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Every Day

2:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

Our House is open

85 Grand Street

 

M,W,F at Noon and 

Thursdays at 7:00 p.m. 

 Meditation

85 Grand Street

 

Sundays

1:30 p.m.

Weekly worship

77 Grand Street

 

Song of
the Week
compassion
 
Mo Sabri is a 22-year-old Muslim musician with his own channel on Pandora, internet radio. His most popular song is I Believe in Jesus. 
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Fund Our House
Mr bill
   Thanks to so many of you for helping us to match a $3,000 challenge grant. Together, we've raised enough money to keep Our House running through the end of May.  Click on the photo to learn more.
 
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Holy Cross

  
 
 

   We hope you've been enjoying the September-like weather this week and that your heart is filled with joy.
   It was with both joy and sorrw that we said goodbye to
malicks leave
Amy & Larry give a last wave on the way out the driveway on Monday.
Amy and Larry Malick on Monday. As I write to you on this Wednesday morning, they're on the third day of a four- or five-day trek across the country to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and a new life. Please keep them in your heart and prayers during this time of transition.
   This week, we've got a updated story about the Poverty Simulation coming up next Wednesday thanks to a great group of collaborators and Steve talks about a man named Mike and a purse that won't wear out. Over in the Song of the Week department you'll find a link to a tune by a Muslim hip-hop artist about Jesus . . . As always, we also ask that you help spread the word about what we're up to by forwarding this epistle to a friend and "liking" us on Facebook (The links are over there to your left).
Poverty Simulation August 14
 

   There's still time to sign up for our very first poverty simulation scheduled for Noon to 2:30 p.m., August 14th at the House of Refuge International Ministries at 131 Broadway here in Newburgh. The event will be co-sponsored by the Greater Hudson Valley Family Health Center, RECAP, the Greater Newburgh Ministerial Association, and HONORehg.     

   A poverty simulation is a guided experience that exposes participants to the realities of poverty, including the challenges of navigating the complex world of government services and other essential service providers. During the simulation, participants assume the roles of up to 26 different families facing poverty. The task for each family is to provide basic necessities and shelter during four 15-minute weeks, while balancing the requirements of various poverty 2service providers with the realities of daily life.
  Along with our cosponsors, we believe that poverty is the disease that is killing our city. An estimated 7,600 women, men and children live below the poverty level in this city of 29,000 people. We have been treating the symptoms (drugs, crime, high teen pregnancy and infant mortality rates, low educational achievement among them) for decades but unless we begin to understand and tackle the disease, nothing will change. It may be one reason why Jesus said we'd always have the poor with us . . .
    You can learn more about simulations and how they work by watching this video. Better yet, find out through personal experience - Join us on August 14th. All you need to do is send an email to sower@ecclesia-newburgh.org. Give us your name and phone number. We'll send you a confirmation and look forward to seeing you at Noon on the 14th at
The House of Refuge, 131 Broadway.
Posessions, alms and Mike's purse
   Checked your net worth lately?
   The Federal Reserve reported in June that the net worth (the value of investments minus debt) of Americans grew by 9.6 percent from the first quarter of 2012 to the first quarter of 2013. We're now worth $70.35 trillion dollars. Of course, very little of that belongs to St. Ruth
median net worth
and me and all of the people we know combined. Still, depending on who you ask, the average net worth of Americans is about $125,000 (Click here to see how you stack up in a culture obsessed with stacking up.)
   I got to thinking about this when I read Sunday's gospel lesson - Luke 12:32-48 - and the part where Jesus said, "Sell your possessions, and give alms." I wondered why his disciples didn't start laughing and say "Say what? Sell everything I've worked so hard to get? And, use it to give alms?  Who are you kidding?"  Possessions - stuff - are what's between us and the street, something to fall back on when times get tough . . . security. We believe that we're entitled to keep what we've got and we're okay at sharing it . . . some of it anyway.
   And, that's okay. At least one commentator on this directive said, Jesus didn't say to sell all of our possessions and to use all  of the proceeds to give alms. Proponents of the Prosperity Gospel would agree, adding that God didn't bless us with all sorts of this stuff just so we could give it away . . ..
    Don't ask me where I'm going with this. . . I just find it interesting how we're likely to gloss over this rule and rush on to the equally vexing but less terrifying directive to be ready for the day that's coming and hope we get away with a light beating because we didn't what was being asked of us . . . 
   What I really want to talk about is a man named Mike. He's 52 and confined to a wheelchair because his left side doesn't work so well. He's got a life-threatening disease and struggles to survive on $713 a month. Yes, he gets medicaid and qualifies for Food Stamps and some other benefits but there's a problem - he stole a candy bar from a Binghamton store back in 2007, was convicted of the crime and put on probation for thre
mike ge years. A year later, he became deathly ill, was hospitalized and sent to New York City for treatment. He forgot about probation but the Broome County Probation Department did not. They issued a bench warrant for Mike's arrest. The bench warrant showed up in the records so he was denied benefits until that issue was cleared up. He ended up stuck in the system without the resources he needed to get a handicapped-accessible place in which to live or to do much of anything. He ended up at the Newburgh Ministry's homeless shelter and spent his afternoons evenings at Our House.
   The saga continues . . . Last Thursday, August 1st, Mike got a ride to Binghamton, turned himself in to the police, and appeared before a judge who released him with the understanding that he stay in town until an attorney is appointed for him and the case is adjudicated. Mike's probation officer gave him a lecture, told him he might get some jail time, and told Mike to let him know where he'd be staying.
   Mike though he'd get a bed at a shelter run by the Volunteers of America but they said  no, the shelter's not accessible. Ditto for the YMCA, the Salvation Army, and two other shelter providers. As a last resort, he went to Social Services and was told, "We're not housing you. You've got income. Take your $713 monthly stipend, find a place to live and go buy groceries and other necessities . . .."
   He spent the night at Motel 6, the cheapest place in town. On Friday, Mike got a room in a supportive housing facility with no help from any agency. He applied for food stamps on Monday and, on Tuesday, connected with an agency that provides support services for people with chronic long-term health issues like his. He's on his way to a new life.
   Mike left Newburgh with all that he owned - the clothes on his back, a well-worn wheelchair, a gym bag full of clothes, a box of medications, and $654. The value of all of his "stuff" couldn't amount to $1,000. Not much of a net worth, huh? A complete and utter failure by most standards.
   But wait a minute . . . God sees - and asks us to see - ourselves 
 and others differently . . . Maybe a little bit like the way Mike seems to see himself - as someone of great value, as a beloved child of God.     Through his most recent ordeal, Mike kept going. When many of us might have given up, he tried again and he has kept on trying.  Although "The System" was failing him and although he's facing legal hurdles that you and I would not face if we had been the ones who lifted a candy bar, Mike's faith, courage, determination, and belief in himself and his own value as a human being have seen him safe thus far.
   He may not know it, but Mike is on to something huge. He is a rich man with a purse that won't wear out. 
Many blessings.

 

The Rev. Steve Ruelke

Ecclesia Ministries of Newburgh

P: 845-527-0405

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