URM'S Speakers Bureau

The Union Rescue Mission Speakers Bureau is dedicated to providing your organization with top-flight speakers for your next special event. The Speakers Bureau is staffed by qualified personnel who represent each ministry division of the Union Rescue Mission.

Here are a few examples of where the Speakers Bureau provided a speaker:
Pulpit Supply (any service)
Interim Pastor
Missions Speaker
Sunday School Speaker
Civic and Fraternal Organization Meeting
Revival / Renewal
Banquet
Luncheon
Breakfast Meeting
Men’s Club

Freewill Offerings as well as honorariums are accepted on behalf of the Union Rescue Mission.
Call Michelle Scroggins at (501) 370-0808, Ext. 101 or Email mscroggins@urmission.org to schedule one of our speakers.

Got Turkeys??

A Special Thanks....

A VERY SPECIAL THANK YOU TO

FOR PROVIDING WONDERFUL FOOD FOR OUR
BOSSES DAY LUNCHEON.

JERRY WEST
GENERAL MANAGER

(Located in the Holiday inn airport)
3201 BANKHEAD DRIVE
LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS 72206
(501) 235-2000

Men's Graduation 8/25/09

Last night we were able to graduate 4 men from our drug/alcohol recovery program. The dinner and ceremony were hosted by Otter Creek Assembly of God. The Union Rescue Mission's Executive Director, Dr. William Tollett, brought a message about being committed to finishing and finishing strong!

Here is a shot of graduate Thomas Morrison giving testimony to the work God has done in his life over the last nine months! Congrats men!!

3,821 Rolls of Toilet Paper!!!

I have so much faith in young people. If you give kids a vision for how they can make serious impacts on a worthy cause, they don’t play around. If teenagers know that they can personally do something BIG that’s going to affect the lives of others, they go to work. They do their part bigger than you and I do. They do it with excellence, and they take pride in it!

Don’t believe me? Take a look at what happened when one local youth pastor encouraged kids through his Facebook status to bring toilet paper for the Union Rescue Mission to church camp with them.

If you want something done right, get young people involved. 3,821 rolls of TP.

Summer Serving

Summer is here and it is hot, hot, hot at the Dorcas House. All the children are out for school and some days it feels like pure mayhem! However, one of the really fun things about summer is that we get a lot more teenage groups of volunteers who are also on summer break and willing to pour their time and energy out on the "least of these" just out of sheer devotion to Jesus. So there they are outside my office door, patiently taping off the woodwork in the hall so they can paint yet again. They have already painted walls and murals in the Daycare, upstairs dorms, and cleaned almost every reachable part of the House. They have also brought in supplies that we desperately needed. They've spent hours entertaining children who need to be told again and again in subtle ways that they are safe and loved. They have helped repair the House, but more importantly they have helped repair the souls of the population dearest to the heart of God, the widows and orphans, the poor, the outcasts. Not once this week have I heard them complain or bicker. How strange they must seem to the youth around them who are spending their summer thinking only of themselves! But we can give our lives away when it is done out of gratitude and devotion to the One who gave His life away for us! I think they should all have t-shirts that proclaim, "I am lovesick" Proverbs 5:8

H2 - h0meless Water Outreach Snapshot!!

This past Friday I was able to get a little snapshot created of what it’s like when we hit the streets with cold water. Our cargo van has gone to be with Jesus, so Antioch Missionary Baptist stepped in and helped us get out there. If you are interested in helping out with this amazing outreach opportunity, please contact me! Enjoy!

Busy Busy Week!!!

We are busy busy this week at the Dorcas House and it's only Tuesday!! There have been a lot of excited kiddos running around the last few days! This week we have 2 extremely fun activities going on! First of all, in the mornings the children ages 5-12 are attending Vacation Bible School at Little Rock's First Baptist Church. This year, the theme is Boomerang Express and the kids have been having a great time experiencing the "Land Down Under" in a unique way! Secondly, our kids and mothers are attending Willow Springs Water Park's Bible Camp in the afternoon and evening times! So, between hearing the VBS songs in the hallways and seeing some tan faces, I know that the children are having a great week so far!!!

