Christmas at the Mission

Celebrating the Season with our Friends

(and family) at the DTRM

This Christmas was probably the best we've ever had, and a large part of that is because of the friends we've developed at the rescue mission. What started as a service opportunity has quickly become a second home to us, complete with a whole bunch of folks we have come to consider to be a part of our family.

Karen was inspired with a whole bunch of ideas for connecting our church, and us, with the Mission for the Christmas season, but without a doubt, our favorite event was the night we had the workers from the mission over to our house! These folks have grown to be so dear to us over the last year!

The next event to be planned was a dinner for the ladies who live at the mission, or whom we helped move out over the last year. The dinner would be patterned after the annual Christmas dinner the ladies of our church put on each year, and the goal was to make it just as special!
With everything else going on during Christmas, Karen was a little apprehensive about getting enough volunteers to help pull the dinner off. Everyone is already so busy at Christmas! But, she decided to put a little ad in our church newsletter, just to see what would happen. Well, the results were phenomenal! Without Karen calling to recruit a single person, we ended up with over 60 volunteers!

So, the plans were laid. In addition to the dinner for the ladies, there would dinner and activities for their kids, a gospel-oriented magic show, stockings filled with goodies and toys for each person, and a few surprises.

Before the ladies' dinner, however, we found out that the Rescue Mission does a Christmas party for all the little kids who live around the mission. Talk about giving your holidays some perspective,...the folks at the homeless shelter putting on a party for the poor kids in their neighborhood. Wow....

So, Karen put out the word among the Sunday school classes at our church, and, once again, the response was beyond our wildest dreams! The gifts completely filled one of the classrooms at our church, wall to wall!

On the day of the party, folks were lined up out the door of the rescue mission, and everyone left with a little something.

Finally, the night of the Christmas dinner arrived. Everything went according to plan,...well, almost everything :-), and it was a wonderful way to cap an already awesome Christmas season!
More pictures,...

Merry Christmas!