Open Door Mission

Hungry.

2010-11-05T09:42:00.000-07:00

Hungry.
Emotionally hurting.
No home.
No friends.
Nothing.

YES! There is hope! Please, I’ll do the crying. I’ll hold the dirty clothed, smelly people in my arms for all of us. But I can’t buy their food, hygiene products and other necessities. But you can and will.

Open Door Mission – an outreach of Full Spirit Ministries church – will do the physical. You do the monetary and we all do the caring.
Twenty four years of caring and doing.

Rev. Thebo

Thanksgiving Holiday Dinner

2010-10-14T13:16:00.000-07:00

We will be serving a full Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday, November 24th at 12:00 noon. Everyone is welcome to come!

This will be a time for friends coming together with friends, and lonely people meeting other lonely people. Loneliness will leave and new friendships will begin!

All donations for this special meal are greatly appreciated. If there are any funds not used for the cost of this meal, they will help tremendously in the lean months ahead.

Volunteer slots for serving have all been filled. Volunteer slots for filling food baskets have all been filled. Now, please help us fill the baskets and the bellies of hurting people.

Rev. Thebo

Thanksgiving is upon us.

2010-10-06T10:59:00.000-07:00

Please make this a delicious holiday. Joining together with relatives and friends is great. In the beginning, the Pilgrims joins with the Indians. You can join with the homeless and poor by donating food or money to buy food and doing so in love and caring.

Do it by giving to the Open Door Mission and be assured all will be used wisely to help those in desperate need of you as a wonderful selfless person. Open Door Mission knows you care.

You make your love show when you donate through the Open Door Mission. We are a church with the Open Door Mission as an outreach. We need you to reach out to others using the Open Door Mission.

Please don't let one family or one person go without fellowship and delicious meals. Give big.

In Christ's Name,
Rev. Thebo

Many are donating to a large city nearby and ignoring those here. Please help at home first. We need you here. We make it simple for you: call 970-224-4302, ext 13to donate food. Use our secure website to donate funds by credit card, or you can call 970-224-4302, ext 10 or 11 to donate by credit card over the phone. Mail checks or money orders to the Open Door Mission, PO Box 1873, Fort Collins, CO 80522

24 Years Here - 8 Years There

2010-09-27T09:00:00.000-07:00

That adds up to many years of ministering to the homeless, impoverished, and the hurting. And I do not regret any of it. Would I do anything differently? Of course. We all would. Hindsight is so wonderful; but meaningless if you don't learn from it.

We moved into 316 Jefferson St. in December of 1993 Making an empty building into a shelter, storage, kitchen, bathroom and showers. Now, we feed an average of 120 or more meals a day and sleep 35-40 people per night. Unfortunately, the city wants and is going to plant more trees and put in sidewalks and bike lanes. Forget the homeless! But not entirely, for they realize that full Spirit Ministries and Open Door Mission are needed. Please pray for hurting people and for our city government. What's next? I am only certain that we are needed and so are you!

Holidays are coming on. Prices are going up. Utilities are increasing. There are more hurting people to help. You have brought us through the years. Even more of your financial help is needed now.

What we do is help people.

What we need is more of you!

Working together to help others who cannot help themselves.

You get mailings to send your donations to Denver. Why? We need you here!

Can we in turn help you? Christ is the answer for all of us. We are the body, working together for Christ, the head.

In Christ,

Rev. Thebo

By the way....I just had my second 35th birthday, and I'm feeling great!

A note about this Christian ministry.....

2010-09-13T14:18:00.000-07:00

We strive to help and accommodate everyone we can in the name of Jesus Christ.

We do not voice an opinion on political matters, or people's beliefs in any political matters. We strive to help feed, clothe, shelter and counsel, get jobs, etc. Many programs are done by other agencies. We look to the inner person first: spiritually, physically, mentally and emotionally. This starts with Christ. The Word says Christ is the respecter of no persons. This means He cares for us all equally. That doesn't mean we agree on everything privately - on different matters. It does mean that we love and care for all without prejudice. If you would ever like to say something about what we do in the name of Christ, PLEASE write us and set up a time to come by. I will give you a personal tour of where God has Opened the Doors to help people.

