For as long as people have existed, we’ve had a need for social services to help the less fortunate. Poverty, physical disability, mental illness, abuse, addictions, and natural disasters have accounted for millions of people going hungry every day, living on the streets, and sleeping under bridges and in parks at night. With the weakened state of the economy, the demand for services to those in need has vastly outgrown the supply.
As many as 30 million people in the United States go hungry every day, and estimates of homelessness range from 750,000 to 1 million individuals on any given night. Reports of violence against those living on the streets—runaways, the dispossessed, addicts—continue to shock the nation. And approximately 88 million Americans are held captive by drugs or alcohol.
The church in North America is generally concerned and somewhat involved. Many congregations, however, consider hunger, homelessness, abuse, and addiction to be social woes more than spiritual issues, and expect government-run programs and social services to take the lead in solving such matters. But the teachings of
Jesus make it clear that mankind's predicament is not the government's problem.
Gospel rescue missions have a long history of assisting the church and providing lifelines for those drowning in the waves of adversity and the undertow of addiction. For more than a century, they have been keeping watch on the waterfront of despair, and countless men, women, and children have been saved in every sense of the word. These missions offer hot food, clean clothing, temporary shelter, and the possibility of a more abundant life through a personal relationship with
Jesus; they are havens of hope for the lost and lonely who call the street home.
AGRM is proud of its history in helping organizations that have committed themselves to reaching out to the hungry, homeless, abused, and addicted. The AGRM Expansion Program assists these organizations in developing at a faster pace.
For more information about AGRM Expansion Program, contact
Selena Hayle, Expansion Coordinator