Hallelujah 24!

Hallelujah 24! No, that's not my age, but it is one of my ages. On December 16, 1976, God spoke to me. I listened but didn't understand when He said "Rich, change now before it's too late." God does not have laryngitis. On December 24, 1976, I cried out to God that if He would listen to someone like me, to please come into my life and clean me up inside and out. He did! I was so hungry to hear God's word that even after working 16 to 24 hours straight, I beat the Pastor to the church. It has never changed. Evangelism and night school brought me a Bible College education, learning through night courses and weekends. Then on to starting a church. I do not walk in other people's footsteps; only in the Holy Spirit's leading. Then the Lord told me to go to Colorado. I did. He led. I started another church after being in Fort Collins for a week. But unbeknownst to me, it wasn't just a church. It was a beginning of what He really wanted me to do: start a rescue mission. No real problem. I was eating in a soup kitchen by the time I was three years old.



I started ministering just a few months into 1977. Guess where! You have it - in a resuce mission. And the ironic thing is that it was the same one that started out as a soup kitchen I knew in 1943. I can't say enough good about Rev. and Mrs. Buckely, who founded City Union Mission in Kansas City, MO. The old, and sometimes the new, missions start out as a place to eat and stay at in the daytime, just as Open Door Mission did. But I'm just getting ahead of myself. Sometimes that's the problem. I know what to do and jump right in before I explain it to others.



I was offered a position back east, only for God to tell me to go back to Fort Collins, CO and start a mission. OK. I'll start a coffee shop and pass out gospel tracs and witness about Jesus Christ. Sorry, but God obviously had more in mind. Twenty-four years later, Open Door Mission feeds an average of 3,500 meals per month and sleeps an average of 950 per month. Counseling and many other opportunities happened to help people. Often it seems impulsive. It is not. It is God. He says "Behold, I stand at the door knocking. If any open I will come in and sup with him." I open and He comes in and shows me what to do, and He equips.



Twenty-four years. A lot of heartaches. A lot of victories. People often ask me, How do you know when you're successful?" I say, "When they never come back." That's not entirely true. God says to take one day at a time, for tomorrow has enough problems in itself. What Open Door Mission does is lay the foundation for a better tomorrow, by helping to wipe out the past. Success is measured daily for we know not what the future holds for any of us. Live for Christ by helping others. Once we come to know Christ as our Savior, it becomes our responsibility to help others. Am I my brother's keeper? YES! Never stop!