Written by, Rachel Greiman, Writer/Photographer

I was very, very sick this week. This post may reflect that in its length.

I’m extremely excited for June’s issue of our Changing Lives Newsletter. Without giving too much away, below is a sneak preview.

I’ve spent most of the week running around and having some very interesting conversations…can’t wait to fill you all in next month.

For George and I, running the Colfax Marathon is more than 26 miles. We set a goal of $1,000 to donate to Denver Rescue Mission. As interns at the Mission, we see the life change that happens, but we also see the great need in our community. Raising $1,000 means 520 meals will be provided to the homeless, but it’s also more than meals. It’s about hope!

In conversation, I asked George why he was motivated to run the marathon as a fundraiser, “Well Ziemba, when people come to Denver Rescue Mission, we try to give them everything they need. They get a place to sleep, a warm meal, but more than that…we give them hope.”

Which is absolutely true, and the value of hope can never be underestimated. In fact, I think hope is essential for daily survival. Denver Rescue Mission provides all kinds of services to address temporary and chronic homelessness, striving to meet the physical needs of the homeless population in Denver (which, at the last count, topped 12,000 people on any given night).

For George, a native from Africa, the reality of poverty, hunger, and homelessness in Denver was completely unexpected. He always tells me that his friends and family back in Africa can’t fathom problems like that in a place like America. In the land of plenty, how can people go without basic needs?

For me, the reality has been there all along. I have had plenty of opportunities to go on mission trips and volunteer my free time to help out in my community, and I always knew that homelessness was a huge and persistent problem. But what could I possibly do about it?

Take action. Ignoring a problem does not make it go away; something must be done. We have the opportunity – and the responsibility – to leave our community better than we found it.  We can all do this. Running a marathon is certainly a challenge, but so is changing the world.

Jesus said, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”.

This is a call for you and me to invest our lives to do things that have eternal significance. Providing meals might solve a temporary problem, but instilling hope is eternal.  Please join us to make this a reality!

To support Natalie and George, click here.

The runners // George and Natalie

Written by, Rachel Greiman, Writer/Photographer

I’m moving today…for the 23^rd time in eight years. I know, I know, that sounds a little crazy. But it’s also very true. I’ve lived in cramped studio apartments, college dorms, rat-infested houses, other people’s guest rooms, century-old row homes, and even in a mansion. But I have never once been able to call one place my very own. I don’t decorate, I don’t arrange furniture well and truthfully, I don’t think I’ve truly unpacked all of my belongings since 2005.

There were parts of that lifestyle that were so appealing. If I didn’t like the small kitchen, it was fine because it was only temporary. If the toilet or showerhead broke, someone else paid for the repairs. Bad roommates? I was out in three months. I could fit almost all my stuff into my tiny Honda.

But there were gaping holes in my life when I was constantly in flux. My relationships could only reach shallow levels since I never knew when I was leaving a place behind. My mind constantly chased the “next big thing.” Because I hadn’t committed to a place for long-term, I never settled into a job long enough to genuinely invest. Community? How do you build community without consistent neighbors?

So many of the people that I interview here live a life in flux. Some are forced from their homes because of overdue mortgages or abusive relationships or something as simple as bed bugs. Some live on the streets because of loss or addiction or mental illness. Life happens. But at some point, their trials led them to Denver Rescue Mission, to community. For most of our program participants, this is the first time in years or even decades that they have found stability in the midst of a wandering lifestyle. Some have been craving it without knowing it and relish in the new support system. Some try to put up a privacy fence around themselves, keeping others out. I relate to the second group.

Can I be honest? I’m scared – terrified even – to grow roots and settle down. Life is so much easier when you get to start over every couple months. It’s like getting a bunch of second chances at being the person you want to be and ignoring all the mistakes you made in that last place. But, because of my conversations with our program participants, I’ve realized that this is a completely unrealistic way of living life. What is life for if not for connecting with others, building community and growing together in Christ? How do I improve without the insight and experiences of others? The people I meet each day remind me that even though community is hard, raw and honest, it’s also the only way any of us are going to make it.

Not one person I’ve interviewed has said: “Yes. Living a life of isolation was WAY better. I hate having all this help.” Sure, it was more difficult for some to embrace community living with a smile. But I can guarantee that each of them would tell you that the tough conversations, the probing and unwelcomed questions and the intentional prayers are the sole reason they are living a self-sufficient lifestyle today.

