2020 End-of-Year Update
To our supporters,
We are grateful. Thank you for being used of God to make our 2020 ministries possible.
Update:
It was a wild summer. With all of the parks and gyms in the city closing, there was an unprecedented amount of activity in the parking lot next to our house. COVID restrictions necessitated creativity in how we engaged with our neighborhood. Some highlights included apple picking, art projects, baking, playing cards, and reading together. We’ve also been able to do food distributions multiple times a week. Caleb has worked on several worship arts projects this year with people from the church community. These songs can be viewed in previous posts on this blog.
In other
news, the church is fully moved into our new space at East 13th and
Superior Ave. This location is central for our people right downtown. It’s 5,000
square feet, and our lease is for 5 years.
While the
building allows us to centralize our ministries, COVID has had a decentralizing
effect. Whereas Thursdays used to be a big basketball night, meal, and youth
service, it has shifted to all-day tutoring for 10-15 students, a meal, and a small-group
Bible study. Fall was characterized by having fewer numbers in our teen
ministries but greater spiritual depth within those relationships.
Julia started taking courses toward a Master of Ministry degree and Caleb is planning to finish his studies in summer 2021.
Prayer
Requests:
Pray for our
students who are struggling in an entirely virtual environment.
Pray for those fighting COVID including a member of our leadership team.
This year has been particularly hard on the people in our congregation. We have had people lose their jobs, lose their homes, run out of food, see loved ones go to jail, get sick, and some have died. This world is so broken! Pray for those feeling isolated and empty. Pray that our struggles bring people closer to Jesus and ultimately be for His praise.
Thanks so much for writing and sharing Julia! You and your family have a lot of longevity in this ministry...well done. I get it somewhat because I work with the public at E.72nd and Kinsman. Systemic racism is ugly beyond words. I commute 24 mins. to my suburban home and I am straddling two different worlds. Worlds that don't intersect. Thank you for not wasting your lives making the privileged more privileged. I'm with you.
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