Follow the Leader

I was just on a prayer walk and was remembering back to the beginnings of Ncompass.  I remember the day before we had our first board retreat to map out our mission and vision I was meeting with Todd Newell a senior pastor at our church.  Todd had been a mentor and source of wisdom in my life on many occasions.  I was uncertain of direction at the time and Todd gave me a scripture that has stuck with me ever since.  "In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps."  Proverbs 16:9

I have seen this verse play out so many times in my own life as well as in the life of Ncompass these past eight years.  On my walk, I was reflecting on this verse and as I was thinking about it felt that God was changing my course and I turned left down a side street instead of continuing straight ahead as intended.  As soon as I did, a brisk wind swept up behind me guiding and pressing me into the newly chosen course.

I viewed the wind as a sign that when we listen to God's voice and take his path instead of following our own, he will often bring a wind to guide and push us in the right direction faster and with more power.  Not that it will be easier, but that he will provide us with a strength and sustaining spirit.   I am encouraged by the way the Lord has directed and guided our steps the past eight years, regardless of or shortcomings and failures.

Keep your eyes on him and follow his leading.

Joey

Grateful

Last Friday we had our 5th Annual Fundraising Dinner at the Tiffany Center downtown.  It was an incredible night and we were so blessed by the incredible generosity of our partners!

We entered the night with a matching grant from the Mission Increase Foundation for $15,000.  With the help of this grant we were able to walk away from the night raising over $32,000 for the kids in Haiti!  We had 16 kids who still needed their education sponsored and we are pleased to announce that every single child now has a sponsor!

We also highlighted some of the stand out partners who have helped Ncompass in deep and impactful ways this year.  Here is a list of our 2014 award winners:

Lamar Hurd:  Volunteer of the year
The Cancelosi Family:  Family Partner of the Year
Mission of Hope: Nonprofit Partner of the Year
Life Christian School: Education Partner of the Year
Emily Rose:  Jackson Ismorin Spirit of Service Award

Thank you so much to all of our incredible supporters who have helped make this night and this year such a blessing!  We are incredibly excited about what lies ahead and the impact we hope to drive for these children in 2015.

God bless and thank you!

Joey

8 Year Anniversary

As an organization we recently had our eight year anniversary.  I can't believe how fast the time has gone!  It has been such an incredible journey.  We have been so blessed with incredible donors and volunteers.  We have learned a great deal from those we serve and hope to continue to improve in our ability to impact the world for the better.

Over the past eight years we have served the homeless in Portland, created an anonymous gift program to bless strangers, partnered with Samaritans Purse through Operation Christmas child, supported the children in Haiti, and much more.  We are excited about the future, and desire to continue our partnership with you to serve God and his children.

Thank you for your donations, prayers, volunteer hours, and support and encouragement.  You all mean the world to us!

God bless,

Joey

Built to Last

Each quarter our board picks one book to read which will make us a better organization.  This past quarter was the book "Built to Last,"by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras.  As an organization our goal is to build a visionary company that will continue empowering and developing kids around the world long after we are gone.  We are not just thinking about the short term, but truly trying to create something special that has a long last impact.  The book was incredibly helpful in identifying small changes we can continue to implement to become better as an organization every day.  We are far form perfect and are always seeking ways to improve.

If anyone would like to join us in our 4th quarter read, we will be spending time on the book "Becoming a Coaching Leader," by Daniel Harkavey, CEO of Building Champions.  We have picked this book because we believe developing our team is one of the most important things we can do as an organization to continue to improve and create sustainable success.

We always welcome your ideas to help us become a better organization, so please feel free to share with us at any point ways we can continue to grow and improve.

Thank you and have an incredible week!

Joey

Renette Arrives Today!

We are so excited to welcome Renette back to Portland for the second year in a row.  She arrives tonight at 9:45pm and will be staying with us until next Tuesday.  We are having an appreciation dinner Friday night at 7pm for all of our wonderful Haiti supporters and are so thankful to have Renette here to be blessed by their warm welcome!

I am continually impressed with Renette every time I think about the incredible work she is doing in the circumstances she is in.  It has still been less than one year since she lost her beloved husband Jackson.  She has demonstrated true commitment to his vision in supporting the children in the orphanage and is such an incredible blessing to them.  What a gift from God she is and we are so excited to spend time with her this upcoming week.

Please pray this trip is a huge blessing for Renette!

Thank you!

Joey

Nicaragua Trip

In May Miles Dodge (Ncompass International Development Coordinator) and Danielle Schwartz (Ncompass Administrative Assistant) co-led an exploratory trip to Nicaragua to research possible partnership opportunities.  Between the two of them they used their experience of four previous trips to Nicaragua, and prior connections to identify and evaluate nine specific partnership opportunities that align with the mission of Ncompass; "To serve, empower, and develop today's youth to become the generation God created them to be through education and humanitarian efforts."  These opportunities ranged from large feeding programs with "Haiti-like" conditions, in communities like Cristo Rey, to supporting boys and girls rescue homes housing children survivors of rape/sexual assault near the former "garbage city" of La Chureca.

While the objective of the trip was to gather information for long term direction in Nicaragua the dynamic duo was able to deliver immediate positive impact.  Most notably we are proud to say Ncompass will be the primary supporter of a Child Psychologist (her name is Mabel) in Hogar Amistad, which houses 33 children, many of whom are survivors of child rape/sexual assault.  During their interview of Mabel they learned she has been practicing for over six years, primarily in the pediatric development of a hospital.  As a wife of a pastor, she formerly worked eight hours a week at Hogar Amistad and described her style as "incorporating the word of God" into her work; the kids only complaint about her was she was not around more.  With the support of Ncompass Mabel will be a full-time staff member year round and will work 48 hours a week.

Thank you for your support in this special mission and please pray for discernment as Ncompass evaluates the multitude of options on how to move forward in Nicaragua.

Joey

Nicaragua Campaign

While we maintain a strong focus and dedication to Haiti, we have also been considering work in Nicaragua for quite some time now.  On May 9th, Ncompass members Miles Dodge and Danielle Schwartz will lead our first trip to Nicaragua to further research potential partnerships moving forward.

They will be headed to Jinotega, Nicaragua to support an orphanage with 30 children.  Many of these children have been victims of sexual abuse and we see this as an opportunity to partner in the great work that Hogar Amistad (Home of Friendship) is doing for these kids. The teams goal is to raise $6,000 prior to their trip to pay for a full time child psychologist to assist in their critical healing process.  Miles has set up an indiegogo campaign to raise the money and there are only two days left to fund the campaign.  Please support this project and check out more information by following this link.

Thank you for your continual support as we pursue our mission "To serve, empower and develop todays youth to become the generation God created them to be through education and humanitarian efforts."

Joey