Hugh’s February 2008 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

I recently made a short video about my missionary work here in Raleigh (the video can be viewed here) and in it, I said Jesus is all about stretching my comfort zone. Never is that more apparent to me than right now.

If there is one thing I now know that I did not realize 6 months ago when I began this journey, it is that creatively loving the poor and homeless takes time and money.

Whether it is sitting in the Social Security office helping an immigrant get his papers straight or taking a 19 year old runaway to the bus station so he can go home or listening to a pregnant woman tell me why she refuses to leave her abusive boyfriend, it takes time. It takes money too. Bus Passes so people can go to work, long distance phone cards so people can call home and repair burnt bridges, simple birthday gifts (because dignity and fun are important in the kingdom of God), clothes for a job interview, bus tickets home, groceries for the lady who was sick and could not work last week or just fifteen dollars so an immigrant can get his ID straightened out, it adds up quickly.

I have wrestled with how to deal with this for months. First, I considered doing less. Maybe I should limit what I do to only a few individuals. Maybe I would only help the homeless on the weekend. Maybe I could… Nope. I am as certain as I have flesh upon my bones that God wants me to be out here, loving these people, helping them to be reconciled with their families, with their society, with their God.

Maybe if I worked more? The cold simple truth is that I cannot earn enough from my freelance work to support both myself and the mission work that I do. Well, maybe I could, but it would involve working so many hours I would have nothing left over for mission work. Besides, much of what needs to be done must take place during ‘office hours’, meaning any writing I am getting done is having to wait until late at night, or, more often, the wee hours of the morning.

No, the only way I can do what I have no doubt God has called me to do is with your help. In short, I am stepping way beyond my comfort zone in asking you to support a new ministry that will communicate the endless, life changing grace of God to the poor and destitute, first to those here in Raleigh, but I pray eventually far beyond that.

Of course, in a very real way I am asking you to support me as an urban missionary as well,  to give me as much time as possible to creatively love the hurt, lost and broken people that surround me here in Raleigh.

Many of you know what I do out here and how passionate I am about this. For those of you who do not, I look forward to sharing more with you through these newsletters and when you come to visit us as well. In the meantime, I hope and pray that you believe in me enough to help.

I want to share with you  a few things I am working on, so you will have a better idea of where your money is going. Here are just a few of the projects I want to implement with your help:

•  A Day Shelter, where the homeless can store their belongings, drink a cup of coffee, get out of the elements and meet with case workers, make phone calls, get their mail, wash their clothes and take showers.
•  A phone number we could advertise as a resource to the homeless community, where they could call and get information on government and private resources, such as Section 8, Public Housing, the location of the Soup Kitchen, the location of AA Meetings and so on.
•  A Speaker’s Bureau for local churches and other organizations who want someone to speak to their organization and educate them about the plight of the poor and homeless.
•  A Mentorship program, where we pair the homeless or merely poor with ‘mentors’ who are willing to help on a one on one basis. Under this program, we introduce a homeless person to a family or individual, who then takes an active interest in (or ‘adopts’, if you will) that one person.
•  A hospitality ministry to the day labor employees (often either desperately poor or homeless), where we take them coffee and a sausage and biscuit at 5:30am, giving us an opportunity to meet with, and build inroads into, the working poor communities.

There are many more; honestly, I could go on for pages. These are my more lofty goals; in reality, I will be spending most of my time just loving people that society has turned their back on.

I realize the list of projects above is oriented toward meeting physical needs. I questioned this approach often in the early days, but my friend (and fellow worker) Chad showed me how, by meeting physical needs, we can earn the right to be heard and thus gain inroads to build friendships, help them gain longterm stability and have meaningful spiritual conversations.

Practical Stuff:

Starting a nonprofit is an expensive proposition. There are legal things to be done, bank accounts to be opened, mailing addresses to be obtained, phone lines to get and so on. Our early estimates show something like $1500- $2000 needed to get this thing kicked off. After that, we will need people willing to contribute to our ongoing support, a figure that has yet to be determined, but will likely be in excess of $2000 monthly, but honestly, any amount you can contribute, either as a one time gift or a regular monthly contribution is greatly needed and appreciated.

If, after prayer and reflection, you feel like this is a ministry you can support, Thank You. At this ‘pre-start-up’ phase, our friends at Merge Community Church have agreed to accept donations on our behalf until we can get all the legal stuff straightened out.

If you want to send checks, money orders, cash or the like, please make it out to:

“Merge Community Church” & put “Love Wins” on the memo line. (It is deductible and we will get you a receipt and so on. ) Then mail it to:

Hugh Hollowell
Box 415
Raleigh, NC 27602

NOTE: This is a new address.

If you are an internet type, we can accept PayPal funds… just reply to this email and ask and I will give you the information on how to make that work.

I know I did not grace you with updates from current projects this month, tell you of my meeting with politicians or Rescue Mission officials, share with you all the cool new ministry partners I have met or told you about the many ways God is blessing the work we are doing here. However, I have done all that and more on my humble little weblog (or ‘blog, if you prefer), located at http://lovewinsalways.org/blog (yes, that is a new website).

I feel so very fortunate to be here and to be doing this work. Thank you for partnering with us to make it all possible. You are making a difference in the lives of some very cool, very loved and very poor, people.

Love wins. Always.

Hugh Hollowell

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