200 Free Street
PO Box 356
Fowlerville, MI 48836
The History of Christian Resources International
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Christian Resources International
Sharing the Light of God's Word With the World
God Raises Up A Man
The Christian Salvage Mission was founded by Logan Papworth of Howell, Michigan, in the late 1950's. Logan became a Christian as a middle-aged churchman. He and his wife attended the First Baptist Church in Howell, Michigan.
Logan had an unusual testimony, and he would tell it every chance he got. He would tell of driving his old truck, which had no brakes, almost onto a railroad track before seeing a locomotive nearly upon him. A crash was inevitable. He threw up his hands, closed his eyes, and cried aloud, "God save me and I'll serve you the rest of my life!"
He waited a second or two and then opened his eyes. The light engine, with just the locomotive and the coal tender, was well past the crossing. The truck had stopped in time and Logan had made a promise to God that he would take seriously for as long as he lived.
"What can I do to serve God?"
Now, the question before Logan was, "What can I do to serve God?"
He tried being a Moody Book colporteur, but he probably gave away more books than he sold. He then tried working as a Fuller brush salesman. His real purpose, though, was not to sell brushes. His real purpose was to make Christ known.
Eventually he went into a scrap metal and paper recycling business, which was called Howell Iron Metal Company: "dealers in scrap metal, junk, and waste paper." In other words, Logan became a junk dealer. The junkyard, located southeast of Howell, was on the same property as his small house. Both were completely surrounded by a chain link fence. Though not exactly a shrewd businessman, Logan's new business grew nonetheless.
Growth and Service
The business was not the only thing growing. Logan was growing in Christ. He became a good Bible student and had a never-wavering burden for souls to be saved and to become established in the Christian faith.
Though Logan and his wife Edna had no children, they loved other people's children. They started bringing boys and girls to Sunday School on the back of the junkyard truck. A time later, their church bought a used bus in order to prevent any tragic accidents. Logan only drove the bus for a very short time, however, because he was deemed an unsafe driver. No one will probably ever know how many lives were touched by this brief ministry of his.
His next project was a jail ministry-to take the message of God's love to the inmates. Logan was able to follow up on the inmates who were saved, or who simply showed interest, after they were released or sent to prison. The prisoners liked Logan. Perhaps it was because he never talked down to them or seemed to think himself superior in any way. One day, one of the inmates asked Logan to sing a hymn for them. He couldn't carry a tune, but he had been asked to sing. So he took this request as from the Lord. He sang. Thereafter, it was common for him to be asked to sing God's praises in his jail work.
Beginnings of a Dream
As material came into the junkyard, he began to notice that some were old Christian magazines. Thus began a dream. He believed he could find a use for all of the discarded Christian material. He envisioned this material being sent by the tons to eager and hungry souls wherever the English language could be read and understood.
What fired this man so? Well, he had sent some old Moody Monthlies to a missionary couple in India. They very gladly received and appreciated this material. Some of it had even found its way into the hands of a national pastor, who also greatly cherished the material. Logan saw how God could "re-use" this literature. Now, Logan knew that this was the way he would serve God for as long as he lived.
Logan shared this vision with his friend Linus Reed. Linus was overwhelmed when Logan took him into his small house on the junkyard property. One of the bedrooms was packed to the ceiling with Christian literature, which Logan had been saving. He and his wife had also begun to fill up the living room. Logan told Linus that as soon as God sent the money for postage and the volunteer help to package and mail this material, he would again need more. He already held a list of names and addresses of people who wanted what he had.
Birth of the Christian Salvage Mission
Time passed but not long after, THE CHRISTIAN SALVAGE MISSION was born! Logan had to register with the County Clerk; and to make it a legal, tax-exempted organization, they needed a board of directors and all of the other things that are required by both the State of Michigan and the U.S. Government. On May 18, 1961, the Christian Salvage Mission was incorporated by the State of Michigan as a non-profit, religious organization and then by the Internal Revenue Service on January 21, 1965. This made it a 501-C3 tax-deductible organization, allowing it to be deductible on individual income tax returns. It was not connected with any particular denomination, but considered Evangelical.
