From a very young age, Mitch drew close to ministry. He had been baptized several times by the time he reached the age of 8, including once in the pacific ocean near Venice Beach, where he attended church in the cafeteria of the elementary school he attended. The church rented out the cafeteria to hold church, as they did not have a building of their own. The exact details of how that arrangement worked out were never known to Mitch, but he was grateful to be in the body of Christ.
Mitch loved attending church, especially when it afforded him the opportunity to dress up. Sure it was not a perfectly tailored suit he wore, but some used slacks, dress shirt, and tie for the thrift store, the pants of which his mother had hemmed up to reduce the length of the legs for Mitch.
There was something about God that Mitch latched himself on to, something he would later at least partially attribute to the lack of relationship with his own earthly father. You see for Mitch, His Heavenly Father promised to not leave him behind. Sure Mitch did not fully understand the need for tests and such, which would come throughout his life and especially later in life when he had no one earthly to turn towards, but He loved the notion anyways.
When Mitch was 13 his mother came home from attended yet another new church in the area and convinced him that he needed to come with her to choir practice the next night. Mitch reluctantly agree, as singing was not something he ever thought himself good at, at least not choir level. Yet when Mitch walked into the church the next night, he discovered the real reason his mother had brought him. Her name was Layla and it was almost instant love. Then Mitch heard her voice and that sealed the deal for him. It only slightly soured when Mitch learned she was the pastor’s daughter. Again, only slightly because she had the voice of an angel, a voice that would take away your pain or despair. So of course Mitch decided to join the church and the choir that night. Anything to put himself closer to this angelic creature. He would go on to become a junior deacon and help lead worship service as well, becoming very close with the pastor. He also was given the calling to be the youth pastor while still a youth himself.
Over the years Mitch was called into various forms of ministry, including being led to start a prison outreach ministry. When Mitch fell on hard times financially, he was chosen to be a prophet. Mitch felt so unworthy of this service, as a prophet in his mind was someone able to speak and have people actually listen to them. Sure Mitch was comfortable to some extent speaking to smallish groups on topics like building a web site or how to do some local SEO for a small business web site, but speaking the word of God in such a manner was to put it mildly not in his wheel house. Putting together ministry resources others had built or leading church youth services using pre-designed lessons was not too terribly difficult, but having a commanding voice scared Mitch. Add on this the fact that he was dealing with financial issues that would ultimately make him homeless, how could he be a mouth piece for God. More importantly, how could God use him, a broken man who felt so unworthy of even drawing breath. Mitch you see had given up on life long before it came to the point of becoming homeless. And here was God asking of such a huge task from him at this pivotal moment. Mitch was overwhelmed. Mitch wanted out of this world, but God had other plans for him. So he did as he has often done, he placed his own desires last and set out to do whatever it was God wanted. Mitch wasn’t sure what those plans were in any detail, as the only thing God would tell him in this new adventure was, “step”. Step where? Step how? Step for how long? These and more questions raced through his mind. And how would he know when he arrived or went off course.
With homelessness on the horizon, Mitch felt he had no other choice but to listen to God. After all, Mitch felt this would at least fill some of the daily 24 hours he would have as a someone living on the streets. That alongside working to gather resources to continue to keep himself alive. For he had no one willing to help house him. He however was thankful that due to his transparency with a few of his clients, who would continue to need his services, he would be able to still have some small amount of income coming in. With that small glimmer of hope and his baby faith, Mitch set out to do whatever it was God was asking from him. He would return to the city he grew up in and step out on faith that his basic needs would be met. He would do as God commanded, “step”.