Your friend and brother in Christ,

Rev. Thebo

P.S. Would you like to write something about this ministry? Send your opinion to Open Door Mission, PO Box 1873, Fort Collins, CO 80522; Attn: Director and Pastor

Hallelujah 24!

2010-08-24T10:26:00.000-07:00

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!

Success often comes in the small things of life.

2010-07-14T10:20:00.000-07:00

Over the years, I've had both male and female come to me and say "Thank you. You've saved my life." This is sometimes meant as if to say: you fed me when I had no food, and nowhere else to get a meal. Sometimes it is in regard to counseling. Heartache is a terrible thing. Sleeping out without even a blanket is a terrifying experience to a person who has never been homeless before. Then there is the ultimate: a person who has been contemplating suicide.
The fear of not seeing anything but the unknown...
Darkness without seeing light at the end of the tunnel of failure...
Hiding from a mate who has used you as a punching bag...
Shaking inside from that unknown tomorrow....

I've seen and felt all of these things over 33 years of being used by the Lord; in shelters, on the streets, in jails and numerous other places. So when someone says thank you for saving my life, they mean it. And they aren't speaking to just me. It's you and me, caring for that person beyond just saying "that poor soul."

Please, never look at the mistakes the unfortunate have made. We all make mistakes. But sometimes, the results are much worse for the homeless.

I ask you to care for those, right here at home. Then reach out farther as God gives you the resources to do so. Save a life.

James 2:14-17 Open Door is a Doer!

2010-06-30T12:45:00.001-07:00

In faith we work hard at being doers of God's Word. Feeding, clothing, shelter, and much more. We do not force counseling on anyone; it is on a volunteer basis. Case work is for all who come.
Grace is a word often misued. It means "free gift" without strings attached. Very simple. And we simply help those in need in a constructive way. For example, if the need is a continuous thing, then just giving is not constructive. It is better to find out why there is a continuous need and help find a way to correct the problem. Drugs are a problem throughout the nation and throughout the world. Northern Colorado is certainly no exception. It is the same with alcohol, joblessness, emotional and physical problems. Should people be helped only in certain areas? God doesn't say that. We are servants of God, working with you. Church services, Bible studies and Christian films are also part of our programs. The personal touch of one to one is vital in each case. We do not mix genders. A female is helped only by a female. A male is helped only by a male. Groups are helped by either. We believe no one comes to a shelter without having a problem. Problem solving is what we are all about.

May, 2010

2010-06-01T13:14:00.000-07:00

Partner,
Winning souls to Christ, feeding and sheltering year round, counseling, job outreach, church services, Bible studies, on and on…..Pouring rain, snow and heavy winds keep going on. Northern Colorado keeps growing. Needs keep increasing.
We never stop. No season is more needy than another, yet donations drop tremendously in the summer. Please don’t think that summer means there is less need to help.
Someone called and said we sold the ministry. Not true! We have had a mission and another group interested in purchasing. And some changes have been made.
Darren Thebo thought it best to resign from the Board of Directors. The other board members disagreed, but Darren cares so much about this ministry and the hurting people that he resigned anyway. We are very sorry to lose him as a Board member. His leadership and understanding of people has been invaluable, but he felt a non-relative would be better. So, we want to welcome our new Board member, Ken McGarrahan. Ken has been involved with Open Door Mission for many years, so this is nothing new to him.
Perhaps you have realized that we do not have a Board of Advisors right now. The advisors were just too involved in other things such as raising their families, church activities, and running their own businesses. This is very understandable. Ray Martinez was at most meetings. Thanks Ray! Having no Board of Advisors at the moment means that our Board of Directors is even more important.
Rev. Thebo has never run Open Door Mission by himself. Not only are/were these members valuable, but you are just as important. This ministry is Christ headed and you are the body.
When you help Open Door Mission, you help by advice, donations and caring enough to give and give beyond and beyond. Please do not stop or decrease in giving.

