Year 19: Crazy Growth!
by Jarrett Meek, Founder/Pastor/Executive Director
There have been many exciting seasons at Mission Adelante since our launch in 2005. The initial launch phase was a thrilling adventure, engaging new volunteers, connecting with neighbors, and developing brand new ministry programs. Five years later, we were exploring a ministry to Bhutanese-Nepali refugees and expanding our impact. In 2015, we launched Adelante Thrift, a major milestone in sustainable entrepreneurship. This year, 2024, is another year of unprecedented growth and new endeavors at Mission Adelante.
Refugee Resettlement: It’s safe to say, we didn’t really know what we were getting ourselves into when we said,”yes” to resettling refugees, but secretly, we had a hunch it would exceed our expectations. Indeed, the refugee resettlement journey has been an exhilarating challenge that has doubled the size of our ministry impact! As we approach the end of September, we will have received 103 individuals, orienting them, housing them, getting them medical care, enrolling the kids in schools, and caring for their critical needs during their first months in the the U.S. Our Refugee Services staff has grown from 1.5 to seven team members, we’ve engaged over 50 new volunteers, and our overall budget has nearly doubled. The real noteworthy part of this is that we’ve accomplished these impossible feats, building the team, creating the systems, and doing the work, in the first nine months of the year!
Core Ministry Programs: Our core Ministry Programs have seen more qualitative growth through 2024 than growth in numbers. Leadership development through our kids and youth ministries has produced a crop of youth interns and an a couple of young adult apprentices who demonstrate the kind of gifts and character that we dream about seeing in our young people.
Transitions: A few weeks ago, our staff team got away for a day for a staff retreat. As we were sitting around the room sharing about our Gallup Strengths Finder results, I was keenly aware that our team has many new faces. In addition to adding a whole new refugee services team, another part of this year’s craziness has been transitions other in key roles. From Michelle Simbaqueva and Rachel Yeargin joining our team in important operations roles, Yanelis López switching out of her Associate Director role to serve on our Refugee Team, and more recently, Luis Magaña’s transition, in a lot of ways, our team is being re-built for our exciting future.
Construction: In January we acquired the commercial building adjacent our main property. Early in the year we worked hard with architects and engineers to put together an awesome plan for our new refugee welcome center, which will house staff offices, classrooms, and storage space for our refugee services ministry. After submitting our plans to the city, we’ve been in a long holding pattern as we’ve awaited the proper permits to begin our work. In the meantime, we’ve hired Tate Williams’ CoBuild, Inc, as our General Contractor, and we’re preparing to launch another fundraising campaign to raise $550,000 for this project.
In short, 2024 has been a year of exhilarating growth and all the challenges that come with big, new endeavors. As we look toward the last quarter of the year and forward to our 20th Anniversary next year, we invite you to pray with us for God’s favor, His energy, and His guidance to walk faithfully in the opportunities He is laying before us.
Be part of our programs!
We are so excited for everything that is happening in our programs and we are grateful for all our volunteers who make everything possible. Would you consider partnering with us next trimester?
How can you help?
Pray for our program participants would create an impact in our community and grow with their walk with the Lord.
Volunteer – Come to our Observation Nights. For more information visit: http://www.missionadelante.org/serve
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