Occasionally, I read old newspaper clippings about the Mission to remind myself of the many lives that have been changed over the years and the people who paved the way for what we are doing today. One such story, from the Medford Mail Tribune in 1960, the year after we opened our doors, reports on a community luncheon where community members discussed what the Mission meant to them. It was attended by law enforcement, business leaders, and pastors, all of whom testified to how the Mission had been an asset to the community in its first year of existence.
A Medford Police lieutenant stated that “the police department has a great admiration for the Mission” and added “that it fills a real community need.” A local businessman shared how the Mission “saves the taxpayers untold amounts of money” by restoring men. A local pastor shared how “the very main purpose of the Mission is a spiritual one.”
The pastor then used a metaphor that I wasn’t familiar with: he said, “They rescue the jetsam and flotsam and make it useful and worthwhile again.”
I did some research, and what I discovered is that flotsam is wreckage that floats on the water after a shipwreck, and jetsam is unwanted debris that is deliberately cast off from a ship and thrown overboard. Both are becoming floating garbage, littering the ocean with no useful purpose.
It was an interesting illustration used to describe people whose lives have been wrecked for one reason or another—discarded, unwanted, or in need—floating in the sea of humanity until they came to the Mission, where they are made useful again.
This reminds me of what the apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:14b, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
When people are disconnected from the church, they are tossed to and fro; they are on their own, susceptible to wrong thinking, and in danger from deceitful things that are contrary to the Word of God.
That’s the reason that the heart of our Mission is to reach the lost and gather the reached. Over the past sixty-six years, men and women have come to the Mission, separated from God and His people, seeking something more than the world has to offer. And what they find at the Mission is a community where they are wanted, valued, and learn to thrive as they grow in their relationships with God, self, others, and creation. (Four Key Relationships)
They also learn about the importance of the local church, where these relationships naturally thrive because the church embodies God’s presence, offers healing and community, and reorients people toward true worship and purpose.
Becoming part of a local church changes everything. One of our participants shared this testimony:
“You know, I’ve been up and down a lot in life. I tried going to church a couple of times, but gave up. This time feels different. I don’t feel like turning back. I actually want to be there. I’ve joked that God knows me well enough to know I need to be there six days a week, not just one. He knew I needed that structure, and now I get to be there almost every day because they gave me a job. Even if I didn’t get the job, just being there would help keep me grounded. This job is like confirmation—like, “Yeah, you’re supposed to be here.” Honestly, I don’t think I ever really understood until recently. God is real. His creation is real. His People matter.
The apostle Paul goes on to say (Ephesians 4:15–16) Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Much has changed over the past 66 years; the metaphors have evolved, but the meaning remains the same, and we will continue to reach the lost people who have been cast off, separated from God and His people. And we will continue to gather them into communities that are equipped, functioning properly, and building themselves up in love.