1st Quarter 2023 update
By LaKisha Deon 4-27-2023
Discover Purpose – Make Friends – Make a Difference
At 4Tucson our mission is to unite and mobilize Christians, empowering them to put biblical principles into action as we engage our city’s most systemic problems.
What does that mean?
What does this mission look like?
The best way 4Tucson can describe our mission is with seven words:
Discover Purpose – Make Friends – Make a Difference.
Discover Purpose
At 4Tucson our central focus is to help people fulfill their created purpose of serving God and serving others. Ephesians 2:10 states, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Biblical city transformation occurs with individuals who earnestly seek to fulfill their calling and who are confident in how God created them. The gifts, talents, and experience are tools God uses to help others flourish.
Make Friends
At 4Tucson we do things together for best practices and influence. “As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend” – Proverbs 27:17. God created us to be in communion with one another. As we connect with like minded individuals within our spheres of influence, we encourage and strengthen others to step out and do impossible things in the Lord that benefit our city.
Make a Difference
At 4Tucson we believe God has answers if we ask. The work that we do in the city requires supernatural favor. Through prayer and supplication, we seek divine partnership with God on every issue He brings to us to address. James 1:5 states, “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”
In this first quarter as CEO, I have dedicated time to reestablishing old and establishing new relationships with church, business, and government leaders who are seeking to experience the peace and prosperity in Tucson. I view relationship as one of the greatest resources in God’s Kingdom.” LaKisha Deon, Chief Executive Officer.
CHURCH: Coming alongside the local church and forming mutually inclusive relationships.
Pastor Viewing Parties
- Hosted five viewing and discussion sessions with pastors and ministry leaders using the 1990’s documentary Transformations.
- Facilitated pastor directed discussion on bringing Christian Leaders together to transform Tucson.
- Identified best practices and barriers in Tucson that will assist with uniting the Church to work collectively and collaboratively on Biblically Transforming our city.
COMMUNITY: Working with other leaders transforms a community; collaboration in action.
Christian Education & Training Center
- Established a new partnership with Iglesia Bautista Kairos, “Building up families for a better life.”
- Collaborated with 12 Christian churches, schools, and ministries to bring information and ministry to the neighborhood of Irvington/Ajo/I-19/6th Ave
- Engaged presenters on financial and civic information and prayed over the neighborhood to strengthen families for abundant Christian living.
FAMILIES: We are observing more families in need of emergency housing.
CarePortal Implementation
- One church joined CarePortal to meet needs.
- Connected with Wildcat Inn, an emergency housing shelter run by the city of Tucson, applied to be a requesting agency through CarePortal.
- Program staff fulfilled 107 requests from 10/1/22 to 3/31/23. The requests served 179 children and 49 adults; economic impact of $74,081.
EVANGELISM: The first step in a city align with God’s ways is for individuals to know the Living God.
Citywide Evangelism (E-Teams)
- Established a relationship with four other individuals in Business and Ministry with a heart to Evangelize Tucson.
- First E-Teams kick-off meeting was February 2023
- Collectively, the team met with 20 church, business, and ministry leaders in order to spark a citywide conversation on Evangelism.
REMEMBER: In the bible God’s people were challenged to remember often. Why? I believe for the next generation to take the lessons of the past and press forward to the future God has for each of us.
Spiritual Heritage Bus Tour
- In January and February we finalized the Tour script commissioned to a local Tucson historian, and developed the Tour route.
- In March we launched the first Tour, taking a total of thirteen 4Tucson friends on the two-hour educational and prayer journey around key areas of our city.
- This allowed our friends to experience 4Tucson’s vision while experiencing our city’s past. With a posture of repentance we prayed over four domains within our city.
Would you pray Isaiah 40:3-5 with us?
Lord we are crying out to you for our city. Will you guide us in preparing the way for you Lord; reveal to us the highways that you want straightened in Tucson. Lord, we ask you to raise every valley and to bring low every mountain and hill; Lord cause every crooked path to be straight and the rough places in our city smooth; Lord we ask for your Glory to be revealed, and that all generations will see You; we believe this is your word spoken over our city.
In Jesus Name, Amen.
4Tucson’s Mission in Action
God desires to transforms our city. He has called 4Tucson to unite and mobilize Christians, empowering them to put biblical principles into action as we engage our city’s most systemic problems.
Do you know your purpose?
Do you desire to be used by God?
Below, read how God is using one of 4Tucson’s volunteers in her gifts and passions.
If you haven’t already, pray for God to guide you to fulfill your PURPOSE.
How do we unite and mobilize Christians?
This January at the 10th annual 4Tucson Blessing Breakfast for First Responders and Elected Officials, 4Tucson made friends with Linda Rutherford. Linda is using her gifts to serve the greater Tucson area as a chaplain for one of our local police departments, the Tucson Rodeo, and a local motorcycle group.
In conversation after the breakfast, she shared how God blessed her with a big dream paired with the burden of trying to figure out how to execute this dream. Linda has found fulfillment in the different areas she serves in the greater Tucson area, but ultimately, she desires to leverage her giftings, relationships, and expertise to bring about a citywide motorcycle prayer ride. She shared about participating in motorcycle rides for other meaningful causes, but her true desire is to pray for our city with other motorcyclists and spark opportunities for evangelism within our city.
It was exciting to hear about Linda’s dream, and share with her that during the summer of 2022, the 4Tucson staff prayed over a “Church of the Week” with a local motorcycle ministry. We joyfully daydreamed out loud during our staff meeting – how it would be fun to be part of organizing a motorcycle prayer ride for our city.
We dreamed about the different groups that could be reached through encircling Tucson with the roar of hundreds of motorcyclists joining in corporate prayer. Unfortunately, the dreaming stopped when we looked around the room and realized not one person on staff owns a motorcycle, rides a motorcycle, or was in close relationship with anyone who owns, rides, or is willing to organize a motorcycles prayer ride. So, we just filed the dream away until God supplied us with someone gifted to carry the dream into our reality.
To unite and mobilize Christians, empowering them to put biblical principles into action……
Fast forward to today, God gifted 4Tucson with Linda, a person equipped and experienced to plan this prayer gathering. 4Tucson continued to meet with Linda in quarter 1 of 2023 and helped plan out her dream. We were able to unite with Linda in planning the core objectives of the prayer ride. We mobilized her to build a team of Christian motorcyclists who are skill in pulling together prayer rides. We empowered Linda to fulfill her calling by providing support for her to succeed.
Now three months later, Linda has a steering committee and is planning her first citywide prayer and evangelism ride called the Tucson Jericho Ride, schedule for October 28, 2023.
We believe God is stirring something great in our city; and we believe God wants you to be part of it. This is just one of the many stories that 4Tucson was able to experience so far this year. It brings me joy when 4Tucson is able to help people fulfill their created purpose of serving God and serving others. Would you consider fulfilling your God created purpose and partnering with 4Tucson to see a city aligned with God’s ways, so that His peace and prosperity are experienced by all generations?
4Tucson is a non-profit that partners with God and Christians to see Tucson Biblically transformed so that ALL generations can experience the peace and prosperity of God. Would you consider ways that you can partner with 4Tucson.
- Become a member at $10 per month
- Consider giving $50 per month
- Partner as a Friends for L.I.F.E. (Labor, Influence, Finances, Expertise)