2011 A N N U A L U P D A T E

When Urban Hope was just a

dream, God gave my wife and me this

promise from Isaiah 35. It continues

to be the central promise of the

work that God called us to 20 years

ago. It is a promise that God has

reiterated again and again in times of

distress and seemingly hopeless

situations.

I remember vividly when the church

received a “time is of the essence”

letter from a local lawyer explaining

that if we did not find someone to

grant us a mortgage in 21 days, the

75K down payment that we had

placed on our current facility at 77

Alaska St., would be lost. Every bank

had already rejected us, and even our

denominational lending institution felt

that we were too risky an investment.

My wife and I were on vacation in PA at

the time feeling the weight of an

impending church meltdown.

We had no hope….except God!s promise. As we sat together and felt the

gravitational pull of fear and doubt

dragging us under, I said to Rebecca,

“remember the promise that God gave

us over and over again, that the

wilderness would blossom like the

rose, the desert and the parched land

will be glad. (Isa. 35: 1,2)!” We began to

pray in faith and claim His promises. We

chose trust over fear and once again

our hearts were stilled, knowing that

He is God.That very night, we

happened upon a TV station that I had

been curious about, called, “the

Worship channel.” It was the

beginning stages of specialized cable

programming. This particular station

played worship songs while displaying

images from nature interspersed with

scripture passages. As soon as we

clicked on the station it began playing

a song that Rebecca and I had sung

together when we were teenagers,

dating and serving the Lord in music

ministry. “We’re marching on with

hearts courageous, We’ll follow

anywhere you want us to, and should

you lead us where the battle rages,

Lord we!l l march with hearts

courageous after you…” )

(continued on page 2)

The Wilderness Will Blossom Like a Rose...

URBAN HOPE NYC OFFERS A HOST OF PROGRAMS, SUCH AS OUR SUMMER CAMP (LEFT) AND YOGI BEAR MINISTRY (RIGHT INSET)

THE THOMPSONS2011 Year in Review Update

The Wilderness Will Blossom...(continued from front)

We hadn’t heard or sung that song for at least 15 years, but there it was speaking directly to us, calling out the fiery and

fearless teenage believers with faith like children. Then imposed on the screen, was the very passage that we had claimed by faith half an hour earlier: it was as if God

had interrupted the broadcast to speak directly to his children, literally finishing our sentence: Encourage the exhausted,

and-strengthen the feeble. Say to those with anxious heart, "Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come." Isaiah

35:3

(Needless to say, the mortgage came through right on time. It is interesting now many years later to have a more fully

orbed understanding of this promise. Like a rose seed, planted, sprouting, bearing its first flowers in due season, experiencing

long winters, blossoming again in spring, maturing to bear richer, more fragrant, more lasting, more abundant flowers,

seeding, reproducing….blossoming profusely.

Blossoming profusely is the best term to describe New Hope and Urban Hope

over the last year. As you read some of our highlights and dreams, please pray for us, please pray for the neighborhoods that

we and many churches in our city minister i n , p l a c e s o f mu l t i - g ene r a t i on a l devastation. We seek to be obedient

servants that bring our loaves and our fish and fill our cisterns to the brim with water. Only God can feed the multitudes, only God can turn our water into wine,

only God can make all things new.

I have heard so many parents say, “all my child wants to do is go to the church.”

FUSION CHILDREN’S CHURCH

We see something so exciting being pioneered and piloted here at Urban Hope. A joint venture of Metro-Ministries (a.k.a. “Yogi Bear Sunday School”) and local churches. Metro Ministries are the premier evangelist of the urban child. Nobody has done it longer and better than they. Every week, they share the Gospel and relevant life lessons from the scriptures to nearly 20,000 children in NYC. However, we and they have learned from hard experience that the negative influences in the life of an inner city child are so weighty, that once a week of anything is not nearly enough to counterbalance the daily challenges they face. For the past 6 months, New Hope Community Church, Urban Hope NYC, Child Evangelism Fellowship and Metro Ministries have been experiencing in our community, a powerful synergy of passion, experience, gifts and call ing. Metro Ministries concentrates on the program, the evangelism and the crowd control, while New Hope staff and members reach out to parents and older siblings with an informal coffee and cake ministry in the fellowship hall. This partnering of ministries has enabled us to do something that we have never been able to do before: Consistently open our arms wide to all the children in our neighborhood. We have learned over the years, that it was necessary to take small bites as we minister to the hundreds of children that surround our church. Inner city children can overwhelm any well meaning volunteer staff of children’s workers. Metro Ministries, however, has perfected their approach to inner city children’s ministry over the past 40 years. Working together with them has enabled us reach out to an enormous percentage of our community.

KIDS IMPROV

Nearly 18 years ago, an 8 year old girl gave her heart to Jesus in a garage that we had converted into a youth center. It was an old 2 car garage behind the house that Rebecca and I started the church in. Now Malissa Wilson leads a beautiful ministry to our church and community children. She incorporates step dance, drama, music and scripture as she simultaneously nurtures our children!s creative talents and disciples them as they holistically engage the word of God.

S u m m e r C a m p 2011 Report

Urban Hope Summer Camp was once

again a fabulous time of laughter,

singing, field trips, Bible teaching,

games and heavenly love filling the

atmosphere. This year in particular we

were overjoyed to field a staff that

was 95% home grown. Street Leaders,

College Interns, adult volunteer staff...

nearly every single one came from our

fe l lowsh ip. Th is engendered a

wonderful team spirit and community

impact. (And we did have the best

cooks in West Brighton).