Many people call Denver Rescue Mission home for a season in their lives. They are changed forever by Christ. It’s because of these stories that I welcome this permanent and hopefully final move. I’ve chosen Denver. I’ve chosen these people. And as scary as it is to anchor my feet somewhere, it gets less scary when I realize it’s at Denver Rescue Mission.

Written By Danielle Charbonneau Public Relations Intern

Working at Denver Rescue Mission and being a part of Denver’s recovery community, I frequently hear miraculous stories of personal transformation. The details are different, but the story is the same. A person hits rock bottom, spirals in to a pit of despair and experiences darkness like they never knew possible. Hopeless and alone, they collapse and cry out in desperation. Then, somehow — like the Phoenix rising from the ashes — they are plucked from the sinking ship and brought to dry land. They transcend their circumstances and become a new creation — unrecognizable, even to themselves.

As these people recall their past, it’s as if they’re remembering some distant nightmare they once had. They are so far from that place now, that connecting the dots from where they were to where they are is hard to do. Even though they lived it, they can’t quite explain what happened to them. It’s as if something supernatural has occurred.

And in fact, that’s what most of them conclude: that it was, without a doubt, the hand of God. He did for them what they could not do for themselves. He rescued and restored them. He changed their lives forever. And now, as they speak of their present reality, they glow. They have found unspeakable joy. They radiate from the inside out with an unmistakable, profound gratitude for life.

I have sat face-to-face with many people wearing that grateful glow. I can picture it with crystal clarity. And it’s what I pictured recently when I read an email from Tom Konstanty, the Assistant Director of Programs and Operations at Fort Collins Rescue Mission. The email was his response to a few questions I had asked him in preparation for this month’s staff spotlight.

The responses themselves weren’t particularly elaborate, and yet, I could still somehow sense that “thing,” that glow I’ve become so accustomed to. Although simple, I still felt that his responses communicated a story of rescue, redemption and transformation.

The email reminded me of something important: it’s not just the people in our programs who have access to God’s transformative power — it’s also our staff, our volunteers, our donors and readers — it’s all of us. We can all tap in, and be changed by, God’s loving power. So thank you Tom for that reminder, even if you didn’t intend on giving it.

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Interview with Tom Konstanty (Assistant Director of Programs and Operations, Fort Collins Rescue Mission)

1) DC: Tell me about where you grew up, what your family is like, what’s shaped you into who you are…

TK: I grew up amid four boys in an upwardly mobile, competitive family in Chicagoland. What seemed like a good home turned abusive around the time I was a teenager. This will forever mark me.

I also have intimate experience with mental illness/addiction…God is crafting me as a wounded healer. Now having truth; now having literally been rescued, my hope has been restored.

God has moved in me to use my passion and plight, and He’s given me a venue to do it right here. The passion for hope, truth and liberty, and my compassion for the hurting drives me every day.

2) DC: Tell me about your journey getting to the Denver Rescue Mission and then to Fort Collins Rescue Mission…

TK: As a Christian, I have always had a desire to be on the front lines serving with a heart for the hurting and a zest for the gospel. I really thought I would be residing in Africa as a missionary, but doors closed. God had other plans for me. I wanted to go; He wanted me to stay.

In my last semester in seminary, I met an awesome girl. I chased her to Colorado. While there and through some connections, I met Lon Gregg (ok, I married the awesome girl too). Lon told me to pray about doing a Chaplaincy internship in 2003. I took him up on it.

God’s hands have been all over my entire time here, in the hard and great times. I have grown a ton and am still growing.

I cannot tell you how much I have enjoyed Chaplaincy. It was partly the clients, partly the awesome and gifted people I worked with and partly the incredible moving of God here. The position is humbling and unheralded but also very fulfilling.

Yet despite my enjoyment, about three years ago, I believe God began to stir in my heart a desire for something different. I know….three years. I did not know what it would be and knew that God had much more to refine in my character. When would it happen?

Moving, other jobs and timing were never right until the FCRM leadership opportunity came up. I believe God had this for me. I absolutely love it here and am excited to go to “work.” It is also huge to me that I get to work on developing as a servant leader. This has been a recent heart’s cry of mine. I am also so blessed by my new friends and colleagues (we have a great team being assembled at FCRM), and to be a part of something much bigger than myself… wow!

3) DC: What do you see as some of the defining moments in your life?
TK:

• Family “dynamics”
• Thorns of my flesh
• Being rescued from death
• Receiving eternal life
• My decision to follow Jesus in discipleship
• Going away to seminary not knowing anyone
• Mission trips
• My marrying up, to my best friend and being a Dad

4) DC: Tell me something quirky & fun about you, your personality and/or your hobbies…

TK: I love sports (watching and playing), especially endurance things. I absolutely love to compete and can make a contest out of anything. I love to read, too. Unfortunately I often start books and do not finish them. I think I have some seven or eight going on right now.