I have spent the last 5 summers and the 13 months prior to working at Dorcas House working at a Christian Sports and Lakefront Adventure Camp outside of Austin, Texas called TBarM Camps. One thing that I loved about camp was the fast paced and relational environment! For these 2 reasons, I have really been enjoying my summer so far at the Dorcas House!! I love the constant commotion (most of the times=) here! I love the relationships that I am able to develop with the women and children! I love seeing the children riding their bikes and playing in our little kiddie pool! I know that I am still the "newbie" and have miles of things to learn, but I am very excited about the road ahead!

Affecting Change

I recently celebrated my first year of service with the Union Rescue Mission on June 2. Coming from the world of academia, this has definitely been a year of transition for me. I taught writing at UCA for three years - mostly freshman composition; and I would teach an occasional Technical Writing class, depending on the need.

I prayed every day that I would make a change in a student's life somehow, someway. I was always open and honest about my relationship with the Lord to my students, and I never judged them for sharing different opinions or beliefs. In fact, those students brave enough to trust me to share their own beliefs would usually ignite some of our more passionate, classroom discussions. I miss them from time-to-time - the students and the discussions.

I left UCA because I felt a call on my heart to help people - to share the things that I had learned through trial and error in my walk with the Lord. So I took this ministry position with a tractor trailer full of excitement and a bucket full of apprehension. It would be my first step into "ministry."

My office was this 10' X 10' room with no windows on the second floor of the Dorcas House. I revamped the Mission website and the newsletter, helped organize Feeding the Multitudes, organized volunteers, and took several HUNDRED phone calls between October and November for 600 food box orders. Was this ministry? It couldn't be! Obviously, it's all ministry. It's not how I envisioned ministry, but what I do still affects this Mission. My ministry tools are a computer, some software, the Internet, and a telephone; and what I do with these tools reaches you in your home quarterly, monthly, and maybe even daily.

I still miss a classroom setting and probably always will. I may even return one day. However, my passionate, classroom discussions have now turned into so much more. You see, none of this was ever really about me. It's about them - the men and women we help at the Mission; and it's about Jesus and how he wants to reach them. I am the bridge in this Mission between you and the people we serve. I have the honor of sharing their lives with you, our faithful contributors and donors.

I now understand how God uses our skills and talents to expand His kingdom and to bring Him glory, and it's humbling to know that He chose me for this.

May the Lord anoint you where you are!
Blessings,
Denise Pote
Director of Public Relations

Our Busy Season

June at the Dorcas house is always one of our busiest seasons. Father's Day is just around the corner. For years we realized that our census has consistently been highest in June but didn't really know why. Then last year with a plethora of domestic violence incidents in the news we got a call the morning after Father's Day. One of our clients who had gone back to her abusive husband was in the emergency room at Baptist Hospital. She was badly beaten from head to foot. I went to pick her up and said, "Honey, can you tell me what happened?" As she sobbed the story poured out of all he husband's disappointment in how his kids neglected him on Father's Day and didn't show him the respect he deserved. By the end of the day he was ready to take his anger and frustration out on someone. Unfortunately, she was the only one there. Later I began to ask the other women who lived in Dorcas House if they had ever had similar experiences on Father's Day. The response was overwhelmingly affirmative. So at this time of year more than any other, there are fathers who should be commended and fathers who should be convicted. But above all, there are mothers and children who need a place where they can be safe. They need someone to tell them and show them that there is a Father who loves them unconditionally and will never let them go!

Is It June Already.....

It's hard to believe that we have just started the month of June, but 2009 is very close to being half over!! Things around the Men's Recovery Center are as busy as ever! Last month we graduated a new class from our 9 month Drug & Alcohol Rehabilitation Program. This is always a very special time for us and the men who have been with us for 9 months of their life. It's an amazing journey for them as well as for myself & Aaron. Getting to watch everyday the miracles that God works in their lives is an amazing thing. Graduation was held on May 19, 2009 at Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in Little Rock. Members from the church provided Corkey's BBQ to all in attendance and it was wonderful!! Thanks again to them for hosting this event for us! This go around we were able to honor four men, who over the last 9 to 10 months have made amazing progress, in not only getting control over their addiction, but renewing their relationships with God. Matt Williams, John Thomas, John Fitzgibbons and TJ Thompson were all presented with their Certificates of Graduation by Aaron. Brandan Thomas gave an amazing message about not following the ways of the world, but always to follow God! TJ Thompson was the graduate selected to give his own personal testimnony. TJ spoke of his past, his brush with death and the fact that he knows that God has more in store for him! The evening was concluded by a prayer over all four graduates and all those people who had a hand in helping them during their time with us, were invited to circle the graduates and lay hands on them as our Executive Director, William Tollett led us in prayer.

