... His hand is stretched out still ...

Today is Thursday, October 29 -- the 80th anniversary of the Great Stock Market Crash, which many pinpoint as the start of the Great Depression.

Whether that was the exact turning point is open for discussion, but the date is significant for Gospel Mission, because the crash happened just after the Mission was founded -- and the history, as I piece it together, is a study in God's planning and provision for His people.

Simply put, it illustrates that God is always ahead of the curve.

Gospel Mission was planted by the Apostolic Church of Pentecost in 1929, which -- if my historical knowledge serves me right -- was a time of great prosperity up till the stock market crash. GM was first established in the Hastings-and-Abbott area (we moved to 331 Carrall Street in the 40s), which itself was a place of great prosperity in Vancouver. If you look at the City Directories for that time period - and up till the early 50s, in fact - you'll find that what is now Canada's Worst Postal Code was a happenin' part of town. There were law offices, consulates, restaurants, theatres (including the Avon -- originally the Pantages -- where my parents met) and the Carnegie Public Library (now the Carnegie Centre).

Why set up a rescue mission in the midst of that prosperity? Because God knew what was coming -- not just with the depression but the aftermath of World War 2, when soldiers who'd been demobbed but couldn't re-adjust to civilian life -- perhaps because of medical/mental conditions -- would wind up in that area and then the gradual transition into what it is today -- and He knew He needed His people in the area to help catch those who fell.

Now consider this: The Lord's Rain was conceived and built at a time of great worldwide prosperity. Things were bad enough on the DTES, but the Global Economic Downturn hit around the same time that The Lord's Rain opened and you can expect more people would fall victim to the effects of the downturn -- or at least of the fear of the downturn -- and wind up in the area.

Of course, we couldn't see that downturn coming when we took on the project. People who stepped forward to help financially and with funds and labour might have been spooked if we'd started the project just 6 months later, when the economic storm clouds were rolling in. Again, God moved ahead of the curve to make sure His influence -- His Hope -- would be there for people to see.

So the anniversary of the Crash of '29 has an interesting connection with Gospel Mission -- something that none of the people who actually planted the church could have anticipated. As with so many other things that God wants -- including The Lord's Rain -- people respond out of obedience, without knowing even a tenth of the reason why they're supposed to.

And as we obey Him, His hand stays stretched out for blessing.