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Hello to all
our friends,
We hope you
were all able to join us a couple of weeks ago to
celebrate our 25th anniversary. It was a beautiful
evening. If you missed it, the following newsletter
will catch you up with all that happened. (It is a
sneak peek of our January newsletter).
This is a great time to give
to Neighborhood Ministries. Our year-end goal of
$500,000 in the bank for the Isaiah 58 Campaign
has almost been reached. Help us reach this goal to break
ground on Phase
I of the campaign by June 2008. We need your help!!! The following link will get you
to our website to make your donation now,
www.nmaz.org.
Thank you. We hope
you had a Merry Christmas and enjoy a Happy New Year!!!
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1918 Van
Buren Street • Phoenix, AZ 85009 • 602-252-5225
• www.nmaz.org |
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Dear Friends,
I couldn’t wait to tell you
how it went – “The Relentless Pursuit” – the evening and dinner that celebrated
NM’s 25th Anniversary.
You had to gasp when you
walked in. The palatial banquet room was so beautiful, decorated with banners
on the walls, table cloths and the gilded poinsettias of the colors we have
grown used to seeing on all our literature – golds, browns, reds and tans. It
was magical!
But what was, by far, the
most beautiful part of the evening was who was there. Nearly 800 gathered to
celebrate with us. Most of us would describe the Kingdom of God with images of all kinds of people together, belonging together. I’m not sure I can put
into words what that room felt like.
Tim and Willy from KNIX were
our Emcees. Guests included two of the sisters from the Evangelical Sisterhood
of Mary, Spanish speaking community members who serve at The Neighborhood
Center, friends who love the mission, local and national Latino leaders,
students, professors and administrators from ASU, who sat next to converted
gang members and youth from the ministry who represent the future of the work.
Community friends from local churches, businesses and banks along with friends
from the City of Phoenix ate with NM volunteers and staff, new and old. Rich
and poor, brown, black and white, Spanish speaking and English—all with the
same allegiance and all with the same confidence that God desires for His
people to engage with His heart and bring transformation to the distressed
places and families of urban Phoenix.
Eating together, singing
together, thinking together, and celebrating together—This was the precious
privilege of the night. We took time that night to remember with deep
thanksgiving all we have lived through and learned and all whom we have loved.
There was a slide show of old photos playing in the background. We acknowledged
that in all our growing up, God has done miraculous things with us. We are all
being changed by this community and the work He has been doing here.
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I will remember the deeds of the
LORD;
Yes,
I will remember your miracles of long ago.
I will meditate on all your works
And
consider all your mighty deeds.
Your ways, O God, are holy.
What
god is as great as our God? Psalm 77:11-13 |
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lobby were pictures of the future; drawings that describe the next things to
come. For this night of thanksgiving and celebration was a night of looking
forward as well. God is not finished with us yet…and The Neighborhood Center
isn’t finished. We described the hard work of research that has been done in
the past few years to put the vision together. The three year completion
process of the enterprise building, youth building, gym, art center, thrift
store and new auditorium were described, as well as the costs of these
renovations. The Isaiah 58 Campaign that will accomplish this is
underway and our goal of raising $500,000 in gifts and pledges that night was
met. In fact, we exceeded it. Thank you, Lord!
This beautiful night ended with the giving out of our
book, The Relentless Pursuit: Stories of God’s Hope, Love and Grace in the
Neighborhood. Hot off the press, this book tells the story of the first 25
years of Neighborhood Ministries. We have been working on this book for almost
two years. Filled with pictures and stories, it does what we could not do in
one evening…Tell the whole story. Every family went home with a book as
our gift for coming and our thankfulness for the last 25 years of ministry
together.
Well, dear friends…For those
who could come and for those who couldn’t, thank you for loving us faithfully
all these years. As I said that night, “Mission without you would have been a
story that never happened.”
God bless you. We love
you.
And we look forward to the
next 25 years.
Love,
Kit Danley |
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