The "Renewing and Restoring Lives" Story

Mural by Jared Bader on the campus of Water Street Mission.

It was an ordinary day.  Standing on the corner of West Conetoga and South Prince Streets in the city of Lancaster, PA admiring the Jared Bader mural that fills the east-facing wall on the corner building of the Water Street Ministries.  The artist recently installed the mural that aims to communicate the impact of restoring and renewing lives which has been the vision of Water Street Ministries since it's founding in 1905.  

The original Water Street Rescue Mission.  I took this
photo from a print hanging on the wall inside the
offices of the mission.  This building was on Water Street
which runs parallel to Prince Street, behind the current
Water Street Mission.

Most people in Lancaster County know the mission as a provider of food and shelter for the homeless, but they are much more than that.  They provide healthcare for those who can't afford that service, provide services for urban youth through their Teen Haven program, educate the very young through their Wonder Club and naturally provide rescue and renewal for the homeless no matter what sex or age they may be.  Their "Purpose Statement" is: To advance the kingdom of God through the gospel of Jesus Christ, and to do missionary, relief and rescue work of all kinds, while their "Vision Statement" is to create healing communities where lives are transformed.  

The rear of the Water Street Ministries on South Prince
Street.  I am standing on Water Street to take the photo.
At the far end of the street is where the original mission
was located.

My remembrances of what was called the Water Street Rescue Mission date back to the 1940's and early 1950's when I lived with my mother, while my dad was in the Army, a few blocks to the south of the mission, as a very young boy and traveled past the building on our way to Southern Market on Saturday mornings.  I can still remember my mom pointing out the "poor people" on the other side of the street as we passed them on our way to market.  It was back in 1905 that Dr. Ezra Seiber and his wife began the program that led to the modern day Water Street Mission.  Nothing more than the Dr. and his wife, along with a handful of folks who lived in the downtown area of Lancaster, who gathered at the home of Ms. Sarah Kuhn to talk about God's redeeming story.  By 1916 that group began to grow and began to attempt to meet the needs of the homeless and hungry of Lancaster by opening a temporary shelter on South Water Street for families.  

The front entrance of Kuhns Hall on the
campus of Water Street Ministries.

The following year the state of Pennsylvania recognized the Water Street Rescue Mission as an official organization.  In the 1930's the Mission began handing out baskets of food and supplies to poverty stricken families.  In the 1940's the Mission adopted the motto "No law but love, no creed but Christ" and also said "your church in overalls working among the down trodden, the poor, the lame, the halt and the blind." In 1953 the Mission purchased the nearby Conestoga Cotton Mill at 210 South Prince Street and renovated the mill into a full service shelter for the hungry and homeless men, women and children of the community. Nine years later the renovated mill was dedicated as The Water Street Rescue Mission which is what I have known it as for most of my life.  In the 1980's the mission, which housed people of all colors races and sexes no matter what age, opened an early learning center for Pre-K and Kindergarten.  Then in 1983 a thrift shop was opened which to this day is one of the best in the county.  Ten years after that they opened a free medical clinic for people living in extreme poverty with a dental clinic opening in 2003.  It's been 110 years since that first group met and began their ministry that ... "Through the Gospel of Jesus Christ every man, woman and child living in poverty will feel rich and whole in God's Kingdom.   And now, on the outside brick wall of the Water Street Mission, a large mural depicts a small stream flowing down the middle of a city block.  People gather along the stream in a sense of community while oak limbs in the foreground frame the scene.  At the top of the mural are the words from Deuteronomy 8:7 that say: "For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land - with brooks, streams and deep springs gushing out into the valley and hills."  Mr. Bader, the artist, has certainly captured the essence of the Water Street Mission.  If only my mom was still here with us to see that beautiful mural and how the "poor people" who gather there continue to restore and renew their lives at the place we used to walk by years ago, she'd certainly have a smile on her face.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.