The rise of rescue missions in the United States and the impact one individual can have on the lives of many.

The Colonel was the prime nightly speaker in those early days of the rescue mission. He was aided with songs from the hymnal, hot meals from the stove and the testimonies of the newly rescued. One evening that would all change.

On a windy Chicago night in 1880 a former Michigan grifter and counterfeiter wandered in to the mission to rest and warm up from the cold. Recently released from a Detroit prison this wayward man’s life would soon enter a new direction. He heard the message of the Gospel preached by Colonel Clarke and made the decision to change his life. That man’s name was Harry Monroe.

Monroe became part of the mission staff. He gradually began to preach the daily messages and eventually became the Superintendent of the Pacific Garden Mission for 30 years. One person can make a difference and the impact of this recovered former counterfeiter, Harry Monroe, would be nothing less than miraculous.

Chicago had a baseball team in the 1880’s, a good one. They had what was believed by many to be the best team in professional baseball, the Chicago White Stockings. The White Stockings were frequent winners of the National League Pennant. They had the best hitters, best fielders, best pitchers and they had Billy, the fastest runner in baseball.

Many players also had the reputation for heavy drinking. It was rumored that they lost the 1886 League Championship due to inebriated players on the field during the game. One evening in the summer of 1886 after a home game Billy and three other players headed out for fun.
After leaving one of the local saloons Billy sat on a curb listening to the music coming from the building across the street. The same music he used to listen to as a child. He told the other players to continue on without him, he was sticking around. Billy crossed the street and was invited in.
He heard the message of sobriety, salvation and redemption preached by Harry Monroe at the Pacific Garden Mission.

That Chicago White Stocking player, the fastest man in the national league, had an awakening, a changed life. Billy Sunday quit baseball a few years later. He went on to preach the message of the Gospel, temperance and sobriety to millions. The fastest man in baseball, Billy Sunday, became one of the greatest evangelists of the 20th century. Hundreds of thousands of lives, perhaps millions, around the world were changed for the better due to hearing and living his message.

The saga of the Pacific Garden Mission would not be complete without the story of the life of Mel Trotter. Mel Trotter was one of seven children, the son of a bar keeper and an alcoholic. Mel followed in his father’s footsteps. He loved the saloons and gambling halls. By the time he was in his late teens he was a heavy drinker and gambler, always broke and unable to keep a job. Mel got married at the age of 21. Like so many alcoholics Mel kept the truth about his drinking from his wife. It soon became obvious to his new bride Lottie that Mel was an alcoholic. Every promise Mel made to Lottie to stop drinking became another promise broken. Every new job Mel got was eventually lost.

Mel and Lottie soon became parents. Mel knew now he needed to quit drinking for good. He failed. After a ten day binge Mel returned home to find his baby dead in Lottie’s arms. Mel blamed himself for his child’s death. In January of 1897, the 27 year old, defeated alcoholic hopped a freight train for Chicago. Ending up in the Chicago rail yards Mel decided to end his life and he headed for Lake Michigan.

Drunk, broke and shoeless, The Pacific Garden Mission and Harry Monroe stood between Mel Trotter and the icy cold lake. That night Mel committed himself to God and sobriety. He never touched a drop of liquor for the rest of his life.

Mel reunited with his wife Lottie. After working with the Pacific Garden Mission, 29 year old Mel Trotter began his own mission and ministry. Mel Trotter Ministries opened in Grand Rapids, Michigan February of 1900, now the largest in the United States.
The work of the Mel Trotter Ministries has restored the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. Lives once destroyed by alcohol and other drugs.

The work of the Pacific Garden Mission and Mel Trotter Ministries continues into this present day. One person can make a difference. The vision of Sarah Dunn Clarke to open a mission in 1877 due to a nation’s need for help is living proof.