Wheeler Mission's Blog

I am so thankful for the staff of Wheeler Mission Ministries. Some of us go back a very long way. Over 25 years ago, when I was working at the Evansville Rescue Mission, I hired a very capable Administrative Assistant. Her name is Paulette Moore. Paulette is multi-talented and has a real heart for the ministry of rescue missions. We worked together for several years before I moved to Indianapolis in 1990. Paulette remained at the Evansville mission and worked coordinating the office, the volunteers, and many of the programs. Then, in 2003, Paulette called me. Much to my delight and surprise, she said she was interested in the position of Director of our Center for Women and Children, then called the Care Center. I hired her on the spot. We had been searching for a new director for months, and when Paulette called, I felt the Lord had answered our prayers.

That was six years ago. Since then, Paulette has pulled together a dedicated team of trained staff, completed a move of the program to a new building, developed a deep matrix of community partnerships, and built interdisciplinary programming to meet clients at their point of need. Whew….and it she did it in six short years.

Paulette, while she is still continuing to work long hours at the Center for Women and Children, is now preparing to retire. I will miss her deeply. She has brought depth to our programs and has loved our clients and staff like few others I have known.

We pray for the Lord’s gracious blessing on you in your well-deserved retirement, Paulette!

Rick

Labels: retirement

Following is a blog by Mike Barclay, one of our staff members who counsels men on our addiction recovery program.
On my way into Wheeler this morning, I found myself getting stuck behind a school bus. The bus would go several hundred yards and then stop, a few hundred yards more and then stop again. Each time the bus stopped a different set of kids would get on. As I followed the bus I began to think about the children that were climbing aboard that bus. I realized that I wasn’t merely following a bus loaded with kids; I was following a bus loaded with potential. In front of me might have been the doctors, teachers, firefighters and pastors of the next generation. Perhaps I was even watching as a future president or the next Billy Graham was beginning their school day. Of course in order for these children to reach their potential, they need to get an education and that means riding the bus to school. When I got to work and walked through our building, I realized that potential is not limited to children getting onto a school bus. There have been many men and women who have been in our buildings receiving services who went on to become active members of their church and successful in a new career. Even some of our best and most talented counselors and staff members came through our programs. Just as the school children need that bus in order to receive an education, the people receiving our services today need a chance to get to where they can fulfill their potential. Each time you contribute time, money and/or prayer to Wheeler Mission Ministries, you become the “bus” that allows the people we serve to reach their potential and for that, I thank you.

I helped our youngest son move into his new townhouse on the college campus where he is finishing his senior year. He lived in a fairly small dorm room for the first three years of college, so the new “digs” proved to be more like the Conrad Hotel than student housing. Thank goodness there is no room service!

Change. Challenge. Work. That’s what’s ahead for my son this year, but also ahead for the rest of us. To be happy in your work and to accept your lot – this is a gift from God – so says Ecclesiates. Have you experienced change lately? Been challenged in your relationships and responsibilities? Had to work harder than usual to complete a task? This all is a gift from God and can be used in our lives to bring us closer to Him.

I hope you – and my son - find yourself happy in your work and satisfied with your lot today. This is a gift from God.

Rick