Who can save?

By Nancy Alcorn

At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, He proclaimed what was written about Himself in Isaiah:

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound. (Isaiah 61:1 KJV)

When people hear about trouble youths, runaways, teen drug users, and victims of physical and sexual abuse, they commonly assume that it is the government’s responsibility to take care of them and restore their lives. Even Christians sometimes overlook their biblical responsibility, leaving it up to the government.

The state cannot bring restoration to broken lives – it is not equipped for the task. The reason is simple: God has not anointed the government to “bind up the brokenhearted” or to “proclaim liberty to the captives.” He has anointed the church. We are to set them free.

Though my five years at the correctional facility gave me invaluable experience, they were also extremely frustrating years for me. One of the most significant lessons I learned was what not to do to help troubled girls.

Many of these girls thought God did not love them because of all the horrible things they had experienced. They needed to know that Satan, the “god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4), was at work. He was the one bringing death and destruction to them, but Jesus came so we could have real life, abundant life. First John 3:8 says: “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.”

Only by Jesus, the name that is above every name, can the works of the devil be destroyed in the lives of people.

The system wasn’t working. I did not feel I was contributing to any real improvement in the girls’ lives. I had had a heavy dose of the government’s way of dealing with all these problems – the results were disappointing.

I thought I might make a greater impact and see better results if I worked with a younger age group. Thus, I asked for and received a transfer out of Corrections and into the State Department of Human Services, working with children suffering from neglect and abuse. I felt that it might be possible to intervene in the lives of these children before they reached the point of being committed to a correctional facility. I hoped to become involved and see lives restored, but I was headed for even more frustration.

For the first year, I supervised foster care placements in the Nashville area. Then I had an opportunity for more challenging work with the Emergency Child Protective Services Unit. I was on call twenty-four hours a day, investigating charges of child abuse and neglect. Often my work would take me on a case with an investigative unit to a dangerous part of the city at any hour of the night.

…

I had many experiences with degraded and broken lives. Such incidents caused me to feel the same frustration I had felt at the girls’ correctional facility. I deeply desired to see the broken lives of those I was dealing with restored to wholeness. Instead, I saw children being brought up in horrible situations with no hope of a new start in life. I saw cases of four-and-five-year-olds who were sexually molested by adults. It was heart wrenching.

The first five years of my state work, I was given an in-depth look at the teenage products of abuse, abandonment, neglect, and broken homes. The following three years, I was given an inside look at what small children experience growing up in abuse situations. God was showing me the whole picture – a sad picture – one that I will never forget.

As I reflected on the course my life had taken and my eight years of service with the State of Tennessee, I realized that God had purposely shown me the futility of trying to bring restoration to hurting humanity apart from the delivering power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Looking back on it all, I now see that it was part of God’s plan for me to know and understand that secular programs and secular treatment centres cannot produce lasting changes in the lives of people. They cannot forgive sin. They cannot heal broken hearts. They cannot restore shattered lives.

It was necessary for me to live out those eight years, regardless of the frustration, so that I would not be tempted to look to the wisdom of the world when I came up against difficult cases.

First Corinthians 1:19-20 states:

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? (NIV)

No matter how many academic degrees a person may have, the real power to change a life is in the simplicity of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Although I was one of those people with degrees, I longed for the freedom to teach what I had learned in God’s school. Even though I didn’t realize it at the time, God was listening to the cry of my heart.

(excerpted from pages 30-37 in Echoes of Mercy by Nancy Alcorn, founder and president of Mercy Ministries International. All material is copyrighted. You may purchase a copy of Echoes of Mercy here.)

Nancy Alcorn on “100 Huntley Street”

If you missed Nancy Alcorn on 100 Huntley Street last week (or want to watch it again), here you go:

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A huge THANK YOU to 100 Huntley Street!

Driving Home the Mercy Message

by Musu Taylor-Lewis

Hearing about Pastor John Burns’ 100 hole golf-a-thon is more than a little inspiring.

