96. How to Run a Rescue Mission Without Federal Funding

Summary

The Fundraising Masterminds Podcast Episode 96: How to Run a Rescue Mission Without Federal Funding Release Date: July 9, 2025

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Hosts:

• Jim Dempsey
• Jason Galicinski

Guest:

• John Cooper – Founder of Niagara Gospel Mission

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Introduction

In Episode 96 of The Fundraising Masterminds Podcast, hosts Jim Dempsey and Jason Galicinski welcome back John Cooper, a seasoned leader in the nonprofit sector. John shares his insightful journey of running a thriving gospel rescue mission without relying on federal funding. This episode delves deep into the strategies, challenges, and spiritual convictions that underpin a sustainable and faith-centered nonprofit organization.

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The Challenge of Federal Funding

Navigating Government Assistance
John Cooper opens the discussion by addressing the complexities of accepting federal funds. He explains the stringent controls and restrictions that come with government money, which can impede the mission's core values and operational freedom.

"In the state of New York, when you accept their money, they control what you do. The temptation is to say, 'Free money, I can have a bigger facility,' but then you read the strings that come with it."
(02:16)

John emphasizes the subtle ways government influence can erode the mission's foundational principles over time, ultimately compromising the delivery of the gospel.

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Emphasizing the Gospel as the Core Mission

Gospel-Centered Approach
A significant portion of the episode centers on the importance of integrating the gospel into every aspect of the rescue mission. John asserts that without prioritizing spiritual transformation, providing basic needs is merely a temporary solution.

"I can feed you, house you, and clothe you, but if I don't give you the gospel, I'm just giving you a more comfortable ride to hell."
(01:24)

Scriptural Foundations
John references key scriptures that guide their mission, including Romans 10 and James 2. These passages reinforce the belief that preaching the gospel is paramount and that true transformation comes through a relationship with Christ.

"Romans 10 speaks about the preaching of the gospel; how will they know if they do not hear? How do they hear if there's not a preacher?"
(05:21)

"James 2:5 reminds us that God chose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom."
(06:45)

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Building Sustainable Relationships

Focusing on Partnerships Over Profit
John outlines his strategy of prioritizing relationships over seeking large, unrestricted donations. By cultivating connections with pastors, local leaders, and community members, the mission fosters a network of support that sustains its operations.

"It's focusing on relationships and not just relationships with rich individuals. It's about relationships with pastors, the fire department, the police department."
(09:03)

Church Collaboration
A pivotal element of John’s approach is partnering with churches. These partnerships provide volunteers, in-kind donations, and a shared vision for addressing homelessness through spiritual outreach.

"We find that one person in the church who was an addict or someone deeply involved, and build from there."
(10:45)

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Community Engagement and Outreach

Innovative Outreach Methods
John shares practical examples of how Niagara Gospel Mission engages with the community. Events like "Feed the Falls" involve preparing and delivering meals while offering opportunities to share the gospel.

"Feed the Falls is our event where we prepare 2,000 meals and deliver them to homes, encouraging volunteers to share the gospel or pray with recipients."
(18:18)

Direct Action for Public Awareness
To increase visibility and credibility, John recounts personal efforts such as driving the mission's pickup van during harsh winter conditions, which garnered media attention and community support.

"I walked our code blue route in 18-degree weather, and the news media started calling us for interviews."
(15:15)

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Establishing and Growing the Mission

Starting from the Ground Up
John provides a step-by-step blueprint for launching a gospel-centered rescue mission. The process begins with identifying the need, building a coalition of supportive churches, and gradually expanding community ties.

"Start by going to five churches, present the need, and spearhead the street ministry. Build relationships with local leaders and churches."
(23:16)

Mentorship and Fundraising
Participation in mentorship programs like Perfect Vision has been instrumental in fundraising success. John highlights how strategic fundraising events can raise substantial funds without compromising mission integrity.

"Last year, through the Perfect Vision dinner mentorship program, we raised over $178,000 in one night."
(20:03)

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Vision and Future Goals

Long-Term Aspirations
John shares the ambitious 50-year vision for Niagara Gospel Mission, aiming to evolve into a seminary that trains missionaries to evangelize internationally, demonstrating a commitment to enduring spiritual impact.

