Letter from Executive Director

When I was seventeen years old a man told me, “If you want to leave an impression on
someone all you have to do is be near someone for a little bit of time, but if you want to
make an impact on someone get up close and personal.” From that moment I decided
two things: I needed to get up close and personal with those that I wanted to impact my
life and I wanted to make an impact not an impression on the lives of others.

As I think about Christ being Emmanuel (God with us) He did the same thing; He was up
close and personal with His creation. Stop and think about it for a moment, the
Creator of the Universe being up close and personal, walking along side and talking to
his Creation. He definitely made an impact on the lives that He came across. And that
impact can still be felt to this very day. It’s a very powerful thing to be up close and
personal. It’s messy, it takes time, and it definitely isn’t easy, but it’s worth it.

For most of us, we are the product of the ones who took the time to be up
close and personal with us, they took the time to build into our lives. Often times it might
be because someone saw something in us that we ourselves couldn’t see. They
believed in who and what we could become.

I love God’s way of doing things, He takes two fishes and five loaves of bread and feeds
the five thousand. He takes twelve ordinary men and turns the world upside down. He
takes a beauty pageant winner and a forgotten kid sitting in a jail and saves a nation. The
statistics and reality for this community are often times overwhelming, but so is trying to
feed 5000 with some kid’s little lunch that his mom has packed for him. After all, with God
all things are possible!

I believe with all my heart that now is the time for 2nd Mile Ministries to invest and build
this Community Youth Center. I believe God wants to be up close and personal with the
folks in the Brentwood community. It’s not just a building, but it’s the difference between
being near or up close and personal. It is the opportunity to build and make an impact
with this community.

Now is the time to build! Will you join us?

Grace and peace,

Andraé Robinson
Executive Director, 2nd Mile Ministries