I recently had the privilege of accompanying my Sunday School class to Newgate Mission in Longview, TX. It had been a long time since I had been to rescue mission/homeless shelter, and I wasn’t at all disappointed by what I found. While it is always staggering the amount of grace and love that abounds in such places, it really shouldn’t be a surprise at all, considering the example and life of our Lord Jesus Christ. As the director Kent McKeever preached on the Samaritan Woman at the well, I found myself both in awe and transfixed by the simple message of love and grace in action. Also on point and something I hadn’t ever considered was “why was the woman at the well around the 6th hour? (that’s Noon for all of us in the US as the Jewish day started at 6:00AM approximately. This would have been an unusual time to be drawing water at the well, it was mentioned that custom and convenience would have seen the community come to the well around 9:00AM before the full heat of the day had struck. It would seem that this particular Samaritan was not only an outcast from the Jewish people but also her own community, at least that is one possible explanation, although we just don’t know for sure.
What we do know is that Jesus crossed those barriers and spoke to her heart, not only transforming her life but the life of that community.
John 4:42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; *now* we have *heard* for ourselves, and we *know* that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
Transformation from the inside out. . . Newgate is about that type of transformational hope and love spoken into broken lives. . .
Have you served at your local mission? If not check out these in East Texas and Shreveport Louisiana
http://www.newgatemission.org (Newgate Mission Longview, TX) http://hiway80mission.org (Highway 80 Rescue Mission Longview, TX) http://www.sbrescuemission.org (Shreveport Bossier Rescue Mission Shreveport, LA)
In His Service, Glenn
