More happens in a year than we can capture in photos.
Nine teams in five countries, we love our cities because it's what we're made for. We find our purposes when we go out. We learn what it takes to love well. We grow and change as our communities do. Love Your City is a critically important mission that takes place in every part of a city.
And in one year, there are weekly Walkthroughs. There are tutoring centers and ESL classes and women's groups. There are fiestas and celebrations. Churches step out to take their place in the mission and businesses find what only they can uniquely do. There are small, quiet moments where a young person realizes they have what it takes. There are big, turning moments, like the launch of our documentary.
More happens in one year than we can capture in photos but the moments we do capture are full of the faces and places we love out there in our neighborhoods across the world.
These are just a few of our favorite photos from 2021!
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A core volunteer on a Walkthrough in Kenya.
A group of young volunteers on a Walkthrough led by Don Josue, our team leader in Costa Rica.
First Class Eye care is a missionally-minded Love Your City partner who generously gives free eye exams and glasses to members of our Love Your City Community!
This year, there were more consistent Walkthroughs in Boston than any year prior! Veronique (right) built a friendship with a family in our Love Your City community in Boston that led to weekly tutoring sessions (pictured above)!
Tutoring for us is about more than tutoring. It's a response to a practical need in the community that leads to deeper connections with young people and families. Pictured above is a tutoring session in Umulungube, one of three teams in Nigeria!
Boy With a Ball's partnerships with churches are critical to who we are. Pictured is a group from Perimeter Church, a partner church in Gwinnett!
Boy With a Ball's Global team as well as interns and volunteers after our first session at the digital Love Your City Conference this year!
Edwyn, a core team member of El Niño y la Bola Nicaragua, with two young students in Managua!
As session lets out in Nigeria, many of the girls from our small group, the "Excellent Girls Club," walk home for the day.
The girls' group in Costa Rica is a growing group where young girls come together around friendship and finding their purpose!
Boy With a Ball San Antonio held their Summer Fusion camp, a summer camp for students from Velocity and Love Your City to come together and take steps toward their future!
Read, Write to Lead is a three-week literacy camp held every summer. It focuses specifically on developing a love of reading for students. By the end of camp, every young person writes and illustrates their own book!
Camp Overcomers is a camp focused on developing the next generation of leaders as missional leaders where they live. A three-in-one camp, the youth camp leads two children's camps in metro-Atlanta!
Miraculously and full of gratitude, we are so thankful to have fully purchased our community center in Los Cuadros, Costa Rica!
Velocity happens in all over the world. This year, we launched a second Velocity in Gwinnett while continuing two Velocities in San Antonio and Kenya.
Pictured above are some of the Velocity Mentors in Kenya.
Three of the MANY people who helped create the Boy With a Ball Documentary that launched in November of 2021.
Our Annual Global Board Retreat concluded with the screening of Love Your City: the Boy With a Ball Story. Pictured above is part of our Global Board and our founders, Jamie and Kathy Johnson!
Love Your City in Gwinnett concluded this year with our fifth-annual Christmas Fiesta. Driven by the support of our critical partners, Covenant Life Church, North Georgia Bearded Villians, and Perimeter Church, this year's fiesta was a celebration of a great year of Love Your City.