5) DC: What’s on your bucket list?

TK: I would have said some particular athletic endeavor, a Ph. D., or a global adventure before I had kids. Nothing is really on my radar right now. I have been a bit exhausted and focusing on enjoying our little family (me, Liz, Stella, 3.5, and Samuel, 7 months).

Lisa was always good at making money. It seemed that everything she tried, she did well. She succeeded effortlessly and made a comfortable living by the young age of 17. She met her husband at work, fell in love and got married.

But after her wedding, Lisa worried about her appearance. She restricted food and overexercised to lose weight. Four years after giving birth to her two daughters, her marriage fell apart and her relationship with food took another turn. She began purging everything she ate. Eventually, the habit took control over her entire life. “It’s an addiction like anything else. When I was done with all my obligations for the day, I would turn on the TV, sit and eat, binging and purging until I went to sleep at night,” says Lisa.

Her health was failing as well as her relationships with those around her. After spending most of her fortune on expensive houses, vehicles and vacations, her savings account dwindled. “At that time, I was running my own mortgage company. Though I was doing really well, I was spending over $100 a day on food. I was a workaholic, negating my responsibilities as a parent,” says Lisa. Her eating disorder became so severe that she couldn’t think straight and could barely work. In 2006, she weighed 80 pounds and was waiting to die.

Lisa’s daughters, then in high school, wanted nothing to do with her. For the next three years she was in and out of treatment facilities and hospitals. There were months when Lisa would be in a facility and her daughters lived alone in her small, rented apartment.    “I have so many letters from doctors saying that I wasn’t going to make it. My heart was failing,” says Lisa. Her only thoughts revolved around food and her daughters.

Finally, out of money, with no way to pay the next month’s rent or to afford her eating habits, Lisa sought help. She heard about the STAR Transitional Program offered at The Crossing. She had three weeks until her rent was due. In May 2012, she went to The Crossing and was put on a waiting list. Just days before facing eviction, she was able to move in.

“I was so scared and nervous. I came here wanting to maintain my lifestyle. I couldn’t imagine a day without binging and purging, but I had no other place to go,” says Lisa. She did try to keep her old habits. But one of the requirements of the program is that each participant meet with a counselor. Loyce, a volunteer counselor at the Mission, began meeting with Lisa each week. “I met Loyce and loved her. She is an amazing mentor. She prayed for me, and one morning I woke up and decided, ‘I’m not doing this anymore.’ All of her prayers were heard,” says Lisa.

By August 2012, Lisa had stopped binging and purging and felt free from that burden for the first time in 15 years: “The Crossing played a bigger role in that than anybody did. It was the community, as well as the support that I had from the staff…there were people I was able to reach out to. The Crossing made me realize what life is all about.”

Lisa’s biggest loss in the last 15 years was her relationship with her daughters. They moved out, started college and became young women. It crushed her that she wasn’t a part of their lives. But as she continued to grow and heal, they saw changes in her. In October 2012 Lisa met with her oldest daughter, Arielle, for lunch. At the end of that meal Arielle looked at Lisa with tears in her eyes and said, “Mom, I see hope.” Lisa felt it, too.

Now, she sees her daughters twice a month when they visit her at The Crossing: “The fact that I have this relationship with my daughters—I couldn’t ask for anything more. It’s like heaven on earth. And it just keeps getting better. This is what community does. It’s so powerful,” says Lisa.

In five years, Lisa sees herself closer than ever with her daughters. She sees herself healthy, living in community, having a Bachelor’s Degree in Urban Missions, and working with children. “Getting my degree has nothing to do with money. I want a simple life and I want to teach children,” says Lisa. The Crossing provides the opportunity for STAR participants to earn a degree on-line through City Vision College. Lisa plans to take advantage of this program and start classes in the next few months!

For now, she’s volunteering at a children’s center every week, feeling more fulfilled than ever before: “Through it all, my whole life, I never felt like God left my side. If there is something going on beyond my control, I let go and let God. Whenever I’ve prayed, I’ve always gotten an answer.”

Lisa spends time volunteering at Colorado Miners, a community center for at-risk youth.

To post a note of encouragement for Lisa on the Mission’s Facebook page, visit Facebook.com/DenverRescue.