January 2024
Lincoln Academy
Our fourth through eighth grade students have enjoyed participating in 4H, led by Michael Dillon. The students planned events for the year and elected class officers at the most recent meeting.
We held a Christmas evening worship service for our families. The purpose of this was to give our parents the opportunity to attend worship with their children. We sang some of our favorite Christmas songs and listened to the story of the birth of Jesus! At the end of the service, everyone received a candy cane with the legend of the candy cane attached to it.
Our kindergarten students went to Burritt on the Mountain for ‘Tis the Season. The children had so much fun decorating cookies, listening to a traditional story, and making an ornament!
Linc Research sponsored a space art contest for students in fifth through eighth grade. The students were tasked with creating a new constellation. John Cranston came to announce the winners and present each of them with a telescope!
Little Linc
Our Little Linc preschoolers had a wonderful Advent season at school! Our teachers lit the Advent candles each day and told the beautiful story of God sending His only Son to be born for one purpose - to save His people. The children shared this story with their families at our annual Nativity play, one of our favorite preschool traditions. Our December ended with a special visit from Santa, much to the children's delight. We are so grateful for the groups and individuals who made our Christmas so special, including a donor who purchased dolls and bottles for our girls and blocks and toy cars for our boys, LINC Research who gave our children new pajamas, and Evermore Homes who donated some much needed classroom supplies.
January at Little Linc was an adventure with the icy weather and many days off of school, but the children are back in their classrooms and back to routine. The children feel safe and secure knowing what to expect at school each day. From our Bible time to small groups to tray work to center time, each day at preschool is consistent and predictable.
In January we hosted our final Parent Power class for this school year. These parent meetings are required for our preschool parents and they give us an opportunity to share the love of Jesus with our parents and hopefully encourage and equip them as parents. This parent event was focused on leaving a legacy with our children. As parents, we are teaching things to our children day by day that they will carry into adulthood (whether we mean to communicate those lessons or not). We used our Parent Power to encourage our preschool parents to stop and consider the legacy they want to intentionally pass on to their children and hopefully encourage them to invest the time needed to make those dreams a reality.
What is Evolve Anyway?
Most people know that Lincoln Village Ministry offers housing for low-income families, but did you know we take these residents through a program we call Evolve? Evolve came out of a need to not only provide affordable housing, but to also provide a space to heal, grow, and achieve positive long-term outcomes. God sent Jesus in human form to reveal His love for us. Through this example, we aim to show His love to those who are broken, disheartened, overwhelmed, or spiritually lost. We express love by building trusting relationships so others can personally encounter God.
Evolve is an individualized, 4-5 year transitional housing program that provides accountability to help families grow spiritually, relationally, and financially to reach their goals. Staff members known as Neighborhood Coordinators walk alongside each resident providing support, love, and encouragement and helping identify resources that may be needed to help meet the goals in place. Three focus areas are to encounter Jesus, encounter a better life, and encounter other believers. Our prayer is that every resident of Lincoln Village has a real relationship with Jesus where they can grow and learn how the gospel applies to their life while also building a strong community of like-minded believers.
While we believe Evolve sets us apart from other transitional housing programs, there are some misconceptions. Evolve is not a social work program. Our staff are not trained as social workers and do not act as such. Our goal is to point the resident to Jesus and remind them that they cannot achieve their goals apart from Him. Additionally, we know that God is in control and we do not try to become the resident’s best friend or “fix” their problems. Again, we work to guide them into a real relationship with Jesus where we know true life change can happen.
There are ways that you can get involved with the Evolve program. We have volunteer opportunities for childcare, bible studies, and meals as well becoming faith partners for the men in our community. If you would like more information about the program or how to get involved please reach out to our Field Staff Director, Jess Ahrens, at jess@lincolnvillage.org.
Development Updates
THANK YOU to everyone who participated with Scholarships for Kids in 2023 on behalf of Lincoln Academy. Because of your generosity, all of our kids will receive scholarships for the 2024-2025 school year! If you'd like to learn more about how to provide a scholarship for a student at NO COST to you, please visit https://www.lincolnvillage.org/scholarships. Thank you for your support!
SAVE THE DATE for Beautiful Things, our annual spring ladies luncheon. More details coming soon!
A New Generation
You have read many articles over the past years about our faithful “Old Guys” - from First Baptist and Weatherly Heights Baptist. And we dearly love them for their on-going efforts - some of them now in the 18th year! However, this is not to downplay the new groups that have come alongside us in Lincoln to further the work of those pioneers that God brought in the very early stages.
Almost every Saturday (watch our website and social media for details & schedule) we have people meet at Lincoln Academy at 8 am to work until around 10:30 or 11:00. These groups help us to accomplish and maintain God’s ongoing work in the Lincoln area.
Just one example would be this past Saturday morning. We had a group of men who have Cross Fit & Christ in common & they choose to serve together one Saturday per month. We had a group from Madison Methodist and gentleman from Cove Church who have also committed to 1 Saturday per month AND we had group from First Methodist who were there for their first time.
Today was a great day of the beginning and the end - while some of the workers were helping with the demolition process of house, preparing it for renovation - the others were doing the final clean on a house to make it ready for a new Lincoln resident in February.
You never know what tasks will need to be done on any Saturday - but if you, your family, or your small group want to be involved - please go to our website, incolnvillage.org, and click “Get Involved” for more details.
Properties Updates
Over Christmas break, we were able to remove some trees and have a new 8’ tall fence installed around the playground and athletic fields at Lincoln Academy.
In the Village Neighborhood, we are currently in the process of remodeling two of our housing units in preparation for new residents.
In Lincoln North, we are in the demolition process of moving the final house that we currently own to prepare for the remodel process. We have one unit that is ready for a new resident to move in during February AND three units that should be ready for new families during the month of March.
Along with this progress in the Lincoln North area, we will begin the new build construction on three of our empty lots and the rollover process of two additional houses in the near future.
Please pray for continued safety and progress in the demolition of our final house in Lincoln North.
Also, we prayerfully continue to try to obtain additional properties within this area. We ask for His continued blessings and provision and that the hearts of the property owners would be moved towards His work. May He open the doors He desires for Lincoln to move through.
