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Countless Men Saved for Eternity
By Leah Stanley
"I've been so bad I don't think I can ever be forgiven!"
Milton Hatcher loved women. And he loved using profanity. And drinking. Milton loved his drinking. But what Milton didn't know was that Jesus loved him more than Milton loved his sin.
Milton's widow of 12 years, Betty Hatcher, said her father told her in 1959 that he didn't know how she could even consider dating a man like Milton.
"He told me the only good thing he could find out about Milton was that he was the best flat-top barber in Memphis!"
Betty convinced her father that she loved Milton, so they were married by a justice of the peace in Byhalia, Miss., on Feb. 27, 1960.
Life was not easy living with a man who loved alcohol and other women, particularly while trying to raise two children; Betty had a son, Bill, from a previous marriage when she was 18, and she and Milton had a daughter named Kathy. But on Sept. 23, 1962, at the suggestion of Milton's mother, the Hatchers attended a service at Thrifthaven Baptist Church. For the first time, Betty understood that God loved her so much that He sent His only Son to die for her. Betty walked the aisle and prayed to receive Jesus as her Savior.
"Milton told me things ought to be much better now that I had gotten right with God," Betty said, "and it did help. When Milton would come home drunk and pass out just inside the door, I would cover him up with a blanket and pray for him," she said. "He later told me this really got to him."
Milton's lifestyle of self-centered alcoholism changed dramatically on April 7, 1963, after he and Betty attended a revival service at Thrifthaven.
"God really got Milton's attention," Betty said. "He came home and poured out all the bottles of liquor he had stashed around the house, as well as the ones in the dog house."
She recalls that Milton wouldn't even take his usual Sunday afternoon nap that day because he said he was afraid he'd never wake up. That night they returned for Thrifthaven's evening service, and when the invitation was given Milton made a dash for the front. Before the night was over, he'd been saved by the blood of Jesus, forgiven of his sins by his Heavenly Father and baptized as a testimony of his new-found faith.
Hungry to be fed from God's Word, the Hatchers attended every revival service they could get to. It was at one such service they both felt the Lord was calling them into a full-time ministry. They applied to two different missionary boards for foreign mission work only to be turned down both times. Betty remembers Milton went into his study and got on his face before God, telling the Lord he wasn't coming out until the Lord showed him what He wanted them to do.
"After some time, he came in and said that the Lord had impressed on him to start a work helping men with the same problems he'd had," Betty said.
On April 1, 1967, the doors of Calvary Rescue Mission opened for the very first time, and they have remained so for the last 40 years.
"We have had a gospel message preached every night since we opened," Betty said. "Only when we get to eternity will we have any idea how many souls have been saved through the ministry of Calvary Rescue Mission."
When the mission first began, there was no one to stay with the men overnight, so Milton stayed with them. His goal was to provide homeless men food, clothes and a place to sleep for the sole purpose of sharing Jesus with them.
Over the years, Central Church has been very involved with the ministry of Calvary Rescue Mission. When Central moved out of its building at Linden and Dudley to Poplar Avenue in 1969, Milton's ministry was allowed to use the old facility rent-free. When Ernie Frey became the senior pastor at Central, he continued the church's affiliation with the mission's work.
"I remember a Thanksgiving when Brother Ernie, Anne and her father came for the dinner meal," Betty recalled. "Anne played the harp and her father the violin as the men had their Thanksgiving meal. What a wonderful blessing they have been to us."
Jay Robinson, an elder of Central Church and the current chairman of the Calvary Rescue Mission board of directors, said the work of the mission is very special.
"I don't think there's any other work where Jesus puts Himself into it more than this; He said if we do these kinds of things for other people then we're really doing it to Him!"
Today, Milton's vision is thriving at 960 South Third St. They have eight paid staff members, including three full-time employees who oversee the work of the mission. Volunteers from churches throughout the Memphis area help nightly with serving meals and providing a worship service for the men.
Milton went home to be with Jesus on August 31, 1995, but the work of the mission has continued unabated.
"Our plans are to continue serving Jesus until He returns," Betty said. "As we give the men food and shelter for the night we are doing it for the glory of God."
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