"Our 50-year vision is to become a seminary, training missionaries to serve all the countries that visit Niagara Falls."
(25:22)

Sustainable Impact
The ultimate goal is to create a self-sustaining mission that can eventually "work itself out of a job," signifying a successful transformation in the community's approach to homelessness and spiritual outreach.

"We want to work ourselves out of a job by transforming hearts through the gospel."
(25:38)

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Conclusion

In this compelling episode, John Cooper illustrates that running a successful gospel rescue mission without federal funding is not only feasible but also aligns more closely with the mission’s spiritual objectives. By prioritizing the gospel, building meaningful relationships, and engaging the community, Niagara Gospel Mission serves as a powerful model for nonprofits seeking to achieve lasting impact without compromising their core values.

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Notable Quotes:

• "I can feed you, house you, and clothe you, but if I don't give you the gospel, I'm just giving you a more comfortable ride to hell."
  — John Cooper (01:24)

• "Romans 10 speaks about the preaching of the gospel; how will they know if they do not hear? How do they hear if there's not a preacher?"
  — John Cooper (05:21)

• "It's focusing on relationships and not just relationships with rich individuals. It's about relationships with pastors, the fire department, the police department."
  — John Cooper (09:03)

• "Start by going to five churches, present the need, and spearhead the street ministry. Build relationships with local leaders and churches."
  — John Cooper (23:16)

• "Our 50-year vision is to become a seminary, training missionaries to serve all the countries that visit Niagara Falls."
  — John Cooper (25:22)

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This episode serves as an inspiring guide for nonprofit leaders aiming to uphold their spiritual missions while achieving financial sustainability through strategic relationships and unwavering commitment to their core values.

Transcript

[Jason Galasinski]

You're listening to the number one podcast for nonprofit leaders getting your nonprofit fully funded. This is the Fundraising Masterminds podcast.

[John Cooper]

Tomorrow, if I accept funds from the government, they'll say, oh, no, we won't change anything. You do. We know that five years from now, they will make those changes. One of our slogans internally and externally too, when we preach at churches is, I can feed you, house you and clothe you, but if I don't give you the gospel, I'm just giving you a more comfortable ride to hell. And I. And so that is something that keeps us focused on the gospel is the transforming agent.

[Jason Galasinski]

Welcome back to another episode here at the Fundraising Masterminds Podcast. We are so excited to have you join us today. My name is Jason Galasinski and with me, my co host, Jim Dempsey.

[Jim Dempsey]

Hi, Jason.

[Jason Galasinski]

And today we have a special guest with us, John Cooper. Welcome, John.

[John Cooper]

Thank you. Thank you, guys.

[Jason Galasinski]

So we had John on a few months ago where we were talking about the $10 million story and we got talking about how gospel rescue missions like his in Niagara are really thriving and doing well. And the amazing thing is we're not getting federal funding. We're actually doing it through proper development. We're doing it through partners, through relationships and vision, dinners and follow ups and stuff like that. And so we thought, you know, it would be good to have John back on to talk about some lessons learned in running a gospel rescue mission, because.

[Jim Dempsey]

There'S gotta be other missions around the country that want to not just survive, but thrive without federal funding. Yeah.

[Jason Galasinski]

Before we get into it, you could hit that subscribe button and we'd love to know if you are running a gospel rescue mission, what you think of this episode. So be sure to get that comment box open. You can write us some notes and tell us what you think of it as you're going through. But John, I just kind of want to hand it over to you. And John, thanks for being on the show again.

[John Cooper]

Yeah, thanks for having me. And you know, I can never pass up a trip to Florida, so I'm good to be here.

[Jim Dempsey]

Always great to have you, John.

[Jason Galasinski]

You guys have a good fourth of July?

[Jim Dempsey]

Yeah, well, definitely. It was a lot of fireworks and way too much food, that's for sure. So as you can tell.

[Jason Galasinski]

So, John, I'd love to hear your journey on how you navigated the waters of accepting federal funds or not accepted in federal funds. Would you mind telling us about that journey?

