“Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Love never fails.”
– Paul, to the Corinthians
UPdate Summary
Yes! We’re still kicking, thanks to you!
We feel God’s love through you and it sustains us!
- Schools with grades (Grades?!) – our schools have offered our children hours of daily classroom instruction, hours of one-on-one tutoring, graded work and quarters, and standardized testing. Solid education, solid data, and on-line success give us great information to plan for the fall, and more importantly, provided justice in education in the crisis. We love our students and admire their courage.
- Parent Forums – In a demonstration of partnership, dozens of parents joined forums led by James Russell to discuss needs and suggestions on how we can best support them as we enter the summer. We love our parents and are grateful to them.
- Volunteers – Over 100 joined our Volunteer Celebration ZoomUP (highlight video below). How does one of our favorite annual events, the volunteer dinner, translate to Cyber? Beautifully. We love our volunteers who encourage us.
Love overcomes all things.
Dear Friend,
How are you?! Weathering the COVID crisis and healthy, I hope. I wanted to give you a break from my Kicking COVID letters, but I have missed sharing with you. We have been hyper active (and successful!) in addressing the crisis. Not flawless or without failure for sure, but oh so proud of what the staff and our children and families have accomplished, truly beautiful and hopeful.
First – THANK YOU!! How I wish I could thank every one of you face to face who have donated, volunteered, prayed and offered encouraging words. Hundreds of you, with your whole hearts. We are so grateful and uplifted by you! Your love is awesome.
Second – Still kicking!! Despite all the challenges and uncertainty, UrbanPromise has never shone more brightly in pursuing our vision, feeling the love of all involved, and achieving great things. These include:
- Great staff laying their lives down, adjusting on the fly, delivering excellence in education, supporting families, connecting volunteers, supporting one another. Love in action and in truth.
- Great volunteers full of love, skill, and willingness vitally serving our children and making a statement of love and commitment. Our Volunteer Appreciation ZoomUP was beautiful and moving. You guys rock!!!
- Great support from you. The response to our emails and snail mail have been humbling, exciting, and full of love. Thank you. I am deeply, deeply grateful.
- Great families and children. Our families are under great stress, but they have persevered in connecting their children for school and camp. The crisis has strengthened our parent partnerships. The love of our families has inspired us. And challenged us to do more.
- Great God. Who God is, what His word says, and how His love gives it breath is the Rock we are built on. It informs our world view, it informs how we strive to love one another, and it informs our capacity to persevere. This crisis has revealed so much of God’s love. I thank God.
Third – A lot more kicking in front of us! I wish it wasn’t a long haul, but it is. And we are prepared to face it! Our community, including you, deserves all we’ve got for as long as it takes.
Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Love never fails. Thank you for your love!
God bless you and stay healthy,
