“If your heart is open, if you want to learn through your giving, and if you’re willing to listen and work together this is the place to be.”
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1st Annual Charity Golf Tournament hosted by Island Pier Club to benefit Galveston Urban Ministries
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For many children, learning to swim is a rite of passage. Whether they learn in a creek, lake or backyard pool, a child’s first solo swim is a memorable occasion. Yet, even though our neighborhood kids live in a city completely surrounded by water many have never learned to swim.
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“I’m little rough around the edges. I’ve still got things to get right. Every day I am free I can work, help, and love. I have a lot to offer. I will show GRATITUDE to those who have assisted me…this is what drives me. I AM NOT WHO I WAS FROM the age of 11 to 40” (this is PURPOSE!!!). I’ll be forever grateful and loyal. Know this, I take pride in working at GUM. Thanks for having faith in me”!
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“So many things I have and take for granted; my jogging shoes, the ability to step away from the office to exercise, the fact that I have a job...For my neighbor, he chose to spend what money he had on school supplies for his three children! He chooses to go without so he can provide for his children…”
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The family made do to the best of their ability and made improvements when they could. Once the cancer diagnoses and the inability to work became a factor, upkeep on the home fell behind. It became clear that the family is dealing with multiple issues, and they simply do not have the means to tackle them all.
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It was also about waking up early to meet with the people who built GUM from the ground up. A small army of people committed to doing the work of God, committed to rolling up their sleeves and diving in. They taught me how use a power drill (which I did), how to clean your foot when you step on a rusty nail (which I did), and how to choose love (which, with a little bit of practice, I did). They taught me that the people I had come to Galveston to serve did not need me to save them-- they needed love and respect and a little bit of help.
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I see it in the daily happenings, as people "walk by" the problem; they know the problem is there, but they do not engage. They see it, count the cost and walk by! ENOUGH! WE MUST CHANGE THIS! We can no longer walk by. By owning this revelation, we have chosen to spend our life doing this...choosing to be a neighbor. Putting neighbor back in the hood!
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From Rescue to Recovery: A Galveston update after Hurricane Harvey
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GUM greatly values education, a fight worth getting in, as education under-girds everything we do. From tutoring, mentoring, job education training, and future planning, education is the key to transformation.
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Spring also brings thoughts of renewed life to mind as I walk to work through the neighborhood each day. I think about the importance of really seeing the lives around me and of engaging with my neighbors on a deep level. If I'm not intentional, it is often easy to overlook why Danielle and I chose this neighborhood in which to raise our family. We desire to see our community transformed; to be a community that people want to live in rather than leave.
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No one wants to be a statistic, yet, we do this to people all the time. We can generalize an entire demographic by reducing people to a number. Forgetting that people are individuals with stories, individuals created in the image of God. I am grateful this Christmas season to be a part of breaking down statistics to celebrate what transformation and restoration really look like. Jesus came so that we may have life, and live that life to the fullest.
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