LEGACY Ins-tute. She oben goes above and beyond to make sure that each job is done to perfec-on as a way of giving to our charitable mission. Thank you! Ms. Rosemary Reed has been volunteering in the GSLI office for the last several months, helping Wimbai with day-‐to-‐day administra-ve chores like organizing files, typing various documents, prin-ng labels, mailing informa-on to LEGACY Ins-tute speakers and par-cipants, picking up lunches for LEGACY, typing up supporters databases and running other errands to free Wimbai to focus more on par-cipant recrui-ng, program development, and training. Ms. Amanda Hover, the owner of Champagne Jewelers, who was among the first supporters of the Footprint campaign, leaving a “large footprint” and showing concern for the future genera-on of leaders. Ms. Brenda Case, the co-‐owner of Lowry-‐Dunham, Case and Vivien Insurance, who has faithfully invested
Mutonono Family Update The Mutonono family is growing, and now with three members: Wimbai, Lena and liNle Stephen Davis. Paren-ng has been the most rewarding part of our lives. We learn a lot about each other, grow more in love, pa-ence, and kindness, and enjoy our family laughs (which happen quite oben because of liNle Stephen’s contagious smiles and laughter). There is nothing like having a child teach you the meaning of the word “sacrifice.” But at the end of the day when you are enjoying your family dinner you know that it is all worth it. In April Lena’s mother was able to travel from Ukraine to visit with us, which was a huge blessing for her and
in LEGACY Ins-tute both this summer and last summer by providing scholarships for some of our par-cipants. Mr. Kirk Hartsell, the owner of Dante’s Pizza who has been a faithful in-‐kind donor throughout the year, providing us with pizza for LEGACY Ins-tute lunches. Mr. Dan Pearlman, an Aus-n, TX based entrepreneur and web designer, who has volunteered his services, exper-se and resources to design the new GSLI website. Check it out at www.gs-‐li.org. Ms. Sondra Lantzer, who has faithfully assisted us with the designing of fundraising flyers and newsleNers. The Village Church-‐Lutheran has given us a lot of encouragement, helped us with adver-sing, and supplied lunches for week two of LEGACY this summer. We appreciate everyone’s involvement and pray God’s richest blessings on each of these and on those who work behind-‐the-‐scenes anonymously!
for us. She enjoyed learning more about America, loved spending -me with her grandson and cooked our most favorite Ukrainian dishes! Since she has a 5-‐year mul-ple-‐entry visa she will probably come again soon. We would like to take a moment to thank you, our friends in the United States who have sent us gibs for Stephen in the last 8 months. Having a family that is so far away we never felt lack of care and love! We apologize for having been out of touch with you lately as the adjustment has made us all aware of the fact that some things may have to be on a backburner for a short -me. We will con-nue keeping you updated through the GSLI quarterly newsleNers. Many blessings, The Mutononos
BRIDGING THE GULF Spring/Summer 2013
From the Execu-ve Director’s Desk
How Do You Measure Success? Gree-ngs from the Gulf South Region! Recently I heard a presenta-on by Angela Lee Duckworth, in which she shared her ideas on what makes a person succeed. As a PhD candidate in Psychology, she tasked herself to research the vast area of “success” and its “ingredients.” She discovered that it was not the smartest that succeed, nor the richest; it was not the most experienced in a par-cular professional field or the most well-‐connected. The people that succeed the most, be it in school or work,
were the ones who had “grit.” It was those who were able to “s-ck with their task” as long as it took and who eventually saw it blossom. Somehow we as human beings, no maNer what our background is – African, American, or Russian – are wired for success. Though Chris-anity speaks a different message through the famous Mother Theresa’s quote, “God didn’t call us to be successful, just faithful,” we s-ll find ourselves yearning to see and touch the mul-ple fruit of our labor in this world. Unless we are dealing with some personal insecurity, I believe that our longing for success is a reflec-on of
God’s desire for us to accomplish our tasks well, to bear fruit, and to hear the much desired “Well done.” In my personal reflec-on -me I ask myself if I have worked well on the liNle that has been entrusted to me, if I have been faithful to remain despite the challenges, if I have commiNed myself without reserva-on and no turning back. As you know from our previous newsleNers, Gulf South Leadership Ins-tute has been focusing more on serving the community through coaching and mentoring the future genera-on of leaders in Southern Louisiana. In the last year alone we have served more than 25 young men and women, encouraging them to pursue their dreams, focus on comple-ng their basic educa-on, and be responsible stewards of what has been entrusted to them: health, talents, and financial resources. LEGACY Summer Ins-tute 2013 brought in over 40 students from different backgrounds and walks of life. Together, they learned basic skills like budge-ng, inves-ng, responsible spending, and worked in teams to create and market board games to reflect what they learned in an interac-ve way. This endeavor of training youth would not have been possible without your grit either. You are a part of this success, and when I look back on the past year’s 10 par-cipants (2 on the first day), I know that we would not be where we are without your faithful contribu-ons, your prayers, and your encouragement every step of the way. Thank you for being with us this year! Please, read more in this newsleNer, and I hope to hear your feedback! Blessings, Wimbai Mutonono
Learn more at www.gs-li.org
New Fundraising Campaign
What Will Your Footprint Be?
