We are so thankful for what Christmas really means, which is what makes it the most wonderful time of the year! "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us." (John 1:14) The story is incredible and true! Thank You Jesus, for stepping into our story as a baby in a manger... made like us in every way - except without sin - born to suffer and to die... and to rise again to bring forgiveness and real life to all who will believe!
Merry Christmas! We hope you have a wonderful time celebrating the birth of our Savior!
On October 28th, Cultivate held its Annual Event 2024 with the theme "Age Of Opportunity." A group of over 75 Cultivate friends and supporters gathered as we shared about what Cultivate has been up to and where we sense God is leading us heading into 2025. A huge THANKS to all of you who came and to Connie's Home Cooking for catering such a wonderful meal and dessert!
If you were not at the event, then you should know that we leveraged several intended meanings behind the title "Age Of Opportunity." There are at least three ways we are living in or working with the Age Of Opportunity at Cultivate.
First, this is the Age of Opportunity for all of us as believers. Leading up to our event, which we knew would land just one week before the Presidential election, we could sense the tension in many people around us and we very much felt it ourselves. So, we started the night off with this video.
We thought it was important to acknowledge the tension we feel living in these days when we often see things that seem to fit the description of the "birth pains" Jesus mentioned would happen before the end of the age. However, since He promised to be with us to the very end of the age, this is actually the age of opportunity for all of us to do the work of loving others as He loved us. If we will stay focused on the work at hand - the work of building God's Kingdom - we will eventually reap a harvest if we do not give up. (Galatians 6:9).
Second, the age of adolescence is literally The Age Of Opportunity developmentally. Neural plasticity is the scientific term for the ability of the brain to change and rewire itself throughout a person's life. We love that we see science finally catching up with what the Bible has always said about how the mind can be renewed. When we identify the "lies" in our mind, we can replace them with the truth of God's Word. Doing this continually over time creates a change in our thoughts, beliefs, and actions.
In regard to neural plasticity, studies have demonstrated that adolescence is a second period of heightened brain plasticity like the first three years of life. Our current culture seems to have caused the span of adolescence to widen quite a bit - up to the age of 25 or so. Cultivate is primarily focused on young adults in the 18-25 age group. Many of them have experienced trauma and significant unmet needs and have not yet received the help they need to rewire their brains. However... since they are still in a period of heightened brain plasticity it is literally their age of opportunity and we want to help.
Third, this is the Age Of Opportunity for Cultivate to help Foster Youth Aging Out. We have shared over the last few years about some foster youth we have been privileged to get to know and how that has opened our eyes to the tremendous needs foster youth face when they age out of the system. This has been a year of research for us, as we have visited other organizations and had numerous conversations with those engaged in this work.
Throughout all of this, we believe that God has been leading us toward starting some kind of independent living program for foster youth who have aged out of the system and also for homeless youth who live in this area who really want to move forward with their lives and overcome the obstacles they face.
A highlight this holiday season was getting to do a Samaritan's Purse project with youth we mentor. We wish we could capture and relate the JOY and excitement that permeated from each of them as they shopped with us and then filled their shoe boxes.
Each youth carefully thought through the best gifts for the child they were buying for. They excitedly picked out those gifts and then put them in their gift boxes while we had dinner together.
Putting the gifts in the boxes is a lot like playing Tetris... They packed them each as tightly as they could, but we ended up having an extra shoe box with the extras that were bought.
We pray the children who receive these gifts will have the same joy as those who provided them!
October through December provides lots of opportunities for celebration, and this year, we have been doing just that!
This month, we are celebrating "God with us" this month in chapel. (If this is the first time you are reading our newsletter, we help to provide chapel each week for a group of foster youth.).
Exploring the incarnation absolutely transforms the Christmas season, and transforms hearts and lives. The God of creation actually took the form of a human - from conception to death and resurrection - to show us what He is like, and to die so that we can live. It's MIND BLOWING!
