My wife and I decided to go to Branson for a little breather before the Holiday seasons arrive and here I am sitting at 03:45 a.m. writing an Op-Ed piece for our local newspaper which may or may not ever see the light of day. Pam and I decided to see a movie while we were out, which is something coming from a couple of folks who rarely go to the theater and whose only television is kept in the closet of a spare bedroom in case we would want to watch It's a Wonderful Life at Christmas.
The movie of choice was one that we had been waiting to see called, "The Same Kind of Different As Me."
It follows three people whose lives intersect at a Rescue Mission. A rich Caucasian couple volunteer at the mission, while struggling to rekindle their relationship after the husband has an affair. They meet Denver, an angry African American man who is homeless and lives like many in the subculture around us.
One of the questions that Denver asks the husband in the movie, which will be missed by many I am sure, is "Mr. Ron, do you know what it does when you give a homeless man or woman a dollar or two? It forces you to make that person visible, you see he was invisible to you before you gave him a dollar or two."
What a profound statement.
We have literally hundreds of invisible people living around us every day. Every city we visit, every street we walk, we are surrounded by invisible men, women, and children, yet we go about our daily lives as if it does not matter.
How many of our citizens cries for help go unheard or unheeded?
We had a video at a previous Rescue Mission that I ran with my father. In the video, my father says, "Everyone's name is important".
I have never forgotten those lessons and I have attempted to learn the names of every client we serve here in Poplar Bluff.
As the movie works its way through the lives of its characters, it reaches a conclusion where Denver brings the message that we are all different and yet, we are all the same. Rich or poor or in the middle we are the same basic persons with the same problems and questions of why are we here? And what significance does my life bring?
This is not an article written as a movie review.
It is an article about our town, our county, and our state.
Denver was a real person. He truly lived, as did the couple.
I knew the story before the movie was made and I know the Rescue Mission of which much of the story centers around.
Then why did I write these words at 03:45 in the morning on a day off?
I wrote because I have met a thousand Denver's. Not just a movie version of a black man who was down on his luck. But of white men, white women, black men and black women who reside all around us.
We don't see them because we do not want to see them, as if acknowledging their very existence makes our lives a little less significant.
I remember introducing a man to his 21 and 22 year old children.
He had never seen his children one time since the day they were born. His wife took them away and left him. This drove him to drunkenness and continued until the day he came to the Rescue Mission.
Imagine being drunk for 20 years and never seeing your children?
I have every man who attends our new life program write a short biography about their life up to that point. I remember one story that began "I was 6 years old when I watched my mother shoot my father in the head in front of a shoe store in Los Angeles, Calif."
Every story is not that sensational but most are just that unbelievable..
We are approaching the Holiday seasons and we will have many hundreds of volunteers helping cook and prepare meals and deliver those meals to our poor and less fortunate.
That makes us feel better, but what about the other 363 days of the year?
Who is there to help? Who is there to share the love of God with those who are many times the closest to His heart?
The scriptures say "Lo, everyone who is thirsty come unto me and I will give you water that will refresh your soul."
We at the United Gospel Rescue Mission have been offering that everlasting water for over 50 years.
What will you do to help the Denver's of our town? What can we do to help the invisible members of our community?
Without your help, this life changing work will not be able to continue..
It takes the individuals of this community to sustain our much needed work.
You will never have a man or client of the United Gospel Rescue Mission knock on your door or come to your business asking for money or other services.
Our men have one job.
Get their lives in order so they can leave the mission as successful members of society and re-enter the work force, find their families, and join a local congregation and become a leader in the community.
Denver and Ron have raised over $65,000.00 for Rescue Missions across the U.S.
As we left the theater, we spoke with people in the lobby.
I didn't know any of them, but we started talking about how we all cried and cried during the movie. I mentioned that I ran a Rescue Mission just like the one in the movie.
As we prepared to drive away later, one of the ladies ran to our car. She had $100 and said, "Here, go feed some people with this small donation."
So I guess Denver raised $65,100.00 in his lifetime.
Will you help the United Gospel Rescue Mission with your donation? The person you help may be the very one that changes our community for the better.
Rev. Greg Kirk
Director
United Gospel
Rescue Mission