At some point in the year, it's important to us that we highlight in our blog every partnership God has given us. God is doing some really fantastic things in our city through so many different churches and organizations, which is an illustration to us of "one body, many parts". We want to honor those God stories and, at the same time, share with you something a little more encouraging than you may hear on the local news (no offense to those of you who may work for local news stations…seriously.).
So, with that in mind, I'd like to share with you a little about the North Fresno Mennonite Brethren (NFMB) and Robinson Elementary School partnership. Something unique about this partnership is that it extends beyond the elementary school; NFMB has been very active in a year-round apartment complex ministry situated down the street from the church as well as the school. For those of you aware of Care Fresno, it's similar. The church has a permanent presence in the complex in the form of one of their college students who made the intentional decision to live among those they are seeking to build relationship with.
What's really awesome about this ministry is that there is a crossover from the school into the complex; many of the same students NFMB folks serve at Robinson Elementary live in the apartment complex where intentional recreational activities for the kids ensue after school hours. NFMB also brings the kids in the complex to church on Sunday, furthering and deepening their exposure to Jesus. Let's talk about some more fun crossover's! NFMB is active in Step Two of ENP's Five Step process at Robinson Elementary, Mentoring and Classroom Volunteering (I just let you off the hook if you were thinking, "What's Step Two?"!). So, kids from the complex who attend Robinson are being ministered to on campus potentially in a one-on-one mentoring relationship and/or through the presence of a classroom volunteer from NFMB. Furthermore, a Fresno State Physical Therapy Professor who attends NFMB has established a program at Robinson where PT majors at Fresno State work with the kids three times a week on the school campus. And, if that were not enough, NFMB has begun to reach out to the parents of these kids with the hopes of reaching the entire family unit and, thus serving a whole neighborhood.
Thank you North Fresno Mennonite Brethren for living out the life of Jesus where you're at…right here, right now!