First, we’d like to thank every single person who donated to our organization last year — you helped us raise a total of $30,215! Some of these contributions came from our recurring monthly donors, others from one-time givers who heard of the work we’re doing, and yet others gave to specific fundraising efforts held throughout the year. We are grateful for your commitment in supporting the mission God has given us.
Secondly, one of our greatest ministry accomplishments last year was the growth and consistency of “We See You” Kitchen. We’d like to honor Adeline Caban for her incredible leadership and always going the extra mile to serve the community. We’d also like to honor Jose Caban in his support of the ministry by helping us make sure we have fresh food every week. Without the support of our faithful volunteers, none of this would have been possible. Volunteers helped to prepare, package, and deliver over 1,200 meals to the people of South Central LA. Many volunteers put aside personal engagements and fought to overcome their own physical limitations to participate in “We See You” Kitchen, and for that we thank you.
For over a year, “We See You” Kitchen had a wonderful partnership with Greater New Vision Church; however, due to some extraneous circumstances we are no longer able to use the church kitchen. And we just want to say thank you to Chris Pope and the leadership of Greater New for the many weeks we were able to utilize their Kitchen to bring warm meals to the community around the Martin Luther King Park. It was an honor! While we did have to skip a week, we moved our supplies back to the Until We Arise office and continued to prepare meals there for the remainder of the year. What an awesome and faithful team we have!
Emerging from the challenges of the pandemic, we worked hard to provide a community for women through “Girls Night In” and “Girls Night Out” events. “Girls Night In” was an opportunity for women to join our team at the office every Saturday night for a time of worship and fellowship — a dedicated space to seek the Lord in community. The second half of the year we switched things up by going out in community. Girls Night Out was again an opportunity for community where women gathered to enjoy a fun activity. One week we went to a food market, another time we went to the movies, etc.
Throughout the year, our founder Rachel Caban taught two online teaching series. We kicked off the year revisiting “She’s A Spiritual Gangsta” with a new twist, looking at women in the Bible and identifying how these women embodied the persona of a Spiritual gangsta. In the Fall, we began our “Love Is…” series: our spin on the old LA Times newspaper comic clips. The comic strips showed a cartoon couple showing what love is through different scenarios, so we decided to take it to the next level, seeking God for how love can truly be defined and applied. As we peeled back the layers, we realized there was so much to discover and decided to run this series into 2023. This series includes some special guests like Ronnie Robles and Alison Juarez.
We closed out the year with a few meaningful endeavors. In honor of those who lost loved ones throughout the year, we sent out custom-made ornaments to offer condolences and comfort during the holidays.
We also began planning and fundraising for Elia’s Gift. A program designed to bring comfort to grieving moms who have lost their children to miscarriage, stillbirth, or early infant death.
Lastly, we launched our online store that we have stocked with t-shirts, sweatshirts, and hoodies. Not only do these help to spur us all on to good works, but the profits go directly back into the ministry!
There are so many great things happening at Until We Arise. Last year marked some important turning points for us as Rachel and Vero both decided to commit to working full time at Until We Arise. Rachel left her Bible teaching job in June and is excited to see all that the Lord will do with this “yes.” Our co-founder Veronica, got married to her amazing and supportive husband Bao and they moved to Tijuana, Mexico. In partnership with her husband, she is overjoyed to be able to dedicate more time and guidance for our ministry. While she is still remote for most of our events, she is a lot closer and a lot more accessible for meetings and ministry opportunities.
Our board of directors has also had some changes. After three years of faithful service, Sharon Varvel has stepped away from our board as our treasurer to spend more time with her young daughters and pursue new endeavors of ministry and career. We are so thankful for her and all her support. She is still close to us and committed to the mission and vision of Until We Arise even though her role may look a bit different. Thank you Sharon! Veronica, is stepping in as an interim treasurer for the time being.
Please continue to keep us in your prayers! There are a lot of changes happening and a lot of big dreams we are committed to see come to pass.
Looking ahead we are overjoyed about all that God has called us to in 2023.
We invite you to become a monthly financial partner, one-time donor, volunteer, and/or ambassador. Please share what we are doing with your family and friends. We’d like to remind you that your financial partnership is what helps us go out every Saturday to feed our community, help bring comfort to grieving mothers of pregnancy loss, create loving community for women of all walks, and teach on spiritual truths.
Until We Arise, what won’t change in our families, communities, lives, and the world?
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