[John Cooper]

Yeah, I mean, in the state of New York, you know, like many states, when you accept their Money, they control what you do. And looking at the homeless problem across America that every city is facing, the temptation is to say, well, free money. I can have a bigger facility. I can do this, I can do that. But then you read the strings that come with it. And even to the point where the government can fire your director if they're not happy with what you're doing. And so, inevitably, I'm also an ordained minister. So if I'm preaching the gospel, the government should get offended sometimes. Part of the gospel is it cuts us. If the government sees that and they don't like it, they can just remove me. So that was number one. I like my job, so I don't.

[Jim Dempsey]

Want to be removed.

[John Cooper]

But they start to slowly. They control how you do things. And it's very subtle in the beginning. It's, you know, well, don't preach before the meals. Make it optional. Right? And that's. That's kind of the way it works. And then it goes from it's not optional to, you know, well, just, no one's coming because it's optional now just get rid of it. And now bring these counselors in that do it from this method. And it's just they make these small suggestions. And when the government's your number one donor.

[Jim Dempsey]

Yeah, you.

[John Cooper]

The temptation is to bend. And especially I got this brand new building. What am I going to do? If I say no, then I have to pay all that money back. And you can really be stuck in a situation that, you know, you have to be. You have to look down the future and say, you know, do I want to be stuck 25 years from now with having to, you know, be controlled?

[Jason Galasinski]

Really, one of the things that you said earlier on was the government's idea of homelessness is different than your idea. Can you explain that a bit?

[John Cooper]

Yeah, for sure. So the Housing first initiative is, you know, they're not homeless anymore if they're in a home. Right. It's just. There's. The title just goes away, but the problems are still there. And so one of our slogans internally and externally too, when we preach at churches is, I can feed you, house you, and clothe you, but if I don't give you the gospel, I'm just giving you a more comfortable ride to hell. And so that is something that keeps us focused on. The gospel is the transforming agent, not just for the people in our building, but for our city as a whole. And so that's why we've made the decision to even if tomorrow, if I accept funds from the Government, they'll say, oh no, we won't change anything. You do. We know that five years from now they will make those changes.

[Jim Dempsey]

Right, right. It's a frog in the kettle, isn't it? Absolutely. Turn up the heat. One of the things that I really like certainly about your mission is that it is so focused in on the gospel. Not having the funds from the government. That probably makes it a little bit tougher. Now, I guess from the standpoint, getting the gospel out there has got to be your primary concern, primary focus. And I love pregnancy centers that share the gospel. I love rescue missions that share the gospel. That they know that there's an overarching issue, whether it be abortion or whether it be homelessness. But the gospel supersedes that. What's the scriptural basis? What kinds of scripture verses do you go to to come to that conclusion and that answer?

[John Cooper]

Yeah, and so Romans 10, obviously, the preaching of the gospel, how are they know if they do not hear? How do they hear if there's not a preacher?

[Jim Dempsey]

Right.

[John Cooper]

And so that's probably for preaching. Most preachers like me, that's our go to verse. Historically, it's been called the primary means of grace or the ordinary means of grace. That the preaching of the Word is, yes, one on one, evangelism is absolutely important and necessary. But more people come to salvation under the preaching of the Word than really any other means. Hence the ordinary or primary means of grace. And so we see that if we start to throw that out, we're not really doing our mission. We're not a gospel mission anymore. One of the verses that hit me last year was James 2. 5, where it says, listen, my beloved brothers, did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he has promised to those who love him? So basically, James 2, the argument that's going on is the rich man comes to the church and the pastor there is putting the poor man over there. And James is saying, what are you doing? Don't you know that the poor is the catalyst to the kingdom? And so I think the same is true today, that the poor, we want revival in our area and all of us want revival. Every Christian wants revival. However, we're not willing to go to the poor person and prioritize the gospel to them. And one thing I heard was, don't they get beat up enough? You're telling them they're a sinner. It's like, well, no, there's only one thing that's going to get them past this Point, Right. That's a heart change.

[Jim Dempsey]

Right.

[John Cooper]

Which comes through Jesus Christ.

[Jim Dempsey]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It seems like we always want to solve the symptoms, but we ignore the root barrier that's out there. John, give us an idea. I mean, I love to just see your mission as, as a success story. Share with me how many individuals are you reaching a year? How many people are being exposed to the gospel? How many people are coming to Christ? Give us, I mean, a rough estimate. I not expecting you to know the number exactly, but yeah, yeah, rough estimate.