In Christ,
Rev. Thebo

Ending 2009 - Beginning 2010

2009-12-30T14:22:00.001-08:00

“Old things are passed away – all things become new.” Revelation 21:4b-5a

That can apply to many things. And all things seen can be a negative or a positive, depending on the situation. Examples: Giving dad a tie he will never wear versus giving him a new pair of work gloves he needs and will truly appreciate. Giving a young boy a toy car when he is really into software… or a girl who feels she has outgrown dolls (it happens!) and really wants a friendship ring that really isn’t all that expensive. Will they say thank you? Yes. Will they feel disheartened? Yes.
How about mom… Maybe she does not get anything. Will she say it doesn’t matter as long as my family gets something? Will she feel saddened inside? Of course!

I have decided that giving is beautiful but let’s do it not only with a caring heart (which you do) but also with wisdom. The wise men came and gave not in abundance and not cheap, but gave only a few gifts and those were needed. Perhaps they used the gifts to exist on as they had to start a new life in a new country. I am not saying you should give what can be sold. I am saying we need to give wisely and give that which is most wanted and most needed. “I never got them.” “No one asked me what I wanted.” “One year I never received anything.” So, what I am saying is that Open Door Mission will do anything that it takes: time, caring, and giving. Time in researching what families want, caring enough to take the time, and researching what each family member truly wants.

We will organize a committee to set the rules; a team to research the families, pick and purchase the gifts and deliver them. Is this work? Yes. Is it a constructive and fulfilling way to make the whole family blessed in a joyful way? I truly believe so. Your financial gifts will be needed more than ever. If you are able and desire to be part of making families happy and blessed more than any other Christmas, call me and I will start selecting for 2010.

Yes, we will accept gifts of any kind in 2010. But we will also select a number of families to receive beyond an overpriced gift. I believe love and wisdom should go together and as most of us, I have learned by experience. Contact me for greater detail. And by the way, we have helped some wonderful families in 2009. It was FANTASTIC!

Rev. Thebo

Fight the Good Fight

2009-12-10T10:25:00.000-08:00

We send troops over seas to keep the battle from at home. And well we should. But yet the true battle is her and has been for many years. Our battle is hunger, shelter, education, prejudice, and selfishness. These unfortunately go on.

God has created man to worship Him and to help our fellowman. For when we glorify our Creator unselfishly, He opens avenues of wisdom, hope, health, and prosperity.

Jobs decrease hunger, homelessness, and violence, and gives another kind of hunger. A hunger for betterment of all mankind.

The elected president says that the United States of America is not a Christian nation. Wrong! We are established in the Word of God. We came to America to worship God in freedom. Not as the government dictates, but as the Word of God shows us to do. And there is only one God. One way – His way. And that way is love. Love for our fellowman in a constructive way. Not in blindness but in His wisdom.

Yes, praise God for our troops who fight for freedom and protect our beautiful country. But as the battle goes on, and has for thousands of years, let us not be caught by the worst enemy of all: indifference. Never let this happen! Love your fellow man by doing. Be the stranger that gives strength to those who are weak. Please, churches, businesses, groups, clubs, and individuals – let us stand together worshipping God and being supportive to those who are in need. Only in reaching out and giving, can we be heard within. God left His children here not to prove that we who accept Him are saved, but to glorify Him. And the way to do that is in helping others and ourselves. In love, in forgiveness, in selflessness.

America is beautiful because you are beautiful. Only one thing can destroy us. Indifference. Please do not let this happen. Help make 2010 the best year ever for all mankind! Please recognize this community’s starting gate. Open the door today through Open Door Mission in donations of food, clothing (in good condition), household items, and personal hygiene products along with your cash gifts to keep the doors of the mission open. And most of all, give of yourself! Volunteering along with your gifts is vital, for this, your home front. And you are on the frontline. Hunger, homelessness, and ignorance are all our responsibilities. But together, we are winners!

