We are grateful to God that He continues to open door after door at our State Capitol for ministry AND partnership opportunities between pastors / ministry directors and our state government leaders! Here are some highlights from 2025:
- God gave us 142 meetings between pastors / ministry directors and state government leaders in 2025, the MOST EVER for CAN-Arizona! This means that since the launch of CAN in Arizona in 2020, we’ve now held 500 meetings between state government leaders and pastors!
- A Baptist church that has participated in CAN since 2023 was victorious in their federal lawsuit against their City which was basically requiring them to shutter or move out-of-town. The City dropped their demands in Sept. 2025. Pastor Jose Castro will now be able to resume their food ministry for those in-need!
- The Arizona Dept. of Corrections has opened the door to Arizona churches: last year they asked for Along Side Ministries, which has participated in CAN since 2023, to expand to rural state prisons. This year, the Dept. of Corrections is asking CAN to also engage Arizona churches in prison staff appreciation and chaplaincy to corrections officers. Corrections officer needs are significant, with a 7x higher suicide rate than the general populace and a life expectancy of only 59 years.
- Due to a Church Ambassador Network meeting, a juvenile prison ministry called Hope in Motion found they had an opportunity to expand their ministry to an additional state prison. Thank God for how He uses simple connections for spreading His word and work!
- Praise God, an additional partnership between Dept. of Child Safety and Christian Family Care was launched in 2025, now operating in Maricopa County! This pilot program provides Christian Family Care volunteers to support families at-risk of losing their children to the foster care system.
- This year, the Speaker of the House of Representatives gave an open invitation to any CAN pastor mid-session to come into his office to pray for him and the legislature.