There was a particular joy that

pervaded the entire summer. The

children were wonderful. After three

years of summer camp, we had many

returning campers, so there were far

more, “for us” than there were

“against us.” Summer Camp was like a

month long party... barbecues, water

parks, sports, crazy games, Bible

memor y ver se s , p r ayer t ime ,

devotions, delicious food, crazy songs.

A summer filled with children making

memories that last for a lifetime.

Thank you for all of you that prayed,

served and supported this wonderful

ministry.

“SUMMER CAMP WAS LIKE A MONTH LONG

PARTY..., MAKING MEMORIES THAT WILL

LAST A LIFETIME”

MUSIC LESSONS

Several months ago, the head of a local music school approached us about the prospect of beginning a music program in the church. For $10, our community children can now receive 90 minutes of professional music training. This is one of the only programs that we have needed to charge our children for, and we were concerned that the response would be poor. How wrong we were. It is apparently the dream of many of our local parents that their children could have the door of music opened to them but private lessons were cost prohibitive. We are so excited to see over 20 children participate in our first class.

CHILD EVANGELISM FELLOWSHIP

Another exciting ministry that has begun in 2012 was a weekly Child Evangelism Fellowship Kidz Klub. Our dear friend Betsy Maddox comes every Tuesday afternoon to teach the word of God to our children. This ministry provides a vital discipleship component to our neighborhood outreach.

AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM

I have heard so many parents say, all my child wants to do is come to the church. That is music to our ears. Each year we see our after-school program blossoming more profusely. Now with Kids-Improv, Yogi Bear Kids Church, Music Lessons, Child Evangelism Fellowship, and an up and running computer center, we are seeing hundreds of neighborhood children experiencing the love of Christ on a regular basis. Our vision is to see a comprehensive children’s church and ministry , complete with discipleship components, leadership development, evangelism, visitation, worship and prayer ministry. We covet your prayers and your financial support for Urban Hope NYC. It is our dream to see that every child in every housing project in NYC is reached with the love of Christ Jesus.

PARTNERING WITH US AS WE CHANGE L IVES

The Power of the Gospel: The Gospel is the greatest treasure we offer. The absence of love and hope is often the deepest wound our children bear. The Good News that we joyfully share with them, is that they are loved and treasured by God—so much so that He sent His only Son to bear their sorrows and then died in their place to forgive their sins.

Long Term Shepherding: We take seriously our Lords’ words to Peter, “Do you love Me?” “Take care of my lambs.” Lambs require continual care and supervision. We seek to care for our children as consistently and tenderly as possible. Our month long summer camp and our 10 month after school program, are all set in place so that the influence of the Word of God, the power of the Holy Spirit and

the mentoring of the body of Christ will nourish and encourage our children in their faith.

I n t e n t i o n a l L e a d e r s h i p Development: A crucial element in Urban Promise’s mission is the transition from sheep to shepherd, from student to tutor, from following to leading. As early as 6th and 7th grade, we begin to give our students carefully supervised opportunities to assist and mentor younger children. We seek to hire all of our High School Students to work in our after school and/or our sum-mer program as junior counselors or “Street Leaders.” During their time with us we do all that we can to encourage and challenge them to be role models and transformational leaders in their community.

The Mission of Urban Hope NYC:The transformation of blighted communities through the power of the Gospel, long term shepherding and constant, intentional leadership development.

THANK YOU TO THE FOLLOWING DONORS:

MR. AND MRS. DON BENTSON, OF

THE ALLEN BENTSON AGENCY

GRACE FAITH CHURCH, CHINATOWN,

NYC

MR. AND MRS. FAZEL POWELL

DR. AND MRS. RICHARD ORLANDO

MR. AND MRS. GEORGE WOERNER

MR. AND MRS. SILVIO GALLAZZINI

OF TRIMALAWN EQUIPMENT

NATE’S PHARMACY

CAFE MILANO RESTAURANT

MR. AND MRS. WILLIE ALFONSO

MR. AND MRS. RICHARD MAHLER

MR. AND MRS. TOMASCHEVSKI

You may ask, how does this little church in a low income neighborhood afford to have a full year outreach to children and teens when these young people are incapable of assisting the church financially. That’s a very good question!

The truth is, we have learned that somehow God will make a way. We do not budget according to projected income. We do not have major corporations or Government grants. Your prayers and your sacrificial support are the catalyst for God!s provision. Just as the young boy in the scriptures gave what he had, and though his fish and loaves seemed insignificant. God used his sacrificial love and his childlike faith to feed the multitudes. We covet your prayers and your support. Every gift given is precious to God, to us and to every family in our community. Every gift given in love and faith is blessed by God and multiplied a thousand fold in value and eternal significance. This year we welcome you to sponsor one or more children or Street Leaders for our summer or our full year program.

To sponsor one child for a full year of ministry: $1000.00 To sponsor one child for Summer Camp: $350.00

To sponsor a “Street Leader” for a full year of leadership & ministry training: $1500.00

Any amount given will be directly invested into changing the lives of our childen!

Mailing Address: Urban Hope Ministry, P.O. Box 100086, Staten Island, NY

10310

Contact info: 718.720.3579

E-mail:

urbanpromiseny@comcast.net

Web-site: www.urbanhopenyc.org

Paypal (online) Donations:

www.urbanhopenyc.org and click on “DONATE”.