History

 It was 1948.  Evangelist Billy Graham and song leader Cliff Barrows had left Youth for Christ to strike out on their own in late 1947, holding their very first Crusade in Billy’s hometown of Charlotte, NC, and a second in Augusta, GA, as they were heading for Cliff’s hometown of Ceres, CA.  In what was to become a common practice, a group of Christian businessmen, laymen, formed a committee to organize the event and help with logistics.  Cliff’s brother-in-law, Ben Jennings (husband of Mary Jean Barrows) of Ripon, was chairman.  They rented a huge tent from an evangelist in Los Angeles, who, along with his son, delivered and set it up at Five Points in central Modesto.  The event was billed as the “United Crusade for Christ.”  The tent was named the “Canvas Cathedral.”  Leftover funds from the Crusade was used as seed money to start the mission in Modesto that same year, 1948.

The Modesto Gospel Mission, like so many others, began as a soup kitchen that had nightly Gospel services, and sheltered just a few men who would volunteer to help for awhile.  The original motto is the same today:

            For the betterment of the community.

            For the rehabilitation of wrecked lives.

            For the relief of suffering and despair.

            For the saving of lost souls.

            For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.  Luke 19:10

An old newsletter lists the original board of directors as J.E. Hain, Clarence Weaver, Tollie Thompson, C. Christensen, and C.T. Barrows (Cliff’s father).  The International Union of Gospel Missions, now the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions, had many members across the country so it was decided that the name of this new mission would reflect its own membership in the organization.  The Modesto Union Gospel Mission was formed.

John Haine, a farmer who, in the words of one of his daughters, “…brought all sorts of people home with him.  We never knew how many, or for how long,” was the first superintendent, now known as an executive director.

Cliff Barrows remembers the original mission building, “I can see the little auditorium with benches, and my father up front speaking to the men.  I remember playing my trombone.”

It was located first at 918 “H” Street, then 809 8^th Street in downtown Modesto before moving to the Airport Neighborhood in the early 1980s when the ministry began to really grow to meet the ever expanding needs of Stanislaus County. 

Today 3 buildings sheltering men, women and children, and fathers with children shelter about 2,000 individuals each year with about 50,000 bednights provided, and an equal number of showers.  Our Children/Youth Center provides help and encouragement to hundreds of young people and more than 10,000 meals are served each month.  The Community Distribution Center distributes about a half a million pieces of clothing each year.  The New Life Program is designed to address the root causes of homelessness (physical, spiritual, emotional, social, educational, vocational, and financial).  Transition housing completes the circle of help from crisis to living independently as a successful member of society.  The Mission complex encompasses two blocks and an additional transitional living apartment complex.

More than sixty years after its beginnings, the commitment of laymen and laywomen to service still forms the core of volunteers and staff in RESCUE today.  The Modesto Gospel Mission epitomizes what can be done when people come together to make a difference.