It's quite remarkable how God has moved in Harlem Heights. When we arrived Oct 18, 2022 it was 8:30 PM, dark, smelly from sewage and flood water, no electricity and we knew no one. Fast forward to February 2, 2023 and we have established a base that has often been described as "homey", made professional partners and personal friends, have learned about generations of families in Harlem Heights and have people who were recently strangers, care for us like family. That is God at work.
If you were to sit in on our morning briefing or evening debriefing you would hear names like James, Johnny, Ida, Joyce, Marisol, Julia Everett, Louis Riveras, Jan Seibert, Sandra Ocampo, Ethel, Lester, Luther, Hazel, Melanie Wilder and the list would go on and on. Like in each community, these names are associated with a physical address. But to us, they are more than house numbers or cases in a file. These are people, families, souls that Jesus loves deeply and cares for each one of them. We care for them too. Yesterday we received some feedback from a local partner who has eyes and ears in the community. She said, "People in this neighborhood are feeling joy and cared for for the first time in their life because of what you and your team are doing in Harlem Heights." I share this not to toot our own horn but rather encourage you to be steadfast. That the best things take time. Time to mature and time for hard exteriors to crack and eventually dissolve away. Time for God's love and light shine in a dark world and bring hope and goodness.
"Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain." 1 Corinthians 15:58
If you were to sit in on our morning briefing or evening debriefing you would hear names like James, Johnny, Ida, Joyce, Marisol, Julia Everett, Louis Riveras, Jan Seibert, Sandra Ocampo, Ethel, Lester, Luther, Hazel, Melanie Wilder and the list would go on and on. Like in each community, these names are associated with a physical address. But to us, they are more than house numbers or cases in a file. These are people, families, souls that Jesus loves deeply and cares for each one of them. We care for them too. Yesterday we received some feedback from a local partner who has eyes and ears in the community. She said, "People in this neighborhood are feeling joy and cared for for the first time in their life because of what you and your team are doing in Harlem Heights." I share this not to toot our own horn but rather encourage you to be steadfast. That the best things take time. Time to mature and time for hard exteriors to crack and eventually dissolve away. Time for God's love and light shine in a dark world and bring hope and goodness.
"Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain." 1 Corinthians 15:58