[John Cooper]

Is we have 115 that are in our building every day. That's not including the community that comes in for every dinner time feeding. And so at that dinnertime feeding, there is a message, a gospel presentation that myself, my staff, local churches will come in and do that, local pastors and local laymen that come in that feel called to share the gospel. And we're that avenue for them. Then we have preaching for the guys in an overnight shelter. That happens, you know, every Thursday. We go through a book of the Bible. We're going through Mark right now. And so we're going through the book of Mark, you know, expounding one verse at a time for the homeless there. And again, it's probably, you know, who's hearing the gospel in our city. It's pretty much everyone who's in need has at one point heard the gospel. And, you know, do they get all get saved when they're in our building? No, some of them it takes four or five times or they're drunk when they show up. And so you try to sober them up and then share the gospel with them, or you see them a month from then, and then they come and I came, I went back to my house because we also serve people who can't afford a meal. And they come, but they have a housing and they say, you know, I really pondered over what you were talking about last month. So we see both, both sides of it.

[Jim Dempsey]

That's great. I love that. Yeah, I love that. Yeah.

[John Cooper]

Jason.

[Jason Galasinski]

So, John, you've been able to run this organization without federal funding. That's a stance that you took early on. And it sounds like you've realized that that's a better way to go in a sense, because it gives you a lot more freedom. But it does ask the question, well, how do you run a, how do you run a messy mission without federal funding? And so often everyone's getting their funds from the government.

[Jim Dempsey]

Yeah. Or even, you know, I feel like, John, you've gotten past survival to thriving and how, how have you been able to thrive?

[John Cooper]

Well, number one, it's focusing on relationships and not just relationships with rich individuals. Right. Because that's what we think in development. Like, if I can find that guy who can write the $100 million, I'll be fine. But number one, no one knows the guy who make 100 million. So it's not just a relationship with a rich donor. It's the relationship with pastors and being able to show them why your ministry is a place they can plug in. Another way of another relationship is with your city. So your fire department, your police department, because guess what, they're going to be there almost every day. Right. Because someone passes out ODs, there's always a scuffle, you're on the front line of ministry. And so building good relationships with the police captain that's at that precinct right near you, and then relationship with your mayor and all that kind of stuff. And really relationship with churches is how we've been able to thrive. And that's not just because we get money from the churches. As we know, not a lot of churches have big budgets, but it's a way we get volunteers, which then keeps your employment costs down. It's amazing to see what God's people do and they catch the vision for what's going on and really take their responsibility seriously to care for the poor. They'll, they'll send you. We have a guy who, he has an employee who knows how to work boiler system. So guess what? He sends that guy while he's paying him to fix our boiler. I mean, it's that, that's, you know, that in kind cost, you know.

[Jim Dempsey]

Yeah, yeah, that's great. Yeah, I love that.

[Jason Galasinski]

So relationships are the key, right, to any kind of long term development.

[Jim Dempsey]

Right? Yeah.

[Jason Galasinski]

One of the things you said earlier on was you really focus on connecting with the churches and finding church champions. Can you talk a bit more about how you go about doing that?

[John Cooper]

Yeah, we call them church ambassadors is just our way of saying it, but it's the same deal. We find that one person in the church. You know, again, I'm an, I'm a pastor. So I understand the pastor is running his own rescue mission. Right. He's got people in his church that are, you know, their kids aren't walking with the Lord or their spouse is dying or whatever the case. They don't have a lot of time to invest in every missionary that sends them a letter.

[Jim Dempsey]

Right.

[John Cooper]

But there's usually someone from that church who was an addict and that's Kind of who we primarily look for, or they're just someone who's in a rescue mission all the time. They love what we're doing. They have a bug for what we're doing. And I'm like, do you have a relationship with your pastor that you could talk? And then I tell that pastor, this is your go to guy. He's going to receive an email every month about an update that's going on here. And that's kind of how we build that program. And that program is, at this point, two and a half years old. And it's. It's growing because people want to know what's going on.

[Jim Dempsey]

Yeah. The next one we talked about was making the gospel the center of your focus. Unpack that a little bit for us.

