2016 has been a year of changes and growth. We are so grateful for all of our donors and ministry partners, and we wanted to highlight a few stories of how they came to be part of our Ciudad Nueva family and how we are blessed through their giving.
Laura’s story
About seven years ago, Laura was invited by a close friend of hers to help out with a volunteer opportunity at Ciudad Nueva. That simple invitation has turned into a long friendship with our ministry.
“A good friend of mine was teaching a jewelry-making enrichment class once a week at Ciudad Nueva,” says Laura. “She asked if I’d be interested in splitting the time with her. I enjoyed it so much that I’ve been in the classroom now off-and-on for the last seven or so years.”
Being part of the program allowed Laura to see the heart of what was happening at Ciudad Nueva, which further blessed her giving. Relationships are the core of what we do, so it is natural that Laura was blessed by those relationships.
“When I met Sami, Joe, Marianne, and the rest of the staff and volunteers I was really impressed with how gently and lovingly they all spoke about the kids and the program,” she says. “Once I met the kids, I understood why they loved what they were doing. I have been contributing in one way or another ever since.”
Laura is looking forward to continuing her journey with Ciudad Nueva in 2017, and she is as excited as we are about the high school intern program.
“I think the intern program is pretty exciting,” says Laura. “Having the students see their peers not only succeed, but perpetuate the cycle of learning through cooperating, guiding, and giving back of their time and talents is a great way for them to understand that they themselves collectively contribute to its progress.”
Laura has been a faithful partner at Ciudad Nueva, and we are so grateful for her friendship!
“Sometimes you’re the person who simply writes the check,” says Laura. “Other times you’re the person who gets to get in there and see what it’s all about. I’ve been blessed to be able to do both.”
Bill and Datamark, Inc.
Did you know that businesses can support our ministry also? Bill Randag and Datamark, Inc. have been contributing monthly to Ciudad Nueva for about seven years now. They had been supporting the work of one of our staff members previously, and when he came to Ciudad Nueva, they learned about our work in the community and have been supporting Ciudad Nueva ever since.
“I love supporting the kids downtown,” says Bill. “I am all about leadership development, so the mentoring program is near and dear to my heart. Teach a man to fish and prepare him for life!”
Bill is most excited about the new mentoring initiatives at Ciudad Nueva this year, and we look forward to our continuing partnership with Datamark, Inc!
Looking for ways your business or organization might be able to partner with Ciudad Nueva? Contact us here and we would love to talk with you!
Kacy and Joseph’s story
Kacy and Joseph learned about Ciudad Nueva at church and decided to volunteer to see what the ministry was all about.
“After volunteering and seeing all of the amazing effort that goes into improving the lives of the children of the neighborhood,” says Kacy, “we knew we had to support the ministry.”
Three years later they are still faithful supporters and plan to continue volunteering because of how they have been blessed by giving. After being involved these three years, they have already been able to see the fruits of their participation.
“We think the greatest blessing has been to see the kids grow up and notice the positive effect that the programs have in their lives,” says Kacy. “We had the opportunity to take some middle schoolers to camp a few years back, and to see them now in high school, it is clear that they have been transformed through their relationship with Christ.”
Seeing the growth in the ministry is also a blessing and motivation for Kacy and Joseph to stay involved.
“We are so excited to see an increase in the amount of children that have been involved in the programs this year,” she says. “We are also excited about the possibility of the Community Connectors Program that will help find employment for some parents in the neighborhood.”
We are so blessed by Kacy and Joseph and their partnership with Ciudad Nueva. Like all our ministry partners, the blessing goes far beyond just a monetary gift. Through prayer, service, and generosity, our ministry grows and strives to stay true to our calling.
“We would like to pray for the Church,” says Kacy. “We pray that our church body would continue to want to get to know their neighbors, so we can strive to love them the way Christ commanded us.”
That is our prayer at Ciudad Nueva also. May you have a blessed Christmas and a very happy New Year!
Would you like to partner with Ciudad Nueva? Our neighborhood is always open to new friends and ministry partners.
Click here to find out how to give a year-end gift or to partner with our ministry in other ways.
