4 min read
A Summer That Lasts a Lifetime
The 2025 UGM Camp season is almost here, and we are excited to welcome children into an environment where they can find relationship with God and...
1 min read
Phil Altmeyer, Executive Director
:
June 21, 2023
“Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life.” (Proverbs 4:13)
It’s hard to think long term. In today’s culture of instant gratification, creating a long-term plan– whether that be toward financial investments, retiring debt free, or investing spiritually in the next generation—is like swimming upstream. It takes wisdom, hard work, and sacrifice. For Caryl and myself, we were challenged early on with owning our own home before retirement. If we hadn’t made a plan and committed to it long-term, it would never have happened.
“Nearly anyone can control their behavior
for a set time, but unless there is healing at the
heart level, old behaviors will resurface.”
This principle holds true on the journey to recovery. It’s easy to say you’ll quit drinking or using, but without a solid plan, the chances of long-term success are slim. This is evidenced in short-term treatment programs that focus on the symptoms of addiction rather than healing the underlying causes. Nearly anyone can control their behavior for a set time, but unless there is healing at the heart level, old behaviors will resurface. For many, that means relapse.
What you’re doing when you partner with Union Gospel Mission is giving people the vision, tools, and resources necessary to create a long-term plan for themselves and their children. That’s our goal, and that’s what I see happening every day. Through faith-based guidance, wise instruction, and the opportunity to practice new behaviors within a safe, healing community, our residents are able to set a new course…for life.
The Mission is more than emergency food and shelter. We’re addressing issues of the soul, issues of the heart, and offering hope for a new life. As you read the stories in this newsletter, I want you to see how your partnership is an investment in the future. The healing that the Lord is working in hearts and minds every day will have a life-long impact on our guests, their children, and their children’s children.
4 min read
The 2025 UGM Camp season is almost here, and we are excited to welcome children into an environment where they can find relationship with God and...
11 min read
At this year’s Gathering, we heard real stories from real people about how they—empowered by the tools, resources, and support UGM offers—have...
4 min read
As we approach the Easter season, I feel gratitude for the Christian heritage that brings a deeper meaning to the season than Easter egg hunts,...
1 min read
Sometimes we are blind. The problem (for most of us) isn’t with the function of our actual eyeballs, the cornea or the retina or the optical nerve....
After 30 years in homeless ministry, you'd think I would have it all figured out, that I could coast along to retirement. I'm chuckling at the...
“As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you.” (Isaiah 66:13) For the past ten years, I’ve been teaching the UGM women’s Bible study. I...