Work as Worship
Training someone who has been homeless for an extended period of time to be ready for employment can be a challenging task. It can feel similar to teaching a teenager how to drive safely. You have to keep reminding them to look further down the road than just the pavement in front of the car. They have to drive with their destination in mind all while paying attention to the details that surround them. They also need to pay attention to the condition of the vehicle itself to know that it has enough fuel, good tires, headlights and brake lights work, etc. The metaphors are potentially endless.
This month our teaching theme throughout the Mission is “Work As Worship”. In his letter to the Colossians the Apostle Paul writes, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” The big idea we are trying to get across is that work is not a punishment, but a calling. God Himself worked to create, redeem, and restore, so when we work with integrity and gratitude, we reflect His image, making even the work of our hands sacred. Whether sweeping a floor, cooking a meal, stocking a shelf, or leading a team, our work is sacred when it’s done with the right heart.
Serving is not only a path towards taking dominion of our world, but it is modeled for us by Christ Himself. “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.” Matthew 20:28. This means that we are to use our skills to be a blessing to others all around us. So we will be looking for opportunities to help residents discover joy and meaning in their labor and not simply see work as transactional. This attitude is so needed in the common workplace today and our hope is that they begin to feel the approval and appreciation of whomever they work for because it stands out in such a favorable way.
Although it may sound a little counter intuitive at first glance, the first task God gave humanity was not to ‘go to church’… it was to ‘go to work’. Work was God’s idea! We want those under our care to see how the quality of our work reveals the condition of our hearts. While laziness and resentment will rob us of dignity; diligence and joy are sure to restore it. It’s not the size of the task that makes it sacred; it is the spirit of the worker. That is why work done in love, faith, and gratitude becomes an act of worship.
Please pray for our staff and residents this month that we will lean into our theme and we will find God’s favor in new ways.
– Brian Bouteller, Executive Director
How Stephen Head Found Grounding and Grace in God’s Garden
Walk past the vibrant vegetable patches at the Gospel Rescue Mission in Grants Pass, and you are likely to encounter Stephen Head quietly tending the soil. To many passersby, the lush rows represent an agricultural triumph—yielding just under 20,000 pounds of fresh produce last year alone to feed hungry neighbors and residents. But to Stephen, who has spent nearly three years at the Mission, this garden is something far more profound: it is the tangible evidence of God’s restorative grace, a place where broken ground and broken lives are made whole together.
Stephen’s connection to the earth runs deep. Born with a natural affinity for cultivation, his childhood was shaped by hours spent alongside his grandfather, who taught him to play in the dirt and introduced him to the meticulous art of grafting plant material when he was just eight years old. “I really enjoy making things grow,”
Stephen reflects with a smile. In his adult life, that passion led him to manage retail and commercial nurseries. Yet, despite his professional success and his innate ability to bring life out of the ground, Stephen found himself facing an internal winter that he could not solve on his own
Struggling with alcohol addiction and mounting physical health complications, Stephen eventually lost his housing, spending a year and a half living out of his car in Central Point. It was a stark and isolating contrast for a man who had always been a diligent worker and pridefully independent. When a perceptive former neighbor discovered him reading in a local park, she connected him with community counseling resources, which ultimately guided him through the doors of the Gospel Rescue Mission in March of 2023. It was a step that required a difficult internal shift: the surrender of self-reliance.
“I couldn’t fix this. And that’s what I’ve learned in the period of time that I’ve been at the Mission. My way doesn’t work. I’m not large and in charge, and it’s not about me.”
Shortly after finding refuge at the Mission, Stephen faced a trial that tested his newfound faith to its absolute limits. Originally scheduled for a routine double hernia repair, a pre-surgical screening revealed a life-threatening reality: his heart was functioning at a mere 20 percent capacity. Within days, Stephen underwent emergency quadruple open-heart bypass surgery, followed immediately by reconstructive bowel and hernia procedures. It was a terrifying whirlwind of vulnerability, yet Stephen experienced a profound peace. As the Mission staff and his church family surrounded him with absolute prayer, he chose to let go and let God take the wheel.
Miraculously returning to the Mission just days after his intense surgeries, Stephen gravitated right back to the garden, taking on the responsibility of directing and cultivating its 35 commercial-variety beds. Today, he views his role not as a chore, but as a sacred stewardship. When visitors praise the beauty of the harvest, Stephen is quick to redirect the credit where it truly belongs.
“Thank you very much, but it’s not my garden, it’s God’s garden,” he explains humbly. “I’m just the servant.” Through disciplined, joyful service, Stephen Head stands as a shining light of transformation, showing our community that when we surrender our brokenness to the Master Gardener, He produces a harvest of abundance and new beginnings.
Scan to listen to Stephen’s story on the GRM Podcast:
UPCOMING EVENTS:
June 27th, 11:00AM – 3:00PM
540 SW FOUNDRY ST.
Grants Pass, OR 97526
July 29th, 10:30AM-NOON
540 SW FOUNDRY ST.
Grants Pass, OR 97526
SAVE THE DATE!
September 11th, 5:00PM
Edgewater Christian Fellowship
More details to follow!
Closing a season – Transitional Work of Faith House
By: Brian Bouteller
I’ll never forget the first time I met Pastor Ron Marsh and his wife Gayle. Two of the most joy filled, straight shooting, and just plain fun people I’ve ever met. I originally knew Ron through his work as a pastor at Parkway Christian Center, on the board of the ROC Food Pantry, a member of the Greater Grants Pass Rotary club, and later when he joined the board of the Gospel Rescue Mission. I instantly liked him for his practical wisdom, fatherly warmth, and his uncomplicated common sense, and of course his lovely bride added just the right amount of spicy heat and humor to every conversation (and she still does to this day). Ron and Gayle were also on the board of a 12 bed transitional home at 220 NW A Street, called Faith House.
During their time working with the Mission they witnessed such powerful examples of the outcomes that they had longed to see for the ladies at Faith House. So much so that they and the rest of their board determined to bring Faith House under Mission leadership. The results were fantastic! The Mission helped nearly every woman who transitioned through Faith House to actually graduate and discover genuine independence. Over the next several years many more ladies would come to discover both a faith in Christ and a confidence in themselves as His new creations during their stay. Our staff has the privilege of remaining close friends with most of them to this day, and if you are someone who has directly and specifically supported the work of Faith House over the years, we want to tell you thank you!
Unfortunately, over the last couple of years in Grants Pass there has been a significant tax funded push to place women, especially those with children, into cheap hotel rooms and low income housing. This has resulted in fewer women coming through our program with the determination to make use of transitional housing, thus leaving Faith House empty for the last 15 months or so. While our commitment to helping women leave homelessness behind will never waiver, we have plenty of room and opportunity to do so directly from the Fikso Family Center just like we have in the past. All buildings, particularly older ones, deteriorate quickly when they’re not lived in, so we have realized that something needs to change. Consequently, we have decided to place the home at 220 NW A Street on the market and make those resources available for other, more pressing projects currently facing the Gospel Rescue Mission and the people we serve.
God is still working powerfully here in the lives of both men, women and children, through basic things like food, clothing, and shelter, to more advanced things like job skills, sobriety, relational boundaries, and personal financial management. Your personal investment of prayer and support empowers us to continue this work every day. Please continue to do so as we seek Gods wisdom in this important work.
