It's exciting to see the new school year starting with new partnerships for several Fresno area schools.
Two churches will be working with Yokomi Elementary; "House of Deliverance" and The Altar Community Church will start with a Saturday Sports Program and they also plan on doing street and alley clean ups in the neighborhood.
Northpark Church will be partnering with Leavenworth doing campus support as well as Saturday Sports.
Iglesia Peoples Church is doing a regular Friday Night Outreach for youth at the Biola Community Center and will start Saturday Sports in September. They look forward to holding empowerment programs for the adults in the community as well.
Thomas Elementary has Hope Lutheran Church partnering with them; the church looks forward to offering campus support as well as volunteers in the classroom.
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A church partnering with an elementary school can look different in every neighborhood because each church body has different gifts, abilities and capacities to serve. They become aware of the needs in the neighborhood and learn about ways they can serve on campus and find ways to bless the staff. Simple things like bringing bagels one morning or helping at Back to School Night are easy ways to let a school know that you are there to help make their job a little easier and that they are important.
The investment of time volunteers make working with the children can have a huge impact; helping them read, study their math facts and just smiling and being an encouragement. They aren't HUGE things, and it doesn't take a lot of time, but the return on the investment is monumental.
. . . maybe it's time to forget the stock market, and start investing more in people!
All of us at ENP are blessed to be associated with 48 churches and organizations who are partnering with schools and their surrounding neighborhoods. They are making an impact that you cannot put a value on. . . . we look forward to a fantastic year ahead!