[John Cooper]

Yeah. I mean, what we try to do is when we open our Bibles, what the Bible says is how we run our ministry. Poor people is not new thing to God. Right, exactly. And so there's a lot in Scripture as to how do you form a ministry around poverty alleviation. And so keeping the gospel centered is number one in house in the sense that all of our classes, all of our counseling, all of our. Everything we do is centered around the gospel. But it's also in our outside, in our fundraising and our pr. It's. We're not, you know, as Paul says, I'm unashamed of the gospel, for it is the power unto salvation. And so when we go to a church, I preach in probably 20 different churches a year, and when I preach in those churches, I expound on, this is the power to save. And I need you here to come preach. I am here preaching.

[Jim Dempsey]

Right.

[John Cooper]

And again, in our correspondence before I came down is, if you can't pitch your vision for your ministry with an open Bible, you're gonna have a really hard time getting those relationships with those churches.

[Jim Dempsey]

Right.

[John Cooper]

So.

[Jim Dempsey]

Absolutely. Yeah. You got to have that connection point that. Yeah. Because that. That's what their mission is, too. We talk often about finding that intersection between the ministry's mission and the mission of the donor. Well, you're. The same way you are. You know, the. The finding the mission of your mission and the church, making sure that they intersect together, that you're building both heading in the same direction and going down the same path. Yeah.

[Jason Galasinski]

Could you give a little bit of history on, like, gospel rescue missions? Like, they've changed a lot, right?

[John Cooper]

Yeah, they. I mean, I'm not. I'm no historian by any means of the rescue mission world. However, I mean, you look at A guy like David Wilkerson, you know, wrote the book the Cross and the Switchblade. And that was Teen Challenge. But Teen Challenge was the same thing. It started as a rescue mission. And, you know, that's what he was doing, literally dragging people to hear the gospel. You know, same with Billy Sunday with Salvation Army. I mean, it was all the preaching of the gospel was the center.

[Jim Dempsey]

Yeah. In fact, I was actually just going to say that. I was going to say Salvation Army, Red Cross, some of those organizations have been. The argument is that some of them have lost their way. And where are we at in America?

[Jason Galasinski]

Why were they so focused on the gospel front and center versus getting them off the streets and giving them a meal?

[John Cooper]

Because it's the power unto salvation. They firmly believed that the soul was more important than the body. And I think that we can be tempted to say that, well, I can help more people if I just don't preach. Look how many more. I could have 100 more beds tomorrow if I really wanted to. But is that really helping? And do I actually believe that the gospel is not just good works? The gospel is a certain thing. It's coming to Christ and repenting of your sins. And I think that's where guys like Billy Sunday, you know, he knew that I had, you know, he started like a mini revival. I mean, this is. Again, we want revival. Are we willing to do the hard work of preaching the gospel?

[Jim Dempsey]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. John, we also talked a little bit about getting the community to buy into the vision that you have as well, too. What are some of the steps that you've had to take or to use to get the community to buy in? I know you and I have talked a lot about that PR component of development, getting the message out, public awareness. What are some of the things that you've tried to do to get the community aligned with your mission?

[John Cooper]

One I did that I don't suggest for everybody is I. When it was 18 degrees out, I actually walked our code blue route, which is the van that we send to pick up homeless people in the wintertime. And it was 34 miles. And it was tough, but it worked. I mean, the news media started calling us because they wanted more interviews. So that's one that we did, really. And I know this is your guys thing. The vision dinner was extremely helpful to bring in 500 individuals. And I'd say about a little more than half had never even heard of our organization before. And they got to see, again, a vision from God's word. And really what I shared with them was Nehemiah 2:17, where Jerusalem lies in waste. Nehemiah has gotten permission from the king to go and observe the wall. And what he says is. Then I said to them, he's talking to the Jews. He says, you see the calamity we are in. The Jerusalem lies in waste, and his gates are burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem that you will no longer be reproached. And it's just funny because he's like, didn't you look around you? And that was really my message was, look around you. We all are waiting for $500 million man to come fix our problem. He's not coming.

[Jim Dempsey]

No.

[John Cooper]

So let's look around us and let's rebuild. And I feel like the Christian community needs to do that in every. Wherever you're at Orlando, Nashville, Niagara Falls. Doesn't. Do you see the calamity we're in? Let us, the church, come. Arise and build. And if you sacrifice and if you say the gospel can't be centered to what I do, don't expect to see rebuilding.

