My name is Collin, and my experience with the Merced Rescue Mission began in 2012. I had been charged with several DUIs, and my lawyer recommended that I go into a rehab program. A friend of mine told me about a program at the Mission from which he graduated. The Mission was based on Canal Street at that time, and I went down and signed up.
I met people from several different walks of life while in the program and I learned the value of serving people who have nothing to offer in return except gratitude and maybe a smile.
The Mission has been extended family to me, and they have shown me compassion and support when I have been the one that had nothing to offer. My life is not where I'd like it to be, and I don't consider myself to be a "success story". I can, however, say that I am in a much better place than when I first walked through the Mission doors. Alcohol no longer dictates my life, and I no longer have any problems with the law.
I have learned a lot about meeting people where they are at. The Bible puts it best when it says, "I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means, I might save some." (1 Corinthians 9:22 NIV).
May God continue to work through the Mission family by meeting people where they are at and showing kindness, compassion, and support in a way that puts a smile on God's face.
