Mission and Faith
OUR MISSION AND FAITH STATEMENT
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind… Love your neighbor as yourself.”
~ Matthew 22:37, 39
The mission of Mercy House is to provide food, clothing, and shelter to households with dependent children who are experiencing homelessness in the Harrisonburg, Virginia, area in a safe community, while providing services that overcome the barriers leading to homelessness.
Mercy House is a faith-based organization that delivers services to all. Our programs do not require religious participation and leaves matters of denomination or doctrine to individual interpretation and guidance.
We believe in God, our loving Father; in Jesus Christ, our Savior; in the Holy Spirit, our power toward acts of mercy; and in the Bible, our inspired Word of God. Thus we know that
- God created and loves the family.
- God sees the plight of families.
- God defends and protects families.
- God makes a way for broken and hurting families to be in His family through Christ.
We believe Christ inspires and asks us to provide help and hope to homeless families. We believe we are to love others unconditionally regardless of their nationality, religion, or circumstance. Therefore, our task is to come along with Christ to do the work He has already begun.
Reverend Nancy Kirkmeyer, Chaplain
Chaplain services, including pastoral care visits, prayer, and a weekly children’s sharing and singing time, are available for residents of Mercy House.
Our chaplain, Nancy Kirkmeyer, has held numerous positions within early childhood education and social services, including Coordinator of the Bright Beginnings Program with the United Way of Weld County, Colorado. Her primary role at Mercy House is to provide ministerial services to Mercy House families, support the Shelter Manager in caring for the spiritual and emotional wellbeing of the residents, and maintain relationships with churches in the surrounding area.
For Nan, life experience has demonstrated how interconnected we all are in life’s journey. She says, “Although society makes us feel as if we should be able to do this journey on our own, it is easier when we rely on God’s help and on those he sends to give us His care. We all, at some point in our life, need a helping hand to assist us physically, financially, emotionally, or spiritually. As the hand of God reaches down to pull us out of difficult situations, we too are called to give others a hand of hope. The Mercy House is truly a hand of hope.”
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”