Dear Supporters of ACCESS:

ACCESS celebrated its 18th anniversary on April 10th. At the dinner, a generous anonymous donor offered a dollar-to-dollar match to funds being raised, up to $25,000. This included monetary donations, contribution from the silent auction, raffle ticket sales and pledges. Thanks to many of you who responded generously, $12,000 has been raised that night. With the permission from this donor, we are extending this challenge to May 7, especially to those of you who are not aware of this challenge. We are a tax-exempt non-profit organization and your donation is tax-deductible.

For more details, please read and return the bottom portion of this PDF.

The ACCESS Annual Report 2009 is now available.

(This is a bilingual Chinese-English PDF.)

Also available in Chinese

“Do you commit yourself to being a faithful follower of Christ for the rest of your life?” asked the pastor. Choi Ying (not her real name) replied in the affirmative. When she emerged from the baptismal pool, her face was beaming with joy. She smiled at the congregation and waved to her children.

Looking at her now, one cannot imagine that only eight months ago she was in such deep despair that she even thought of ending her life. Abandoned suddenly by her husband and left with two young children, she cried until she had no more tears.

Referred by a friend who attends Boston Chinese Evangelical Church (BCEC), Choi Ying came to ACCESS. She had almost weekly appointments with our Family Service Volunteer to sort out her confusion, discuss her hurt and fears, and seek guidance on how to be a single parent to her two young children. She was determined to help her children grow up to be emotionally healthy people despite their parents’ marital trouble.

Realizing her weakness and limitations, she began to seek God and eventually decided to let God walk beside her. “Now I want to draw close to God … to gain wisdom and strength and receive healing for my body, spirit and soul. I am thirsty for God’s love and help. I want to learn more about God’s word in the Bible and surrender fully to Him. I think it will revive my soul and spirit. I have enough depression… Life really doesn’t have to be that miserable. I want to be reborn with a happy, joyful, and abundant life,” says Choi Ying.

She is extremely grateful for the support and encouragement she has received from Christian sisters at ACCESS and BCEC.

—Sau-Fong Siu

Summerbridge 2009 Slideshow

See the childrens' week with volunteers from the Chinese Bible Church of Great Boston (Lexington).

Some of the Teachers' Favorite Memories:

• The K-1 "Bug" Relay and watching students cheer one another on (by jumping up and down on tables)
• A student asking of their teacher for every blueberry - "Is this one good?" At the end he said that he didn't like blueberries and gave them to the teacher.
• Making an under the sea theme pinata
• During an exercise focusing on disabilities, one student was leading another student who was blindfolded. But the first student saw a butterfly and ran off after it, leaving the other student blindfolded and alone in the parking lot
• Older students encouraging younger ones whilst playing Capture the Flag
• During a "desert journey", this conversation took place:
  Teacher: What can you do during a sandstorm?
  Student: Talk to Jesus!
• Seeing "The Titanic" beat out all other boats in a race due to superior design
• Hundreds more grasshoppers caught
• A student telling a teacher they would be okay in college because "God will be with you even when you run into troubles"
• The chance to tell the students that Summerbridge exists because God loves them and we want to share His love with them