God Bless you this holiday season!

Rev. Thebo

No Room in the Inn

2009-12-01T13:57:00.000-08:00

There was a reason for this to happen to the baby Jesus - to be born of the Virgin Mary, simply to show us that all are born equally. No one is better than anyone else. His life was an example for all to follow. Not selfishly, but giving of ourselves and of what we have. Not in poverty, but in His richness. There are two simple steps to live by: First, glorify God by accepting Christ in to our lives and second, help our fellow man.

The wise men traveled to see and give, the shepherds did the same. Today we would recognize them as 'white collars' and 'blue collars.' Both are equal in the sight and life of Christ. Today, you do not have to travel to give. Open Door Mission was started through Full Spirit Ministries. Both still exist and have room for all in need as God directs. You, as a wise person, can help the homeless. Be an 'innkeeper' with Reverend Thebo. Give as unto Him, the Living Savior, Jesus Christ.

Our present location is 316 Jefferson Street in Fort Collins until God directs us elsewhere. (We need a new shelter to help even more.) Our mailing address is PO Box 1873, Fort Collins, CO 80522. If you would like to speak with me, I can be reached at 970-224-4302, ext. 10.

Yes, there IS room, because of you.

Your 'Innkeeper,'
Reverend Thebo

Huge Sale

2009-11-04T10:17:00.001-08:00

Huge Sale at our Family Thrift Store

Everything Must Go!

Almost everything under $2.00. Many items only $.05!

316 Jefferson St.

Tuesday - Saturday
10AM - 5PM
224-4302 X14

We Need Turkeys!

2009-10-28T10:23:00.001-07:00

The Open Door Mission gives out holiday baskets to the needy every year.

We need your food donations....especially turkeys!

Thank you for caring about the needy!

Reverend Richard Thebo
224-4302 X10

Need You Even More

2009-10-20T07:57:00.000-07:00

Please remember the holdiays. The hurting and homeless are struggling even more. Please give over and abundantly financially. We need you.

Thank you,
Reverend Thebo

Family Thrift Store in Need of Donations

2009-10-15T12:31:00.000-07:00

Open Door Mission Family Thrift Store is in need of Donations
(in good, working condition only):

We especially need:

Women's clothing
Smaller appliances
Jewelry
Women's purses

We really appreciate your donations...THANK YOU!!!

A Double Happy Birthday

2009-09-19T16:27:00.000-07:00

Open Door Mission is 22 years old this month and Rev Thebo is 69 years young this month also (September 11th). Both are going strong. Many people’s lives have been renewed by: God’s word, your financial help, and by the help of our volunteers. I must admit summer months are very weak in finances and volunteers. Please realize that to the blessed working person summer means lower utility costs, vacation, outings, outdoors, and fun. To the homeless it means pain - bad - if you have no shelter. This summer has also meant fewer jobs than usual. For too few, unfortunately, this is not a prosperous time. For many of us, it means a great time to be a blessing to help others. The shelter needs to be increased in size to help even more. I had a double hernia operation. They found I had a heart attack and several stress attacks. They said I needed an operation because my heart was not working fully. I prayed with others for my heart. When I went in for his scheduled surgery, the doctors found nothing wrong. Why didn’t I pray for my hernias, also? I ask, after the fact. But guess what? Rev Thebo feels better than he has in years. And will continue to work serving God in healing others for years as God is allowing. What a great birthday year! Please help by sending in double your normal giving and please also double your efforts in getting others to support Open Door Mission. God Bless You, Rev Thebo

Open Door Mission
Statistics
August, 2009

Meals 4,138
Jobs 309
Counseling 61
Bible Studies 308
12 Step Program 69
Church 140
Sleep 955