Dear Friends,
“Coach” Wayne Gordon of the Christian Community Development Association often asserts that it takes 15 years to make a lasting impact in urban ministry. As we approach our 15-year mark, we are seeing the kind of fruit we’ve dreamed of since the beginning! Young people from all places are being discipled and are now becoming leaders at Mission Adelante! In the last 15 months, we’ve added four new apprentices to our staff who are learning, growing, and leading some of our core outreach programs. We’ve always valued leadership development, but 2019 has brought exciting opportunities and a significant step forward for us in this effort.
Our investment in emerging leaders from our community begins when they are in elementary school, with an after-school program we call “Leaders-In-Training”. This two-day-a-week mentoring and tutoring program focuses on a select group of around 15 stand-out kids, equipping them academically, spiritually, and socially. For high school students and young adults we offer an intensive summer internship program that includes a handful of promising young leaders who are going deeper in their pursuit of Christ and beginning to experiment with leadership. Our two-year apprenticeship for young adults takes leadership development to the next level by offering emerging leaders a full-time spot on our staff to be trained and mentored in ministry. From beginning to end, the goal is to produce fully-devoted followers of Jesus who can, in turn, invest in others and impact our community.
As we work to be faithful to the call of Christ to make disciples, we would like to invite you to lock arms with us by supporting our ministry financially this year-end. Year-end giving makes up a significant portion of our annual funding and we depend on God’s provision through partners like you! This year we are praying for the Lord to provide $100,000 in special contributions for our Community Leader Fund, which is used to support salaries and benefits for our apprentices and staff from different countries. This is a direct investment in the heart of our mission! Giving is easy by check or online; visit missionadelante.org/give.
Thank you for your prayers, partnership, and consideration.
In His Grace,
Jarrett Meek
Pastor/Executive Director