[Jim Dempsey]

John, what do you see as the church's role in helping with homelessness as an example?

[John Cooper]

I see it a command from Christ. He says, to help the poor so that when we. When our commander and king commands us, something of us, our ears better perk up. You know, as a military veteran, when my commander said God, you went. I think a challenge for a lot of churches is they don't know how or you can't open a rescue mission in the basement of every church. So there needs to be a collaboration of churches that get together and kind of put aside some of their secondary doctrinal issues to say, our command from our king is to help the community and to help the poor in our community. And we can all be centered around the gospel being the crux of that. And that's where rescue missions really can be. That gap, I always say we're a trench the church comes and fights in because we're that. That avenue where come. Come to us. We'll point you in the right direction and you shoot that gospel machine gun.

[Jim Dempsey]

Yeah, out there. Well, I really see you as an extension of the church in so many ways. I think about when we lived in the Washington, D.C. area, our church, you know, was. Was always looking for a way to help with homelessness issue. And we'd always turn to Central Union missions in our town. Whether it was, you know, helping at Thanksgiving or packaging food packets up or whatever, the effort that needed providing scarves in the wintertime whatever. What are some of the things that you do at your mission to be the extension of the church?

[John Cooper]

Yeah, so we do an event called Feed the Falls and it's Thanksgiving, Christmas, and in a couple weeks we'll be doing our first summertime one. And basically what we do is we go out there, we get 2,000 meals prepped, and we deliver them to houses in the area. And so people call ahead to get there, you know, to reserve their order and that. And then the teams that go out to deliver them are encouraged to share the gospel with those or ask, how can I pray for you? Just try to find an open door to get the gospel into that home. And they're going to that person's home. Now, obviously, either a volunteer feels nervous and they don't, or the person doesn't want to hear it. Just give me my meal. But there's a great deal conversations that come from that other ways is like I said, we preach the gospel every day. So anyone that wants to come every single day, that pulpit is open for preaching.

[Jim Dempsey]

Right.

[John Cooper]

So we invite local churches that are already involved with us to come in and have this opportunity to share the gospel with the needy in the community.

[Jim Dempsey]

Wow. Well, John, I've got to believe that it's not easy not taking federal funding. There's that temptation is always going to be out there. But I feel like you've found the balance and, and especially when it comes to that no compromise stance that we got to get the gospel out. And if taking federal funding means we don't get to spread the gospel, then give it to somebody else in a sense.

[Jason Galasinski]

Well, I think it's a good thing to prioritize the gospel over whatever the government is telling you to do right. At that particular time. There might be some people listening who maybe you feel trapped or maybe you feel like, you know what? I've been taking federal funds and I would love to not have that burden, you know, or. But I just don't know where to.

[John Cooper]

Go, where do I do?

[Jason Galasinski]

Where do I start?

[Jim Dempsey]

Right?

[Jason Galasinski]

So we always talk about the Perfect Vision in our mentorship program. But really, I mean, if. If you were starting a organization from scratch and you didn't have anything, you know, getting your board together in a room, name storming some key individuals, learning how to get the right people in the room and pitching the vision, doing that the right way, you know, that's all you need to kickstart. And that's really what John did, you know, Last year he joined the Perfect Vision dinner mentorship program. He went through the recipe that we teach, raised over $178,000 in one night. And he doesn't need federal funding.

[Jim Dempsey]

Right.

[Jason Galasinski]

And so, in a sense, he can do whatever the Lord has put on his heart to do. And we would love to have other gospel rescue missions kind of learning and discovering this as well.

[Jim Dempsey]

We'd love to be there to help to fill that void.

[Jason Galasinski]

So if you're interested in learning about this, I'm going to put a QR code on the screen. You can scan that with your phone, or you can click the link in the description, and that'll take you to our website, where you can learn more about the perfect vision that our mentorship program. Now, we're in the middle of the summertime, so the next vision dinner program starts in October. But still, I would recommend you get in touch with us. Let's have a conversation, and we can help you figure out if this program is right for you. But, John, I really admire you in taking a stand because I know that it's not easy, you know, to. To reject free money.

