An Outreach for At-Risk Children, Youth & Families
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Board of Directors
    • Staff
    • Employment
    • Our Community Partners
  • Programs
    • Program Highlights of 2020
    • Counseling Programs
    • Youth Outreach
    • Family Outreach
  • Events
    • Beachfront Run 2023 >
      • Run Sponsorship Opportunities
    • Golf Classic 2023
  • DONATE
    • Additional Ways to Give
    • Volunteer at Events
  • Contact
  • Blog
Picture

BETTY'S BLOG

BETTY ALVAREZ HAM,
​
PRESIDENT OF CITY IMPACT

Merry Christmas!

12/17/2019

 
If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent an educator.
If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent a scientist.
If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent an economist.
If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer. 
But our great need was forgiveness, so He sent us a Savior."  Anonymous 


Dear Friends,
                                                                                                                            
At dinner one night, Kevin and I were reminiscing about God’s grace on our lives and his incredible trust in calling us into ministry.  Much of our spiritual and ministerial growth was formulated with individuals that we had the opportunity to be in relationship with. In actuality, they ministered to us with their vulnerability, willingness to be human and their sincere desire to experience God’s love and forgiveness on a deeper level.
 
One of our teachers was a woman named Nita, a R.N. at a psychiatric hospital in which Kevin served as a Chaplain and I was one of his volunteers.  Nita loved Chelsea and held her in her arms a week after she was born.  As Kevin and I would do rounds and chapel services Nita would be walking the corridors singing to Chelsea and soon a bond developed between them.  A few weeks before we moved to Ventura, Nita was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. 
 
Within months this plump bright-eyed woman became a skeleton with very little flesh covering her bones.  Chelsea and I made bi-monthly trips to visit with her; we would sing to her and read her scriptures. Nita especially loved the Matthew passage which reads “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  But go and learn what this means: I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”
 
One evening, we received the inevitable phone call saying that Nita was at death’s door.  Kevin, Chelsea and I journeyed to her house and when we arrived Chelsea went running to Nita’s bedroom where she jumped on her bed and began singing to her and patting her head.  “Nita, do you see Jesus?  Nita, what does Jesus look like?  Are his arms opened for you?  Nita, it’s o.k. – Jesus is taking you home to live with him.”  We adults stood around the bed with our eyes filled with tears and our minds amazed that this three year-old was assisting Nita with her journey home to her Savior.
 

It has been 25 years since that evening, I have experienced the blessed opportunity of journeying with others as they went home to their Savior.  But, that particular evening a broken sick woman allowed a child to lead her home to her Savior.  Today, I understand with more clarity why Christ came as a baby; his desire was to demonstrate how vulnerable He is willing to become to be our Savior.
 
Thank you for sharing your love and support to our staff and the vulnerable children, youth and families we served this past year.  So that we may continue to share the gift of Christ throughout 2020, will you join me in giving a special Christmas gift to City Impact?  May we hear from you by December 31st?  Merry Christmas and may you and your family experience the love of Jesus Christ throughout the New Year.
 
Because of Him,
Betty Alvarez Ham
President

P.S. Support us when you shop at smile.amazon.com/ch/77-0388915 for your holiday gifts and more, and Amazon donates to City Impact.

 
City Impact’s 25th Anniversary is coming in 2020 watch for celebration updates!

<<Previous

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    January 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    July 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    September 2015

Picture
City Impact promotes the educational, physical, spiritual and emotional well-being of the children, youth and families we serve through our programs. Learn more >> 
Picture
555 South A Street, Suite #185 • Oxnard, CA 93030 • (805) 983-3636 • Fax: (805) 988-2240 • info@cityimpact.com
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Board of Directors
    • Staff
    • Employment
    • Our Community Partners
  • Programs
    • Program Highlights of 2020
    • Counseling Programs
    • Youth Outreach
    • Family Outreach
  • Events
    • Beachfront Run 2023 >
      • Run Sponsorship Opportunities
    • Golf Classic 2023
  • DONATE
    • Additional Ways to Give
    • Volunteer at Events
  • Contact
  • Blog