The board of directors consisted of Logan Papworth, Linus Reed, and Milton Walton. Shortly after, a man named Howard Knorr was added. It was a humble beginning, but God abundantly blessed the ministry. The literature, along with all types of other scrap, kept coming in. Soon, Logan ran out of room in his house. Consequently, Logan began to look for a larger place to house his missionary enterprise. A friend suggested a storefront building across from the Livingston County Court House in downtown Howell. Logan replied that he had no money to purchase such a building at this time. To this his friend said, "That is no problem. I've known you for a long time and your word is as good as your bond."
The store was occupied by a gas storage company, and the rent that the company paid met the mortgage on the building. All of the literature was moved to the second floor. About a year after purchasing the building, the gas company moved out, giving CSM much-needed room to expand. Donations of literature were coming in as well as donations of money. These donations of money sufficiently covered the mortgage payments as well as their current expenses.
Realizing that with so much literature coming in he would need people to help, Logan advertised in the Livingston County Press newspaper. He hired two women, Evelyn Maul and Ruth Bennett, to do the office work and Onieta Ries from the First Baptist Church of Howell and Georgia Fockler from Marr Bible Church where Linus Reed was Pastor (Linus was employed by General Motors in Flint, Michigan, in addition to his pastorate at Marr Bible Church). After a short time, the two office workers quit because of differences in doctrine. To take their place, Linus hired Gwendolyn Holz. By 1960, there were five full-time workers. The literature continued to come-hence the need for more full-time help and the many volunteers that were learning about the ministry. At this time, Velma Phillips and Dorleen Hammond were added to the paid staff.
Changing of the Reins
In 1963, shortly after the move from their house to the building, Edna died and Logan became less able to be involved with the work. When this time came, the board realized they would need someone else to take over for Logan. They decided to hire Mr. Merton Hurley of Albion, Michigan to serve as the manager. He was a friend of Howard Knorr and had recently retired from Union Steel Products Company. Because Albion is approximately seventy miles from Howell, Mr. Hurley and his wife would need a new place to live closer to the Mission. After all of the literature was moved to the two rooms on the first floor, the second floor was remodeled/redecorated as an apartment for them. One of the rooms of the second floor was turned into an office. This allowed the first floor to be totally given over to the literature handling. Later, in the fall of 1969, Logan finally passed away.
More room was soon needed and the building next door came up for sale. After referring this information to the donors and asking for their input, the decision was made to purchase the building. A letter was then sent to all the donors, asking if they would like to share in the purchase of the building. More than 400 responded with donations! A donor from the east then made up the balance, and the building was purchased free and clear of any debt.
There was much work needed on the newly acquired building. New shelves would need to be built and different compartments to be made for the ease of categorizing what was coming in. Volunteers and staff worked to separate everything according to type of literature-Sunday School Quarterlies, Devotionals, Bibles and portions of Bibles, children's material, music, and publishing company. Every piece of literature was stamped with "Christian Salvage Mission" and its address. The Mission would mail its precious material to persons of other countries at no cost to those persons. The address on the envelope then allowed the recipients to send requests back to CSM for more material. Many times, the Mission would receive letters from persons in other countries who simply wanted to know who Jesus is and how to accept Him as Savior. Other times, it would receive letters from newly saved persons who wanted to share this Good News with their family and friends. Many letters came from pastors, evangelists, whole school classes, and individuals who had found some item that had the Mission's name and address on it. Sometimes CSM would receive thousands of letters each week. Each letter was read and responded to as well as the Mission was able. A 3x5 card with the person's name, address, and contents of the package was created. If that person ever wrote the Mission again, a record of what was already sent them would be on hand. Most of the letters received were written in English; however, except for the more educated persons and those who had access to a typewriter, it was often difficult to figure out names and addresses. Many requests for literature also came from missionaries, who would come to visit CSM, go through the materials, pick out whatever they could use, and take it along with them.
An Expanding Ministry
Under Mr. Hurley's direction, the mission steadily grew. Because the work of the ministry was being shared with many of the local churches, many volunteers came to help. Some part-time help was also hired during the summer months. During the school year, Gwen Holz's two children Carl and Kaye Holz often walked to the mission after school to help until it was time for their mom to go home. Gwen Holz had to leave, though, when her husband was put on an assignment in England. Soon after, another secretary was hired.
