I hope that this post finds you well and warm on this beautiful freeezing morning! This is definitely beyond what my african blood can handle, but am slowly learning the art of layering clothes:)
I want to first and foremost thank you for your involvement with our ministry in this year of 2010. It's been one of those unforgettable years, many lessons learned, many blessings shared, but most of all we learned how to depend on God's unchanging hand no matter what's going on around us. Many thanks to you, we were able to accomplish so many things that would have been impossible without your help, your loving hearts and your hard work. So thank you so much for making everything possible for the refugees we serve here in the Middle Tennessee Area.
Incase you have not heard, we've had a few exciting things happen, you can always visit our blog and our website to see more pictures and read more on certain happenings. Many thanks to you, this year we've been able to accomplish the following:
- Summer camp activities and summer activities to 100 refugee kids through out the city of Nashville. This summer, some of our refugee kids enjoyed several different summer activities. Many thanks to the Durrs and their support, some of our kids were apart of the Summer farm camp. They enjoyed playing with the other kids and being with farm animals. It was their first time to see horses and even got a chance to ride them! So it was definitely the high light of their summer. Many thanks to friends and churches that hosted pool parties for some of the refugee kids we serve as they truly enjoyed themselves.
- Many thanks to J Hager and Covenant Presbyterian Church that supported some of our high schoolers to join their youth group on their mission trip.
- Many thanks to many many volunteers that made our first Run With The Nations 5k race a success in our first year:) I can't be more grateful. Let's gear up again for celebrating the world refugee day and raising awareness for the invisible population in our midst. Plan to join us on June 18th, 2010 at Shelby Bottoms Park for our second year.
- Many thanks to the tireless volunteers that helped us with our first breakfast banquet event. It was a great success and we couldn't have done it without you. This event helped us raise money that is helping most families without jobs during this holiday season.
- This year, we've started receiving a new group of refugees from Eritrea escaping from religious persecution and others from The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) escaping the atrocities taking place in their country. Please pray for peace in the Congo, what's going on there is beyond human understanding.
- Many thanks to all my tutoring volunteers and the ESL volunteers. Your tireless work makes a great impact in the lives of those we serve in a way that you will never fully understand. Without you so many of those we serve would not have been able to navigate life here in Nashville. So We are very very very grateful for all the work that you do.
If you can, join us this Saturday 12/18/2010 at Cross Point Church on Charlotte Pike for a Christmas event for refugee children at 3:00pm. If you are interested in helping email: aimee@africanleadership.org for more information on how you can help. If you are a family and would love to do this as a family activity, you are absolutely more than welcome to do so.
Thank you so much for the great year of 2010, we are looking forward to seeing you again in 2011 :)
Stay warm!