Puppet Show Fun!!!

Last night the Dorcas House was so blessed to have the group "Overflow" come perform a puppet show. They had games and other fun things for the women and children! I know that everyone had a great time! I have heard nothing but wonderful remarks from the ladies and children!! I have posted some pictures of the the event!

I would also like to make an appeal for people to join me in praying for extra funds to come to the Union Rescue Mission to be able to replace a couple of broken AC units. Those of you that live here in the Arkansas heat know that a summer without AC can be quite miserable. We are very grateful at this point that most of the house still has AC, and the little part that doesn't has not been too bad yet. We are so grateful to Arkansas Powers for all the ways that they have maintained our units to the best of their ability so far! We know that our God is faithful, and that He cares about even the little things like AC units!!

We hope that you have a great weekend!!!

Happy Wednesday from the Dorcas House

Good morning!!!

We hope that everyone had a great weekend this past Memorial Weekend!! It is so important to honor our veterans. Did you know that about 40% of the men that come through the Men's Center of the Union Rescue Mission are veterans? To quote Aaron Reddin, the Director of Men's Ministries for the Union Rescue Mission, "of the MANY homeless men that we see come through the doors of the Union Rescue Mission, over 40% of them are of a veteran status. That is an insanely high number of people that have no place to call home, who once called a US military base “home”. (Please feel free to check out more about this at here!)

I would love to let everyone know about some current needs we have at the Dorcas House! Right now we are completely out of paper towels! We also really need bath towels, tall kitchen trash bags, laundry baskets, and alarm clocks. These are all items that you can bring directly to the Dorcas House. If you have any questions feel free to contact Michelle Carney at 374-4022 or by email at michelle@urmission.org.

Some fun events we have coming at the Dorcas House are:

*Tomorrow we are going to be so blessed to have a group called Overflow come and perform a puppet show. They will do some other fun things during this show as well. They will be presenting a gospel message so please be praying for the hearts of our women and especially our children here at the Dorcas House to be open to the message of salvation and hope!!

*Graduation is on June 2nd! The Women's Ministry at Little Rock's First Baptist Church is hosting this graduation! We are very excited to have 5 of our ladies graduating our program!


We are looking forward to each of these events!!

UPDATE: H2 - hOmeless

God has made some amazing provision in our quest for bottled water to distribute to Central Arkansas’ homeless. Since first going public with this outreach opportunity, we have recieved 6,229 bottles of water!!!

Just so you know, that’s 128,751 Ounces = 3,808 Liters = 1,006 Gallons!!! WOW!!!

Please don’t allow this to slow down our drive as it’s clear to us now that we will pass out this amount of water rather rapidly. Help us to continue providing people with good drinking water on the streets of Arkansas!

H2 - hOmeless

"And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded.” Matthew 10:42

At the Union Rescue Mission, we are beginning a summer bottled water drive!!!
In the winter months we go out on the streets and do what we call "Operation Rescue". We pass out blankets, coats, hot food, gloves, socks and any other beneficial items we may have. We try to bring people in off the streets if they will come, but if not then we meet tangible needs (love of Christ) and move along.

This summer we want to do the same thing. Only coats will be of no use!!!

That's why we are doing a bottled water drive! Our goal is to pass out a minimum of 5,000 bottles of water to the homeless population of Central Arkansas. Considering that the homeless population of Little Rock exceeds 2,000, this is a relatively small amount of water. But remember that the goal is a MINIMUM of 5,000.

If you are interested in helping, please contact me at aaron@urmission.org.

Thanks!!!!