President’s Letter
Family. The Rees-Jones Foundation is a family. We have always been a family. As with all families, we began small, naïve, ignorant in many ways, but eager to learn and grow, committed to serving and loving each other. And we have grown. Our growth has included the immediate family of our team here at the Foundation but also the many and diverse members of the extended family that includes our grantees and trusted partners. Our family now extends around the world to places most of us have never been, but we all rejoice in the reach of the work we get to do, touching lives and extending our resources to vulnerable children and families near and far.
We owe our existence, our growth and maturity, our culture and the love we have for each other, to a particular family. That family has enabled all of us to experience the joy of being in the business of philanthropy. Jan and Trevor Rees-Jones had a vision in 2006 to create an organization the mission of which was to serve their Lord, our Lord, loving him by loving our neighbors. That mission is our distinctive. It has been our guiding light, and in leading us, they have never wavered from that call. There is something that undergirds that resolve, that is foundational to their leadership and our work. That foundation is the “cornerstone” of Christ. He is the King we serve.
We are not without faults however. Too often we are tempted to define our family narrowly, choosing to love neighbors who look like us or who are aligned with our interests. Our Lord of course placed no such limits on our love, and we are challenged by his words in Matthew 25 to love him by loving “the least of these brothers and sisters of mine.” Our call is to love his family, his brothers and sisters, as many of them as we are able with the time and resources he provides. With a fresh understanding of this call, we can now see all of the agencies we support and all of their constituents as parts of this broader family of our Lord. That is a picture that brings us greater joy as we discover new relationships and find a stronger family connection in old and valued relationships.
A few examples from our work in 2024. In our ongoing work in the Forest District of South Dallas, Pastor Chris Simmons, a longtime partner, embodies the love of Christ for all of his neighbors. They of course include his parishioners at Cornerstone Baptist Church. They also include the young children pursuing a Christian education at The King’s Academy and the young people working to complete their high school requirements at Cornerstone Crossroads Academy after previously dropping out or giving up on their education; students young and old becoming part of a larger family of Christ followers in South Dallas. And then for Pastor Chris there are also the least of these brothers and sisters, the homeless, the poor, the addicted, those searching for God and those simply searching for a shower or a hot meal. His love can be tender and it can be tough, but to Pastor Chris, “family” has no limits. In Garland, we have been inspired by the commitment to family of Kaitlyn and Cameron Mullens at For the Nations Refugee Outreach. Some years ago, they realized God had brought to their doorstep refugees from around the world who were part of an international refugee resettlement program, so they responded to the call with love, needed supports of all kinds and a consistent witness to the love of God through Christ. Now, years later, family for them includes thousands of lives which have been enriched by the neighbor-love of For the Nations.
We also learned more about the work of Carolyn and Wayne Walker whose idea of family extends to the thousands of men and women who have no place to call home. They ask two simple questions: do you want to get off the streets, and do you want to know more about Jesus. An affirmative answer to either question brings them into the family waiting for them at Our Calling. But they are not excluded from the family if they answer no. The men and women at Our Calling extend hospitality unconditionally to all who come to their door, providing hot meals, showers, extra blankets and clothing, counseling and referrals to needed services, and even care for their pets.
A final example involves work we have supported in Africa for many years. HOPE International works to build economic resilience in families in the poorest countries in the world through the simple concept of a savings group. But it is more; through the work of groups of men and women in communities, offering support to each other and enabling each other to build small businesses or provide needed resources, families are built and sustained. We see all of this work now more clearly as creating opportunities to strengthen the body of Christ, each member with a gift and purpose and each member supporting all of the others. There is a single bond that holds all of us together as a body, as an extended and vibrant family. That bond is the love of Christ our Lord. We are all made in his image, brothers and sisters in his sight, so identified with him that whenever we see each other, whenever we see and can address the needs of these brothers and sisters, we see and respond to the love of our King.
Another year, another way to appreciate and understand our calling to love and serve our Lord by loving and serving those he places in our path.
Thornton Hardie, III
President of The Rees-Jones Foundation