Goodwill Rescue Mission

Our Mission

Goodwill Rescue Mission offers help and hope to North Jersey’s urban poor and dispirited.

•	For mind and body: food, clothing, shelter, training and teaching.
•	For soul and spirit: the life-changing message of God’s love revealed in Jesus Christ.

Special Project

Hope Totes
Can you join us in this front-line ministry by collecting items to fill the totes?
Click here for more info.

Just Do It!

“Stop killing yourself!” The words, almost audible, penetrated the haze in James Branham’s mind as he woke up one morning, penniless and alone, after a long drug binge. “It’s time to start your life anew,” the inner voice urged.

“Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him; bless His name. For the LORD is good…”

— Psalm 100:4-5

Now James knows it was the voice of the Lord, urging him to overcome his drug addiction and become the servant-leader he was created to be. James listened that morning, and his life hasn’t been the same since.

The next day, James joined our Project Emmanuel Recovery Program and gave his life to Christ. In the months that followed, he adopted a new slogan: Just do it!

“Whatever I got from the Bible, in my lessons, from classes or the staff at Goodwill, I would just do it,” he explains.

While in our program, James overcame his drug addiction and helped his future wife, Crystal, get clean, too. When Crystal and her four children visited James at the Mission, he taught them all he was learning about God. The words became truth to Crystal too, and she gave her life to Christ and walked away from drugs.

James Branham (far right) uses the skills he gained at GRM to bless his family (pictured here).

After James graduated from the program, he married Crystal and became a father to her children. The family joined Well’s Cathedral Church of God in Christ, where church leaders took the couple under their wings and helped them grow in their new faith.

Today, James is still doing wonderfully. He’s a driver for CBTI in Hillside and is a leader at his church. He’s president of the usher board; part of their Invaders for Christ group, which ministers to the poor; and a chaplain for United Chaplain International Worldwide Outreach.

“My spirit of compassion and desire to give started at Goodwill, giving me a heart for people and a desire to spread God’s word,” James explains. “What you learn at Goodwill gives you life. They helped me develop into the person I am today.”

Read other Stories of Hope

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