Boston Partnership E-Update

Dear Friends,

Christmas is just a few days away, although here in Boston with the rain and the 50 degree weather it feels more like spring! Still, the sights and sounds of the season are everywhere. In the midst of celebrating with family and friends this season, we look back on the past year and all that has happened and say thank you.

The year 2006 marked the start of REUNION Christian Church. You have supported us through your prayers and through your finances, some have journeyed out to help us serve the community and in return we were encouraged. We feel so blessed by your friendship and encouragement.

We want you to know that we are now meeting weekly. Because of your help, REUNION Christian Church is a reality and we are looking forward to another great year.

Hank and the REUNION Team

Bing Crosby whistling in the background, lights sparkling on the tree, the smell of warm cider in the air and tables filled with food...now that's a party. On December 18, REUNION had it's first Christmas party; it was great to see our young community come together.

We also participated in the giving tree. We helped two young families with their Christmas by providing gifts for their children. What a great time to encourage and share our joy with a few parents and their children.

One of the highlights of the evening was watching about 15 kids decorate their own personal gingerbread houses (see picture at right). Talk about a sugar high!

Sojourn, our collegiate partner, along with the help of the church, wanted to find a way to bless those in need this Thanksgiving. We had previously done some work with Quincy St. Mission (also known as Ma Sis's) in Dorchester , using a few of our missions teams. Sojourn had learned that Quincy St. needed turkey donations for families who could not afford a Thanksgiving meal. Tim Hawkins, Sojourn director, had dropped off six great "turkey baskets" at Ma Sis's to try to respond to their need. However, while at Ma Sis's, Tim noticed a sign on the door giving notice that they were short on turkey donations this year. They were going to need to remove a number of people from their list of families they could provide for. We talked as a team and decided that we would try to respond financially. We asked them how many more turkeys they would need to be able to provide a meal for everyone on their list. We were told that they needed 20 more turkeys. We wrote a check for the turkeys and hoped that somehow they could find fixin's to go along.

About three hours later, Mike Brown received a call from a friend who works for the Westin Hotel near Boston 's new convention center. She said that they had 20 turkeys, 20 boxes of stuffing, 20 cans of cranberries, 20 turkey pans and 20 aprons that they were trying to donate. They had been turned down by two organizations already and she was wondering if we knew of anyone who could use them.

We called Ma Sis and she was overwhelmed. Not only will they now be able to provide everyone on the list with turkeys, but with everything that they could want to go with it. Ma Sis's said that "We made a lot of poor people really happy." We both agreed that we serve a good and faithful God.

As a team we can't wait to see how God will continue to bless this city and change lives if we just continue to seek ways to express our love for Him and His love for others.

Our team has been on the search for a parking space where we can keep our trailer throughout the week. We stumbled upon an article about a parking spot that was recently sold in the Back Bay, which is the area in which we are meeting weekly. We are thinking the price is about right...OK...maybe not, but it will give you good insight on the Boston culture. Click here to read the article.

Last spring the Wilsons purchased a house and moved to South Boston. After being there 9 months they are connecting with their neighbors and the community of South Boston. There are a few changes happening in that communtiy, here is an interesting article on those changes.