2 YEARS AND THEN SOME :)
As I'm
writing this letter, I've been thinking about the first day that I
came to Source 3 years ago for my internship and seeing how much God
has grown & changed me since then. From there I made my 2-year
commitment to work with Source and this past August marks a little
over 2 ½ years of serving with them full-time. My experience has
been one of learning and growing into more of who God has made me and
discovering more of the heart that I have for serving, hospitality,
the arts and sharing the love of Jesus with others....(and also
learning to take on more of a leadership role and growing more out of
my “shell” of timidness through all of my experiences.) I have
been working with many different types of people, from the traveling
homeless to many of my Somali & Hispanic neighbors to highly
eclectic artists---all living within blocks of my Minneapolis home.
I have poured out my heart to many and have made many feel welcome
who don't know Jesus. I've been so grateful to be part of a ministry
that values providing a place for those who are searching to know God
and I definitely feel blessed to work alongside so many people who
have a heart to serve and follow God with their lives. Alas, what
you may have guessed by this point, I am approaching some upcoming
changes...I have been praying & thinking about this for a little
while (and some of you have been praying, too) and I have decided to
finish my full-time position with Source as this summer has come to a
close. As I have been talking with my director and his wife, I have
been wrapping things up on my end. As the flow of the summer
naturally has a break at the end of the summer, the timing of
finishing up my time with Source made sense to conclude at the end of
August. As I was approaching the end of my time serving alongside
Source, the end of summer was busy yet still a very exciting time:
I LEAD A CREATIVE WORKSHOP THIS SUMMER
This
past summer involved many aspects of continuing relationships with
many in the neighborhood who do not know God and continuing to have a
Christ-like presence within the artist community of South
Minneapolis. We also continued to pour into the initiative of the
building the “Annex” & “Take a Number”: Traveling Art
Exhibit (raising awareness through creative efforts and providing
housing needs for women transitioning out of sex-trafficking). As
part of this initiative, I lead a Women's Creative Workshop
(survivors from sex-trafficking). As part of the evenings, we had a
group of 20 women (volunteers & participants) take part in a meal
that we provided, getting to know one another, a creative project and
had a time to share and pray with each other at the end of the night.
It was such a great experience and it was great to see so many women
open to sharing and processing through some things while recognizing
God in the midst of their terrible circumstances. I had such a great
time getting to know some of the women and providing a welcoming &
safe place for them to recognize God working in their lives! 
AND NOW...
Thank
you! Thank you! Thank you!
-stacey
See New Summer
photos on my facebook group page: Stacey in Minneapolis!
Source
Annex updates: sourceannex.org
Source/Fallout
Arts Initiative (I helped put together the website :):
falloutartsinitiative.com
