Wow - it has been a crazy year. I need to pass on some news that, on the surface is sad, but that I think is just God at work here in Guadalupe.
The big news is we are leaving our space in the Guadalupe Mercado. We have been in the Mercado for over a decade! However, we made this decision because over the last year we have noted a drop in our community and the associated community ownership. For example, over the last year children did not come to tutoring as much as in the past, there were much fewer children in preschool and the parents of our preschoolers often sent the children unprepared. COVID really impacted our community - so many people in Guadalupe lost their lives and we could not meet in person. This was followed by the shooting death of Isaiah and the subsequent gang warfare.
So we prayed - what was God telling us? We now believe He was telling us to take a step back, pray and work on rebuilding community. So that is what we are doing. We will be out of our space end of July so we can steward our money for the future.
So - what will we do. We are praying - every Wednesday. Our Guadalupe friends and us. Please consider joining us (contact me if you want to join in person). We will do tutoring for any child that wants - in borrowed space in the Mercado, Living Faith or other places. We will plan Fall, Christmas and Spring break events for the children and parents. But most of all pray and see what God says. See what the next step is. It might not be a preschool - when we started there was only 1 other preschool in Guadalupe. Now there are at least seven.
I will end on a note of encouragement. Last week we did our back-to-school session. We gave backpacks and school supplies to 42 children. We had a big party for the children and their parents at the lab - check out the pictures. We had wonderful attendance. I am hopeful for the future - please join us in prayer.
