Join us for a night of great Italian food, live saxophone music, a silent auction, inspiring stories and an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of people in the East Colfax Community.
You can sponsor a table at one of 3 levels by contacting Mary Tellis, or you can buy individual tickets for $150 each.
All payments can be made on our "giving page" with a note in the memo line "Impact 23 sponsorship: name," or "Impact 23 tickets: name."
You can also send a check to ROP for the amount due, with a note in the memo line, "Impact 23."
We look forward to a great evening with you on May 7th at 5pm at Colorado Community Church in Aurora, CO.
Email Mary Tellis
by Tracey Grant, Work Readiness Director
The story of prayer, perseverance and provision is the story of Francisco. He came to us at the end of August. Mary met him when the Work Readiness center was not open, but she told him I would be back in on Monday. He arrived that day with the same energy and passion that he displayed on the prior Monday. Our in-person tutoring hours did not work with his work schedule, so we did our counseling check-ins electronically.
When Francisco told me he was ready to test, we worked through the process of getting him registered. My church prayed for him regularly as he took the two tests that were remaining for him. The first, he missed by one point. Not to be deterred, Francisco took the second and we agreed to study some more together so he could re-take the first. He practiced and worked hard. Then, on December 31, Francisco took and passed the last section of the GED!
He is the first Aztec GED software graduate at ROP! Praise God for everyone who helped fund the aquisiton of this program and new computers in our Work Readiness for people like Francisco to increase their education and employment prospects. I believe that he will be one of the graduates who gives back and will help others who are working toward this goal as well.
"Here, you can have one of my shoes!"
On December 17th, our SELAH Children's ministry hosted a traveling Christmas party in the ROP neighborhood. Ashley, the SELAH director, noticed one of the girls who came out was only wearing one shoe, and it was a freezing 28 degrees outside! Apparently, she was so excited to come to the party, she ran out of the house, only stopping long enough to grab one shoe. The group of kids she was with were all laughing about it, and then one boy realized he had on socks under his flip-flops, so he said without hesitation, "Here, you can have one of my shoes!" Ashley commented that it made her cry, realizing this was such a beautiful picture of the generosity, provision and humility of our Savior- which is also what the SELAH Christmas party was all about!
Because of the generosity of God through His people, ROP's Children's ministry was able to give out 1,037 wrapped Christmas gifts to kids in the East Colfax neighborhood, ranging from babies to teenagers. With each gift averaging about $20, that totaled over $20,000 worth of unique presents for these kids who often live with very few items that are their very own.
Along with the gifts, 99 Jesus Storybook Bibles were given out to families, along with the offer of prayer for each of them. The kids participated in a Nativity Story craft, and heard about the birth of Jesus and His love for them. Add on some hot cocoa, sugar cookies, and other treats and the community had an incredible day of witnessing the generosity, provision, and humility of Jesus through His church.
Thank you to the 5 churches who partnered significantly in this endeavor, the 120+ volunteers who helped with wrapping gifts, serving treats, telling the Nativity Story, or praying with families, and a special thank you to Ashley Leopold, ROP's SELAH Director, for organizing this HUGE endeavor.
Please pray with us that each child who received a present and heard the story of Jesus, as well as each family who received a Jesus Storybook Bible, would be drawn to God through His Holy Spirit in the weeks and months to come. Pray the parents would also initiate further involvement in ROP programs, where we can serve their whole family so they can experience more of His hope and healing!