In the early 90s, a man showed up at Mission Arlington^® to help out. He had been living on the streets, and had not been in contact with his family for some time. He kept coming to help and eventually, he was asked to stay. While Mission Arlington^® did not and does not have a “shelter,” when Jeff came all those years ago, there was a spare room available, and that became his new house. Mission Arlington^® became his new home.

Jeff has had a variety of jobs in the more than 20 years he has been part of Mission Arlington^®. He has driven trucks, picked up and delivered donations, locked up the property at night, cut the grass, and had countless other responsibilities.

Several years ago, someone donated a large rectangular container to Mission Arlington^®. It had an opened top and a cross on the side. No one was exactly sure what it was made for, but, at the time, there was quite a bit of paint that needed a home. So the container was used to store gallons of paint until a visitor noticed the box and pointed out that it was made to be a portable baptistry.

The staff moved the paint to a cabinet and put the baptistry on a trailer. Now whenever one of the apartment churches has a person to baptize, Jeff is the one who fills the baptistry and drives it to the church. Of all the jobs he’s had, Jeff says, “I like helping people be baptized for the Lord the best.”

In addition to finding a place to stay and a new family when Jeff came to Mission Arlington^®, he was also able to reconnect with the family that raised him. They attended the church across the street from the Mission office and were glad to find that Jeff was safe. Jeff was happy to find them again, too, but most of all, Jeff says, “I found God.”