As Christmas approaches we have a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the amazing events of 2010. At Jade Lewis and Friends we have much to be thankful for. This year Tristan and I have delivered almost 300 presentations and programs to schools, parent groups, prison women, community groups, youth groups and churches throughout Australia, we have also distributed thousands of resources, gift packs, free plane flights, food hampers and messages of hope. The many lives that have been influenced and changed along the way is truly remarkable. I wanted to start with some beautiful feedback we have received from the Step UP Prison program women:
"Thanks for bringing some sparkle and inspiration into this place for us every week. You are such a beautiful person and your determination & drive to help others seems endless. I am so glad that I joined your class, I don't know why it took me so long to do so".
"Thank you for running Step UP. It has helped me in many ways. We all need more people like you in this world to show us the wayt o a better life. Thanks for all your support, it means the world to me."
"Coming to the end of Step UP I have been reflecting on how awe-inspiring and life changing Step UP is. WOW".
Feedback like this are an indication of the positive attitude changes the women have made while completing the Step UP Prison program. Your continued partnership helps us to further develop and deliver our programs and change many lives. It also occurred to me that changing other people's lives actually changes my life along the way. This Christmas let's all be intentional about helping someone in need. Your reward of giving will certainly be a greater gift than you have received before.
We are also thankful that this year, Jade Lewis and Friends have won many awards. This has helped to raise a greater awareness of our work in the community and establish a great credibility too. Although we are very honoured with now being a mulit-award winning group, we are also determined not to stop at these achievements. We know there is so much more to do and become before we see our dream realised. We will continue to climb the mountains, overcome our fears, influence more people, enjoy the journey and be part of changing the lives of many for the rest of our lives. I love this quote: "Success comes in only one place before work - that is the dictionary!"
To all our fantastic family, supporters, friends, confidants and partners who help us with our hectic work, we THANK YOU! We couldn't do what we do without you. Thank you for making 2010 the best yet. We look forward to partnering with you again in 2011 knowing that together we ARE making a difference. Make sure you spread the word and also visit our website www.jadelewis.com to stay connected with all that we are doing.
Enjoy all our news in this Christmas newsletter. May God bless you and your families this Christmas and may the gift of Jesus be a reality to you. You mean the world to us!
Love and blessings,
Tristan, Jade, Annaleigh and Elyssa
& all the team at Jade Lewis & Friends
xoxo
ANOTHER AWARD!
On Tuesday night 19th October Jade Lewis & Friends was na
med the WINNER of the Belmont Small Business of the Year - Commu
nity Spirit Award 2010.
Tristan, myself and our team are incredibly encouraged by another award and the great credibility, exposure and fantastic indicator that we are on the right track.
Pictured with Tristan and I above, is one of our board members - Paul Faix (www.fortix.com.au) who won his category of Customer Service. We are thankful that we have gathered an excellent team who specialise in their field. Well done Paul!
It's From our Heart - helping women prisoners transition back to community
With many broken and hurting women crying out for help with their transition back to community, "It's From our Heart" has provided many essential items and care for women across Western Australia. Because of the overwhelming generosity of the community, our kindly donated office space from JYCA Accounting Services has now spread from one office to two! A big thank you for the continued support of all our wonderful supporters who everyday make this project successful. With this support our vision to see the lives of broken women restored, families united and the crime rate lowed for a safer community for all is happening.
This Christmas, together with Riverview Community Services (thank you Penny, Donna and Ruth) aswell as church groups and individual donors we were able to give away many Christmas presents, items and food hampers to these women and their precious children.
"Thank you for blessing me so much every time."
Thank you to the following groups who have contributed since October to this project. Perth CLC Women's group, Methodist Ladies College, Airport City Church, Eternity Christian Church, the cast and crew of theatre production Spamalot, the Inner Wheel Club of Scarborough, the women at the Karrakatta Club and Blue Satin Sashes www.bluesatinsashes.com.au
We are always looking for community, women, church and school groups to partner with us for new and exciting projects, which is a growing community initiative. Please email jade@jadelewis.com if you would like to volunteer, donate items or goods or make a financial contribution to this project.
Rotary District Conference 9500 Adelaide - October 2010
Having the opportunity to continue to spread our vision to the wonderful people of South Australia was a great privilege. Pictured left in the photo, the Chair of the Rotary District 9500 David Simpson had this to say:
"It was generally agreed that your presentation and information supplied was highlight of our conference!"
Being introduced to some very passionate Rotary Clubs will see our message spread to the schools and communities of Adelaide in the near future. Since beginning my work, the unending support of various Rotary Clubs of Australia (www.rotary.org.au) has been a vital support group to helping us see our dream of building drug free people and communities realised. A big thank you to all the Rotary Clubs who have supported us over the years.
JUST SAY NO - School Drug Prevention Presentation
With over 10 years presenting in Australian schools, our passion to reach young people continues to grow. Recently after Tristan spoke with the guys from a school, they were so enthralled by his story that they stayed over their lunch break to talk with him more. And with more feedback like:
"Thanks so much for coming to speak today. My day has been filled with teachers coming up and saying they were really touched by your story. The teachers were amazed that the students were all so captivated. All of them were grateful to you for giving up your time to come and speak to our students."
We continue to firmly believe that "prevention is far better than cure". We look forward to visiting your school again in 2011.
Under YOUR Influence - leading teenagers into a drug and alcohol problem free life
Going from strength to strength is our parent and youth leader empowerment course. We believe that to making a lasting impact on our young people today, the family needs to be educated on how to lead their teenagers into a drug and alcohol problem free life. Here are some of the feedback a school received from a parent after my presentation:
"Thank you for organising Jade Lewis to come to our school. Her story was beyond amazing and extremely positive in the circumstances. The way she put her story across took my breath away. She was the best speaker I have ever seen, and I have seen a few."
And from a school principal:
"Thank you for your presentation at our College. I am still getting positive feedback from the parents who attended aswell as regrets from the ones who were unable to attend on the night. We will definately be arranging for you to come and speak to our middle school in 2011."
Be sure to arrange a presentation to your school or group in 2011.
Paradise Community Church - Adelaide October 2010
Another fantastic highlight in Adelaide was the opportunity to speak at Paradise Community Church (www.paradise.asn.au) It goes without saying that this thriving church is all about reaching, supporting, providing for those in their community and being part of seeing their lives and their families restored. It was a great honour to share my story and see 103 people come forward to receive prayer, salvation, direction and support. What a great faith builder that was for so many people. We are blessed to have Ps Ashley and Jane Evans bringing great leadership and momentum to our nation. Amazing.
Shirelive Church - Sydney December 2010
I couldn't think of a better way to finish off a fantastic year than with Ps Mike and Valerie Murphy, Senior Pastors of Shirelive Sydney (www.shirelive.com) Tristan and I felt very connected and loved every part of our Shirelive Sydney stay. Both the morning service at Bayside and the evening service in Sutherland saw many people respond to the message of hope by coming forward and receiving prayer for new beginnings.
It again showed us that we are the carriers of hope and it is our privilege to pass on the positive Christian message to people in our communities. With such relational, caring, generous and supportive pastors and leaders at Shirelive, Sydney is privileged to have such an amazing church available to them. It was an honour to partner with Shirelive.
Next newsletter
2011 will see Jade Lewis & Friends step into a whole new chapter. We can't wait to share the news with you. We have been hard at work for next year's plan. Make sure you stay connect with us as you won't want to miss out on what are going to share. It will be your opportunity to join us in an exciting 2011. Until then have a safe, blessed and happy Christmas and a lovely New Year. xo
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