programs we offer are valuable and important to the community and that our impact is becoming more no-ceable.
This year we have significantly widened our support network. While it is s-ll a work in progress, we are glad to report that we have received grants, student sponsorships, dona-ons, and new support commitments. While we con-nue communica-ng with churches and organiza-ons outside of Louisiana, this year we have seen more commitments from local churches, community events, businesses and individual donors. Such interest indicates that the
Just a month ago we launched a “Footprint campaign” to encourage local businesses to donate towards LEGACY Summer Ins-tute – a program with a career mentoring focus for junior high and high school students. Through this, we were able to raise more than $600.00 towards scholarships for low-‐income par-cipants. The text of the campaign is below, and if you feel like contribu-ng towards the cause, we’d greatly appreciate your investment!
Church Leadership Consulting As churches grow and develop, they need to revisit their leadership and administra-on structures to prevent unnecessary problems that oben lead to ineffec-veness and inefficiency. With the realiza-on that preven-on is the best treatment, Gulf South Leadership Ins-tute offers church leadership consul-ng for new church plants and growing churches. This year we have been privileged to work with the leadership team at Hillside Discipleship Church in Lapeer, MI. GSLI has provided support through leadership and administra-on consul-ng, and designed policy manuals to help the church structure develop efficiently. Wimbai and Lena Mutonono are currently working with three local churches leading Bible studies, mee-ng with pastors to provide encouragement and guidance, and training new church leaders to work more effec-vely in the Greater New Orleans area. This fall we an-cipate more programs and consul-ng sessions with local churches. Wimbai is also scheduled to speak at the Missions Fair at Crossroads Community Church in Jersey Shore, PA at the end of October.
and focused on adver-sing through the available channels: TV, social networks, contact lists, and the local newspaper. These media tools have helped us gain more trac-on, and we had 39-‐43 par-cipants in average aNendance. The aNendance was boosted this year thanks to a partnership with Camp Upward from
Faith Bible Church in Covington. This is a very exci-ng development, as we foresee new opportuni-es in the fall semester of offering LEGACY workshops and seminars both in Slidell and in Covington. Thank you Ms. Samone Young and Camp Upward Staff for your generous support!
A Tribute to Our “Behind-theScenes” Partners Most of us spend a fair amount of -me wondering if our liNle efforts make any difference. We do some rou-ne jobs, all the while listening to the common advice to pursue big things ahead of us or big dreams before us. But not everyone has been called to accomplish something great and major. No maNer how big or small our daily tasks are, they never lose significance if done with love and care.
LEGACY Update: Monthly Seminars & Summer Program Choose Your
Footprint! Contact Wimbai at wmutonono@gulfsouth leadership.org or 919-‐441-‐6810 to give.
LITTLE $130
LARGE $260
GIANT $390
Pays for one student’s LEGACY par-cipa-on.
Pays for two students’ LEGACY par-cipa-on.
Pays for three students’ LEGACY par-cipa-on.
Our new Youth Development Ins-tute (LEGACY) started in the summer of 2012 with only a handful of registered par-cipants. Beginnings are usually rough for any program. Altogether we had 7 students throughout 4 weeks of camp. This year has been very favorable in terms of recruitment. We shortened the program to two weeks
Throughout its 5 years of existence, GSLI has been blessed with “behind-‐the-‐scenes” partners who con-nue to make a great impact on the life and growth of our organiza-on. In this issue we would like to thank a few individuals that have helped make GSLI and LEGACY Summer Ins-tute 2013 a success: Ms. Dorothy from the Copy & Print department at the local Office Depot is now a friend of LEGACY, and she has helped tremendously with most of our prin-ng jobs for promo-onal flyers, brochures and manuals for