[Jim Dempsey]

Right. Kind of buck the trend, huh?

[Jason Galasinski]

But I think it's really necessary because really, and this is kind of where Jim and I are at, is we're not just trying to, you know, get dollars in the door. Because the problem with nonprofits is not money. The problem is learning how to build relationships and trust. And just similarly, you know, the problem with homelessness isn't, you know, just that they're homeless, that there's deeper heart issues there. And we want to. We want to bring a heart change. You know, the. The person isn't going to really be transformed until they hear the gospel and come to Christ. You know, ultimately, that's where the long term solutions come in.

[Jim Dempsey]

Right.

[Jason Galasinski]

And people who started gospel rescue missions ages ago, you know, 100, 200 years ago, understood that.

[Jim Dempsey]

Yeah.

[Jason Galasinski]

So in a way, we just really trying to call everyone back to their roots, you know, and say, remember why you started? Remember why this thing used to exist? And it was really the church that, you know, in a way, spearheaded the rescue mission process, you know, and so we'd love to see the church get back in the game, so to speak, and get involved, you know. Well, John, as we're wrapping up the episode, why don't you give us just kind of a bottom line? If you, if you were in an area where you felt the Lord tugging at your heart to start a gospel rescue mission in your town and you didn't know where to start, you kind of like this idea of doing fundraising, not fundraising and building partners and, and getting involved in the community. Can you give us like a bottom line kind of steps of like, what would you do if you could start over and how would you get your rescue mission started?

[John Cooper]

Yeah, I would go how we started back in 2007. Go to five churches, say, we all see the need in our area. Let's meet this need. I'm willing to be the one to spearhead this. We started in an RV serving soup and preaching the gospel on one of the more dangerous streets in western New York during gang stuff and all that kind of stuff. And that's how we started. Eventually we got a house. And so I would just say go to your key churches, especially your local church that you're going to talk to your pastor, say, this is my plan. It's very basic. I want to go out there and do street ministry. So start with street ministry, go to churches and then go to your community. So your mayor, your police chief, your fire department, whoever, and say, we all see this need, this is how we're going to meet it. And then you allow your mayor, he wants to see his homeless problem go away because that makes him look better too. So he may be able to connect you with those wealthy individuals, you know, those that can help fund your effort. But be patient, it's not going to happen overnight. Continue to build relationships, share your vision. And I would just say if you're starting from ground up, you need to be in 10 different churches a year preaching or sharing an update of what we're trying to do. And then go through the perfect vision dinner course once you get enough people to be table hosts. So that way you can really pitch that vision to people that we're here to rebuild the city. And you may, you know, especially if you're a city that has nothing for homeless, I would almost guarantee you're going to be able to fill that place.

[Jim Dempsey]

Nice.

[Jason Galasinski]

Well, thanks, John. I think your example to us all of how you can actually run a gospel centered rescue mission without federal funding. And it is possible. And you know, using relationships, using churches, using your community and the perfect Vision Dinner as a tool and a catalyst to really help get the vision out there. And I think that's a key piece of this, is once you kind of get the ball rolling, you need a place to get the vision out. And I remember someone asked you a while ago, what was the 50 year vision of your rescue mission? What did you tell them?

[John Cooper]

Our 50 year vision is that the Niagara Goss Mission becomes a seminary and we're training missionaries to go out to all the countries that come visit Niagara Falls.

[Jim Dempsey]

Nice.

[Jason Galasinski]

See, I love that.

[Jim Dempsey]

Yeah, me, too.

[Jason Galasinski]

You have a vision.

[Jim Dempsey]

Right.

[Jason Galasinski]

And it's beyond just getting people off the streets and giving them a. A shelter, you know, help them in.

[Jim Dempsey]

The here and now. Right.

[John Cooper]

So work yourself out of a job.

[Jim Dempsey]

Yeah, I love that. Yep.

[Jason Galasinski]

Well, thanks again for joining us on this episode of the Fundraising Masterminds podcast. Be sure to subscribe and comment. Let us know what you think. If you are running a gospel wrestling rescue mission, we'd love to hear from you. And just let us know your thoughts on what we discussed today. And as always, we'll see you in the next one.

[John Cooper]

Take care.