Ministry Highlight for 2023

 

Happy New Year!

2023 has filled my heart with so much joy through the ways God has allowed me to experience His faithfulness through all of you.  I am so grateful for your ongoing support and prayers for me and my team. Your prayers have been felt time and time again as we learn to navigate through the work God has placed before us and to create healthy boundaries for our team. Regardless of the hard days and the joyful days, know that your prayers held us through it all.  2023 Ministry Highlights Hosted16 short-term teams Total of 154 participants Worked with individuals from 24 countries worldwide. Serve 3616 individuals Had over 50 ESL students Started an intro to computer class Continued monthly Citizenship Trivia night 24 participants Witnessed 3 people become U.S. Citizens Partnered with a total of 6 local organizations and churches. 13 local volunteers. Hosted 2 summer interns. 9 individuals prayed to receive Christ. Gave 200 people broad missions exposure. Between teams and events, over 400 people have visited our site in 2023. Worked with 25 different people groups from around the world. Two students graduated from our Vocational Training Program. In October, our team had the opportunity to attend a Christian Community Development Association, along with many other Christian community leaders from Cleveland.  One of my favorite things to teach in our English classes is the holidays. When we teach about the holidays, we also get to learn about the different cultures in our classroom, and most importantly, we get to share the gospel with our students. In the Fall, we brought pumpkins for our students to decorate since many of our Newcomer friends have not painted or decorated pumpkins. One student pointed to the pumpkin and said, "Teacher, in my culture, we eat this". The idea of painting a pumpkin or something you eat is strange for many of our students, but they had so much fun! In November, we invited our students and their families to join us for an International Thanksgiving dinner at The Bridge. We had the traditional Thanksgiving food items, as well as items brought by students--fufu and cassava leaves, waffles, and KFC chicken. We talked about how Thanksgiving is a time to say thanks to God and the students shared things they are thankful for.  At the end of the evening, we shared how thankful we are for God's word and how we can get to know Him and receive guidance through it. One student wrote he's thankful to be in the United States and in Cleveland. His response was such a great reminder of why I'm also here in Cleveland, serving with Envision.  We also invited our students to take a Bible, whether to learn more about our awesome God or simply to practice their English by reading it, and 14 Bibles were taken home that night - 1 Arabic, 1 Spanish, and 12 English. Praise the Lord!! Please pray for our friends who took these Bibles; that they would read them and encounter the God who created them, loves them, and calls them to himself.   We wrapped up our Winter semester celebrating our students' achievements and Christmas. We taught our English students about the differences between cultural Christmas and biblical Christmas. It was a great opportunity for us to share our faith and the greatest gift of Jesus with our students.    Because of many of your financial support, you and I were able to bless a family with a Christmas tree, lights, ornaments, and most importantly, the Joy of Christmas. Thank you for doing this with me!  In January, our team stepped away from the city for a 3-day planning retreat. We spent some time reflecting on the work God is doing in our lives and through us. We also spent a huge chunk of our time planning for 2024. To those who prayed for us during our planning retreat, thank you.  Thank You for Praying!  Praises:  for the opportunities to share scriptures with our ESL students at the beginning of each class.   for ongoing prayer and financial partnerships.  for a time to plan and prepare for 2024 with our team. Prayers:   for our upcoming Spring short-term teams- arriving on March 2.  for our staff as we enter into a busy season with short-term teams. for provision to fix the leaking roof of The Bridge - where we host many of our refugee engagements and English classes.  for completion of The SHOP's renovation.

Would you prayerfully consider partnering with me and joining the work God is doing at Envision Cleveland?  A one-time gift will help develop and invest in people (interns, teams, community, etc). A monthly gift of any amount will help me continue living and thriving here. I couldn't be on this journey without you, and I wouldn't want to! Thank you for praying, encouraging, and giving. Partner Today My Prayer for You "...I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."  Ephesians 3:18-19