In addition to the paid staff, a large number of volunteers was needed to examine every piece of literature for doctrine and condition and to sort accordingly. They were also needed to read letters, type labels, stuff envelopes, and to weigh, seal, and tie packages with a string. The material placed in the envelopes explained the plan of Salvation and included a few tracts, the Gospel of John, and perhaps something else that would be of help to an inquirer or new convert. The weight would have to be exact in order to prevent it from being returned for additional postage.
In time, Mr. Hurley's health failed and he went to be with the Lord on December 20, 1972. To replace Mr. Hurley as manager, the Board of Directors asked Bill Lawson, one of the Mission's most faithful and involved volunteers.
The Mission now began to run out of room in the Howell facility, though additional shelves had been built in the basement where the huge oil burner was located. An opportunity then arose to purchase a building in Fowlerville, Michigan, and arrangements were made to do just that. It was quite an enormous project, packing and transporting all of the literature from the Howell facility to the new one in Fowlerville. Getting it ready for the move, countless volunteers from in town as well as out of town, spent hours working on the new building. They repaired the roof and built shelves and more shelves! The first Baptist Church in Howell loaned the Mission their bus to use in the hauling of all the boxes. Numerous other cars, vans, and trucks also helped with the move.
By this time, some publishers were beginning to get involved with the Mission. Several furnished the Mission with their over-run and leftover literature. Thus, the Lord not only abundantly provided the Mission with used materials, but with new as well!
Bill Lawson, along with his wife Saundra, worked as manager for a few years. When they left, the Mission was without an official manager. To keep things running, Velma Phillips, who had been with the Mission almost from the beginning, temporarily took over.
Word of this ministry continued to spread and large quantities of literature, as well as thousands of requests for it, continued to come in. As a result, the Mission had to change its method of mailing. The Fowlerville Post Office could not meet the Missions needs, prompting the government to build a newer, larger building to handle the increase in volume. The postal system had a special way of handling medium size quantities by using what they called "M" bags. Everything in a bag would be sent to one destination identified with the proper tags. All of the smaller packages would be placed in one pre-addressed, pre-stamped, and ready-to-be-put-on-the-truck bag, allowing the post office to handle it only one time. The size of the bag used was determined by the number of small packages going to a location.
The Mission continued to use this method of shipment for the smaller shipments. For the tremendous volume of out-going literature, though, it had to devise a better system. Presently, the materials are boxed, placed on pallets, enclosed with shrink-wrap, and loaded onto shipping containers. These containers are destined for one country where the literature will be unloaded and distributed to those who have requested it. The people in the different countries have their own method of picking up the boxes sent to them-some by truck, many on bicycle, and still others on foot. Some coming on foot may walk many just to pick up this long-awaited cargo!
Time passed while the board continued to search for a new manager. They finally selected Bruce Craft in 1987. Bruce was with the Mission until 1999.
In 1988, Gwen Holz moved to Seminole, Florida. When she told Bruce that she would be moving, he asked her to start a branch in her area. No one in Florida had heard about the Christian Salvage Mission, but many were very glad to have a place to take their extra literature. They knew it would be of great use to those so desperately wanting and needing it in other countries.
The Florida branch grew rapidly, shipping the literature to Michigan until their source was no longer able to ship it for them. The Florida Mission found needs locally, however, and helped various new churches get started. It furnished these new churches with any literature that they could use. Another place in need of literature was located in Pennsylvania. Much literature continues to be mailed to the ministry there.
A Makeover
The CSM Board of Directors once again began their search for a new manager. They finally selected Mark Campo of Marshall, Michigan. At the time of Mark's selection, the name of "Christian Salvage Mission" no longer seemed to appropriately describe the function of the ministry. As a result, a new name was chosen for this ministry, which had grown and changed so significantly in more than forty years. Thus, the CHRISTIAN SALVAGE MISSION became CHRISTIAN RESOURCES INTERNATIONAL.
Though many things have certainly changed throughout the duration of this ministry, the one thing that remains unchangeable is the purpose and mission on which it was begun. Since its days in the junkyard of a little old man to its current residence in Fowlerville, Michigan, that purpose has been to share our abundance of the Word of God with those around the world who aren't so fortunate to have it--and all this that they may come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and grow in their relationship with Him!