This past Monday, at 58, he once again took on the challenge of golfing 100 holes in one day at the difficult Peace Portal Golf Course.  He was joined in the challenge, by professional golfer Jodi Reimer and local businessman Ryan Schwartz. He spent 11 hours running, up and down hills covering the distance of a marathon, swinging a golf club hundreds of times, and raised over $100,000 for Mercy Ministries.

Watching the effort?
That brings a whole different perspective on the day.

At first it makes one incredulous and leads to the question of Why?
Why would anyone want to do this?

It is not like Pastor John has to prove his commitment to anyone. He and his wife Helen were the driving force behind bringing Mercy Ministries to Canada. Together they have been relentless over seven years in working to ensure that young women have a place where they can experience transformation that only comes from God.

Watching Pastor John continue the challenge, with pained legs and as his swing gets more laboured; you begin to see strength, a strength that can only come from a deep seated and genuine care for hurting young women.
It is a picture of active compassion; compassion that forces him to keep going when his body wants to give up

John Burns' daughter looks on, in support, as her father golfs 100 holes

Watching the young women from the Mercy Ministries house cheer him on, as he nears the end of the day, suddenly one realizes that they are seeing a picture of The Father’s love for each of them. They get to see, that they are deeply loved. They are treasures, whose rescue is worth suffering for.

Suddenly, watching a golf-a-thon becomes a humbling reminder of a sacrifice that was made for each one of us over two thousand years ago!

A note from Helen Burns

Note: Helen Burns is head of the Mercy Ministries of Canada Board. She and her husband, John, initiated the vision of Mercy in Canada. Together, they also pastor Relate Church.

Dear Mercy family:

Several weeks ago, I walked into the Mercy House and I genuinely felt like I had just walked into a dream…I was overwhelmed at what had finally come to pass. What I had envisioned in my heart and mind and had seen in drawings and pictures had come to life. As I walked from room to room, tears filled my eyes and my heart was about to burst with awe and gratitude to God and an amazing company of people who had made this dream come to pass.

Each room has been beautifully decorated with a touch that will appeal to the heart of every young woman who walks through the doors…there is a peaceful tranquility that is expressed through the beauty of the natural surroundings as well as the house. It says, ‘welcome home.’ I heard a staff member who was working at the home say, “I can’t believe that I get to come and work in this beautiful home every day – I feel so blessed.” That thrilled my heart, as we want it to be a home that blesses all who enter it.

To every single person who has carried a part of the load to get us to this place, I say ‘thank you’ from the very depths of my being. The journey that has brought us this far has seemed l-o-n-g, but it has been sure. Every single step has brought us here…to this amazing time in the journey and history of Mercy Canada.

Ecclesiastes 5:3 (Amp) says, ‘For a dream comes with much business and painful effort’. I know we have been very busy and for a number of people, there has been much painful effort.

This Mercy journey has at times reminded me of my first pregnancy – at first the wonderful discovery that I was going to have a baby! O happy day!!!! Then came the stage of knowing I was pregnant, but nothing was showing. Then finally the day came where people could actually see that there was evidence that a baby was growing inside of me, and then a period of being extremely uncomfortable and it was keeping me up at night…. And then having go almost 3 weeks past my due date! And finally the day came to deliver my child and, well you know that isn’t the most fun part. (I remember at this stage, I asked my mother to please tell me the honest truth about what labour and delivery was actually going to be like. She answered me in the calmest voice ever, “Oh Helen, don’t worry at all – God put that baby in you, and He will get it out.”) And then the day came and my beautiful baby girl was born. Every moment of every day was worth it beyond my wildest dreams.

God put a dream in our hearts – and He got it out!

I feel like this has been a 7 year pregnancy and now the time has come…the home is stunning, the staff of Mercy is brilliant, the team of workers and laborers are exceptional, the community of churches, businesses and individuals that have made this possible are amazing. I am overwhelmed by what can happen when a company of people will gather themselves to a dream to build something that is bigger than themselves because they truly care about the broken heart and life of young women who have been waiting for this day, this time, this moment.

And now the true purpose of this worthy dream will be realized as the first young Mercy girl enters the door of the house that love built.

I thank you, they thank you….God thanks you.

With a grateful heart,
Helen Burns
On behalf of the Mercy Ministries of Canada Board