My name is Don Borgwardt, and I am the most recent addition to the Merced County Rescue Mission (MCRM) staff. I was hired as a Peer Navigator for the Hope for Men program.
Prior to my start with MCRM I had served in managing multiple housing authorities in the Central Valley, until retiring in 2015 as Executive Director of Madera Housing Authority. Shortly after that in 2016, the Lord called me to serve in ministry with Yosemite Church in establishing a new satellite campus for the church in Atwater.
I had served in various capacities with YC over the years, but this was to be a very different experience. I served as the Campus Pastor there for four years until COVID closed the churches. This was a great time for reflection and prayer as I began to seek what the Lord had planned for me in this season. My desire was to be in the community ministering to those in need, but I was also conflicted with serving my church body in Atwater. Then, the Lord spoke clearly and told me I was going to MCRM. I reached out to the Mission and found that they did have a position available and so I applied. Apparently, God had spoken to the Mission too because I am here.
I knew a little about what the Mission did but was soon overwhelmed by what I would experience. If anyone were to question if God still performs miracles, I will have to tell them to look at the Hope for Men and Hope for Women program.
Daily, I see His transformation in the lives of people coming from prison, out of the judicial system, homelessness, and lives of addiction. I have seen people who have served time for issues related to addiction, now clean, worshiping the Lord, and starting jobs. People who are homeless have come into Hope for Men and found a real relationship with Jesus. They are now taking care of past criminal offenses caused by a lifestyle of drugs and alcohol and reunifying with family. Day after day, God’s mercy, love, and grace works through the lives of the approximately, 23 men currently in Hope for Men.
I am impressed by the men who get jobs as they work on bikes that were donated to the program to use to get back and forth from work. I do not know a lot of people that would be grateful for a bike to ride so they could work.
Jesus worked in the streets and towns healing the sick, the broken, and the needy. Today, he still works on the streets through the love, passion, and faith of those that work at MCRM. Any of my coworkers and myself are products of recovery. God uses us to help restore lives, heal the broken, and prove that God’s grace is alive and living here in Merced County.
I am honored and blessed to be called to serve on the front lines of ministry bringing Christ to a population in need.
- Don Borgwardt
Learn more about the Mission’s programs, click here.
