New Beginnings
“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come.” — 2 Corinthians 5:17
Early in my career at the Mission I remember sitting in a city council meeting listening to some very angry residents who were frustrated with the increase in crime related to homeless people. Wagging a finger my way, one man chided, “I know you want to do good, but my experience tells me you just can’t change a leopard’s spots. These people are the way they are!” I didn’t want to discount his frustration because I knew it was both real and valid. At the same time I figured that if his highest authority was his experience, mine should be valid as well.
I replied, “It sounds like you’re saying it would take a miracle for these people to change, and I agree. I have personally seen such miracles at the Gospel Rescue Mission, so I know they can happen.”
Addicts, drug dealers, alcoholics, prostitutes, murderers, and human abusers of every variety have found genuine hope and change when introduced to the Jesus of scripture. If there is any group of people that society should want to see discover a desire to change, you’d think it would be this group. Often it begins with a simple but profound prayer of repentance, “Create in me a clean heart, O God.” – Psalm 51:10. As broken souls learn joyfully that the Bible tells of champions with pasts full of real sin and failures, they discover hope for their own lives. Light begins to shine on their imaginations for the future, and they slowly find strength to let the past heal and go. It’s like the Apostle Paul told the Philippian church, “forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.”
Of course, leaving the old rulers behind (the desires of the flesh, desires of the eyes, and the pride of life), life now becomes about learning to please your new master. “Now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.” – Romans 6:22. Discovering what this looks like is a regular part of a person’s stay at the Mission, but for the month of January we are going to run this idea out through the entire program, and we hope you’ll commit to pray for us! Each week we will learn about topics like “starting over the right way”, “working as unto Christ”, “building new habits”, and “walking in newness of life”. All of this working together to impress upon our program participants a vision of a new year and a new way to live, as they consider serving a new King.
Our goal for January is that everyone in our program will come to understand that freedom comes from choosing Christ as Lord. Along the way we want them to identify one old habit to replace with a new, Christ-centered one. We will teach and demonstrate how to apply the gospel to their work ethic and relationships wherever they serve at the Mission.
And, we hope to see a renewed sense of hope and personal ownership of their spiritual growth, celebrating with them their progress along the way. Please pray for my team and the people we serve as we ask our King for miracles in this new year.
Brian Bouteller
Executive Director
From the Hallway to Hope: Robert’s Story of New Life at the Mission
By: Laura Smithwick
When Robert first walked through the doors of the Gospel Rescue Mission of Grants Pass in August, hope was hard to see. He didn’t come because he had a detailed plan or a clear vision for his future. He came because he saw the large cross at the top of the building—and in that moment, he felt the Lord directing him here.
Robert had been battling drug addiction for nearly 15 years. Fentanyl had taken a heavy toll on his body, mind, and spirit. The first time I saw him, he was sitting in the hallway outside the men’s coordinator’s office. He looked terrible, there’s no other way to say it. He was deep in fentanyl withdrawal, shaking and miserable, and he was also suffering from a severe mouth infection. Pain and exhaustion were written all over his face. He was at the end of himself.
That hallway moment is one I won’t forget, because it makes the contrast of who Robert is today all the more powerful. Just two weeks later—after two weeks of sobriety, care, structure, and support at the Mission—I saw Robert again. This time, it wasn’t in the hallway. It was at Booth Street Thrift Store.
I almost didn’t recognize him at first. The man who had once looked broken and defeated now had a huge grin stretched from ear to ear. He walked right up to me, asked for a hug, and said words that still echo in my heart: “The Mission saved my life.”
That transformation didn’t stop with a smile. While at the Mission, Robert celebrated his 42nd birthday—sober. As he shared this with us, he admitted something sobering: he couldn’t remember the last time he had actually remembered celebrating a birthday. Addiction had stolen years, moments, and milestones. But this time, he was present. Clear-minded. Free.
Robert will tell anyone who asks that this is the best program he has ever been in. He’s tried other programs before, but something here was different. He believes it’s because this program doesn’t just address behavior—it addresses the heart. In the midst of his addiction, even before he arrived, Robert recalls a moment when he felt the Lord speak clearly to him: “I can’t take it from you. You have to put it down.” In that moment, Robert understood something profound. God wasn’t abandoning him—He was inviting him to choose. Robert knew that if he made the decision to put his addiction down, God would meet him there and help him walk it out. That decision led him to the cross on our building, and ultimately, to newfound freedom!
Today, Robert is sober, hopeful, and looking ahead. He’s actively searching for a job and taking steps toward rebuilding his life. More importantly, he is grounded in his faith and deeply grateful—for the Mission, for the people who walk alongside him, and for the new life he is building.
Stories like Robert’s are a powerful reminder of why this Mission exists. We are blessed to witness lives transformed—not by human effort alone, but by the redeeming power of Jesus. Scripture tells us that Christ laid His life down so that we could have new life. Robert’s journey is living proof of that truth. The man who once sat broken in our hallway is now walking forward in freedom.
Thank you for partnering with us, praying with us, and supporting this work. Because of you, men like Robert don’t just find shelter—they find hope, healing, and new life in Christ.
Staff Spotlight: Shannon Curtis – More Than Just a Thrift Store
When Shannon Curtis describes her arrival at the Grants Pass Gospel Rescue Mission as “fate, from God,” she isn’t just using a figure of speech. The connection actually happened at the dojo. Shannon holds a black belt in Kung Fu and trains at Wayne Owen Fighting Arts—the very same “kwoon” attended by the Mission’s Executive Director, Brian Bouteller. It was their instructor, Mrs. Bunny, who realized the perfect match: Brian was looking for a Store Manager, and Shannon was looking for a job!
Since taking the role in July 2025, Shannon has applied that same martial arts discipline to managing the Mission’s two thrift stores. When she isn’t at the store or doing some Kung Fu fighting, Shannon is likely enjoying the serenity of the Southern Oregon outdoors, hiking and camping with her family.
However, her day-to-day work environment is rarely peaceful. Shannon manages a unique mix of staff and program residents, a dynamic she humorously compares to herding a “house full of cats”. But she views this chaos as a vital classroom. To her, the thrift stores are far more than a retail operation; they are a training ground for life.
Many residents enter the program with gaps in their work history or struggles with social interaction. “It pushes them out of their comfort zone,” Shannon explains, “and that’s usually where you grow”.
Under Shannon’s guidance, residents learn technical skills like running a cash register, but more importantly, they learn emotional intelligence. They learn to work with personalities they might not naturally mesh with and how to take pride in their environment. Shannon recalls one resident who initially struggled to get along with his coworkers.
Instead of giving up on him, she challenged him to take ownership of a disorganized section of the store. He didn’t just clean it; he reorganized and decorated it completely. He later sought her out, beaming as he said, “Look what I did to make this better!”
Shannon wants the community to know that the thrift stores are a vehicle for this kind of restoration. “The success of the thrift store is their success also,” she says. When you donate items or shop at the store, you aren’t just finding a treasure—you are funding the training that helps a neighbor rebuild their life.
Second Chance Downtown Thrift Store
429 SE 6th Street
Grants Pass, OR 97526
Phone: (561) 479-9748
- Monday – Friday: 9:00AM to 5:00PM
- Saturday: 9:00AM to 4:00 PM
Second Chance Booth Thrift Store
114 SW Booth St
Grants Pass, OR 97526
Phone: (561) 501-6711
- Monday – Friday: 9:00AM to 5:00PM
- Saturday: 9:00AM to 4:00 PM
