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Big year for graduates – much love and respect
By Jeremy | May 15, 2005
(Ahndrea breaking another record.)
(Jonathan and Elsa. Photo by Mike Mowery.)
Mei-Ling also inspires me. I'll never forget the first time we met. She had a big bubble jacket, big hair, and a big crush on my youngest brother Jamie. The crush kept her coming to church, but instead she met one even better than my lil' bro as a soon-to-be love affair with Jesus transformed her life. She's one of those people who by all rights should have ended up a statistic. Essentially fatherless and surrounded by drugs and destitution as a child, she moved to Puerto Rico to live with a foster family, then returned to her mother as a teen. By then, her mom had become ill and before passing away, asked my parents if they would care for her sixteen year-old daughter. In the 10 years since, Mei co-founded Xcel, graduated high school, became an honors student, NYU alumnus, registered nurse, friend to many, daughter to my parents, sister to my brothers and me, and titi to my son.
(CoCo loving Lucas (l) and Jonathan (r). Picture by Mike Mowery.)And what can I say about Elsa, other than Judah swears he's gonna marry her? That, frankly, says it all. Elsa is sweet as can be, caring, insightful, and gifted. She doesn't always agree, but I can't begin to count all the times she has amazed herself and inspired others after mustering the courage to be stretched. She has the voice of an angel, the heart of a servant, and the character of steel. She plans to return to school in the fall to pursue a counseling degree and a career as a high school guidance counselor.
I've written several times about Luis (notably here and here). Who'd-a-thunk that after daddy's suicide and all the other baggage he had to carry that he'd ever be able to call himself a college graduate? I know a few people who thought exactly that, not to mention a lot of other cool stuff about Lou.
(Luis and his protege Jeremy. Picture by Mike Mowery.)
Carlos' sister Emily Olivieri was in my youth group for years before graduating F.I.T. last May, and Carlos joined the church through her and his relationship with Rollie and Lou-Box. I recruited him once to work at Xcel, but he turned me down. Now he and his fiance co-direct the SALT (Single Adults Learning Together) ministry at Abounding Grace.
There's nothing more gratifying in ministry than to see spiritual disciples excel in life and calling. I'm so proud of them. Much love and respect.
____________________
May 20 update (from UYWI) - I woke up at the hotel this morning horrified when I realized that I neglected to include Kenny Grohowski among my original list of graduates. Kenny makes eight this year. He's a world-class drummer/all-around musical genius with the DNA of his grandfather, legendary "Salsa King" Bobby Cruz, and moved to NY from Miami four years ago with a music scholarship for New School University. Kenny first attended Abounding Grace at the recommendation of Nicky Cruz, but quickly submersed himself into our community on a profoundly deep level. He joined the music ministry, the youth ministry team, and has been our most faithful volunteer instructor at Xpress. In the last year, his students have written 5 original songs, recording three in studio and performing two live at the Bowery Poetry Club. He has directed the music at every Xpress production, all the while traveling the world performing at festivals throughout Europe and just about every music nightspot in our City. Kenny, I love you and so appreciate you. Thanks for becoming part of our life and allowing us into yours!
(Photo by Mike Mowery.)
Topics: abounding grace, ahndrea allen, carlos olivieri, elsa carlo, faith, family, generation xcel, graduates, heroes, jonathan del rio, kenny grohowski, louis carlo, luis velez, mei-ling garce, mentoring, urban, youth, youth ministry | 1 Comment »
May 16th, 2005 at 11:47 am
Thanks for sharing this. I have always, always loved Coco. He is such a cool bro. I used to tell Hiram that if I had a daughter, he’d be a dude I would want her to date! He used to help me so much with the CEFl conferences with yet another talent, a good photographer. Elsa is is a beauty with brains. So great to see them realize this goal. Of course, being Luis Carlo’s children the apple doesn’t fall too far off the tree. Again, so glad to hear this. BTW, your brother Johnathan reminds me of my nephew Matthew.