This past Monday, we had a Christmas party with games, music, and a White Elephant gift exchange. They seemed to have a great time even though it was incredibly difficult to unwrap a Saran Wrap ball with mitts on! Next year, if we play this game, we need to make sure to use less packing tape! LOL
Back in October, Danny and Mary (our son and daughter-in-law) provided a super fun fall party for our foster friends. The kids got to paint pumpkins and play fall themed games. We love when others volunteer to provide special experiences for these kids we love so much. Perhaps you don't have the time availability to volunteer each week, but would love the opportunity to host and provide a special event. If you would be interested in this, just let us know!
Elise got to fulfill a dream in October. For the past few years, she has deeply desired to get training in lifeskills through an organization called Heritage Builders, an offshoot of Lifeline Children's Services in Birmingham, AL.
Heritage Builders will only partner with churches to provide lifeskills training. They are so committed to the reality that godly life change happens best in a biblical community, that they were compelled to place this restriction on their training. However, Crossroads Church has graciously agreed to partner with Cultivate in providing lifeskills for foster and homeless youth. We will begin offering this training in January 2025.
If you have expertise in any of the following: money management, healthy relationships, job preparation, self-care, or daily living - and would like to volunteer a night to share what you know, please contact us. We'd love to have you join us!
I (Elise) received an unexpected Christmas gift this year...
One of the very first emerging adults I mentored through Cultivate contacted me and wanted to meet. (This girl now lives in north Florida.) Over lunch, she shared how God has radically changed her life. We say at Cultivate, "We are given the opportunity to plant seeds that will be watered and fertilized by others." It was SO EXCITING to hear the story of how God has wooed and transformed this young woman's life, and how she is living a life with purpose. It took my breath away to see how she has matured and learned through some very difficult circumstances.
Experiences like this fuel our motivation to continue this work and to be committed to seeing emerging adults as who they have the potential to be. Oh how thankful we are to you for providing the opportunity for us to do this!
Please pray as we move into 2025. Here are a few of our priorities...
SPIRITUAL AND LIFE SKILLS DEVELOPMENT FOR THE YOUTH WE WORK WITH - Ethan Edgar, Ken and I (Elise) have been discussing the chapel plan for next year. (If this is the first time you are reading our newsletter, we help to provide chapel each week for a group of foster youth.) I communicated my deep desire for the kids to experience God, and questioned how we could provide this. Ethan (age 21) said, "Mrs. Elise, whenever I have experienced God it has been something HE has done or revealed to me - not something that others have created for me." BOOM. Truth I needed. Reverse mentoring. Thank God for Ethan and his iron sharpening mine! We can set the environment, but God is the one who woos and transforms. He, in His goodness and kindness, gives us the opportunity to watch Him at work.
STRATEGIC PLAN FOR A NEW PROGRAM - We are working on what is needed to develop the strategic plan for a transitional or independent living program to help foster youth who age out of the system and other homeless youth. Please pray for open doors to meet with the people we need to meet with. Please pray for wisdom about who should help us with developing our plan.
LIFE SKILLS TRAINING - We are so excited to begin lifeskills training for foster and under served youth in the new year. Please pray for Elise and Melanie as they build the process.
SYMBIS - A lot of our married SYMBIS alums are struggling with real life issues - dealing with grief; illness of a child; financial issues; loss of job; marital issues; depression. Please pray for them - that they don't give up and that they see the faithfulness of God in their difficulties. Please pray for us as we discern how to help them get the help that they need.
THANK YOU!
Cultivate is committed to provide most of its services free of charge. This means our ability to continue to do what we do is wholly dependent on God raising up supporters who believe in this ministry and generously support this work financially.
So many of you already support Cultivate through your prayers and financial support. We cherish your continued support and cannot tell you how thankful we are for your partnership. If you aren't yet a Cultivate partner, we ask that you consider joining our support team.
The easiest way to give is to use our online platform, provided by PushPay. Click here or text the word "Cultivate" to 833-245-6481 from your mobile phone. You can also contact elise@cultivatenext.org for more information.
Comments