Wheeler Mission's Blog

In the 6th chapter of the Gospel of Mark, we find a large group of people following Jesus. They spent the entire day listening to Jesus as he taught and as dinner time approached the disciples urged Jesus to send the people away so that they could get food to eat. Jesus responded to the disciples by saying, “You give them something to eat”. The task of feeding such a large group of people appeared to be impossible. After all, there were about 5,000 men as well as their families who needed to eat. Jesus didn’t ask the disciples what they needed in order to meet such a vast need. Rather, he asked them what they had. The disciples were able to come up with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. Jesus then gave thanks to God for what was provided and he handed it back to the disciples to give to the people. As you may recall, everyone who was hungry was able to eat until they were satisfied, and they even had plenty left over.

During these uncertain economic times, many people may be tempted to hold onto every little bit that they can because they are not sure what tomorrow may bring (or not bring for that matter). One lesson that we can take away from this passage in Mark however, is that we don’t need to worry about our needs. What we do need to do is give what we have to Christ and then use it as he leads us to. It all belongs to God anyway.

At Wheeler Mission Ministries, we get the privilege of seeing this principle in action every day. Even though times are a bit tougher, our wonderful volunteers and donors continue to bless this ministry with their time, talent and treasure. As they give what they have to the ministry in the name of Christ, he is faithful to continue meeting the needs of the homeless and less fortunate men, women and children of Indianapolis. In the month of February alone, Wheeler Mission provided 11,400 nights of lodging and we were able to serve 23,564 meals. All of this is possible because God’s people have not allowed themselves to focus on the vast need, but rather they shared what they had in the name of Christ.

Thanks again to all of you who support us with donations, volunteer hours and especially your prayers.

Rick

A lot of people know about our addiction recovery programs, but many do not know we also have other programs for men and women who find themselves homeless but don’t necessarily struggle with addiction. One of those programs is our STEPS program (Steps Toward Economic & Personal Stability) for men. One of the men who has found success in this program is George (not his real name).

We first met with George in March of 2007. George appeared to be extremely depressed and feeling hopeless. He had a long beard and told us that he just didn’t care anymore. At that time he just needed someone in his life to listen to what he had to say and share what was going on in his life. He had suffered serious injuries from a truck collision and as a result, lost everything he owned and ended up homeless. After we did an assessment on George, we placed him on the STEPS program. He benefited much from the Bible studies and chapel services. He appeared to trust the Lord more and more each day and started coming out of his depression. After a couple of months of counseling and Bible studies he applied for a correctional officer position with The State of Indiana and was hired.

George was an encouragement to us all as he continued his path of recovery. George stayed here at Wheeler for a total of two years. Then, In January 2009 he moved into his own place and is doing very well. He stops in from time to time to let us know how he is doing. He informs us that he promotes Wheeler Mission wherever he is and believes we were a blessing to him at the worst possible time in his life. We thank God for George and pray for his continued success.

If you or someone you know could benefit from our STEPS program, give us a call at (317) 635-3575.