pay for his drug habit. Angry that they had rejected him long ago, he thought, “I don’t care; they’re nothing to me.” But then he started to feel guilty. That wasn’t the person he wanted to be, and he made a wise choice: he came to the Union Gospel Mission to get help. Since coming here, he has developed close relationships with other young men in the program, and he has a new picture of his future.

The second, Jedidiah, 23, was couch surfing in the months before coming to the Mission, hanging out with druggie friends, partying every night. Jedidiah said it took him a month in this environment before he clearly realized he wanted to be on the program and turn his life around. He saw the choices before him:  be a dead-beat, drugged-out dad or get clean, get a job, and have a relationship with his toddler son. He made the wise choice.

Finally, meet Sam. Sam had stayed at the Mission before but left to continue his alcoholic lifestyle. Upon his return, he was asked why he wanted to come back. His answer went something like this:  “I’m 47 years old. I’ve lost my job. I’ve lost my wife. I’ve lost everything.  I need to get into treatment, and I want to be in a clean and sober environment.” Sam made the wise choice to return to a safe place.

The men and women who are coming to our shelters want to get help. They want to be in a clean and sober environment. According to a recent survey, 9 out of 10 residents prefer and desire the spiritual component offered here. They don’t want simply to eat and sleep and continue in their addictions. They want to be set free from the bondage of alcohol and drugs. They want the hope of a new life – the new life made possible by the coming of Jesus Christ.

This Christmas, your gifts to the Union Gospel Mission help to create a safe haven for men and women making the wise choice to leave old behaviors and addictions behind and seek a new beginning.

Serving together,

Phil Altmeyer
Executive Director