Connectional Ministry – A Key Strength of Project Transformation North Texas for over 20 YearsThis week, we go back to where it all began – Project Transformation North Texas– as we highlight the importance of our core value of Connectional Ministry.
At Project Transformation, we believe the local church is an essential partner in community transformation. We create partnerships, where the mutual investment of neighbors, volunteers, and churches multiplies resources and assets.
This core value is evident every day at Project Transformation North Texas (PTNT), where relationships are at the heart of everything that happens. Over the years, this PT chapter has come to recognize that one of its greatest strengths is our capacity to attract large numbers of committed, high-quality volunteers from the North Texas community, the majority of whom come from partner churches and commit to a full week of reading with elementary-aged participants every summer.
One of the young adults serving at Munger Place Church in Dallas this summer shared a story about one of his reading volunteers:
“This week, I had a volunteer read with a kid for three straight days. I watched as they formed a bond and every day the child looked forward to reading with the same volunteer. By the end of the week, the child wrote her a thank you card and I watched from afar as she accepted the card and the biggest smile came across both of their faces. They had made a connection and formed a relationship – just like Project Transformation was designed to do!” Annually, PTNT utilizes the services of over 2,000 volunteers who donate over 11,600 hours of time to our programs. Over 1,100 of these volunteers are engaged in reading with our children! Our volunteers share the common desire to help economically disadvantaged children improve their reading skills and reach their full potential.
One of our volunteers shared the following story about his experience reading with our students this summer: “After being involved in PTNT’s Reading Program for over 20 years, it was particularly gratifying for me this summer to work with a 2nd grader whom I recognized as having symptoms of mild dyslexia (switching words around, substituting words, adding words, etc.). After spending my childhood as a dyslexic reader (in the days before they had a name for it), I was able to encourage Anton to slow down his reading enough for him to recognize and say each word correctly. I tried to keep my corrections constructive and upbeat and I hope I’ve had some positive influence on his life.”
These stories remind us why we are so grateful to be in connectional ministry with our community volunteers. The work of PTNT could not happen without them and we are so blessed by their commitment to our mission and the children we serve. |
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