On December 21st, The Hope celebrated Christmas at the K-Love Hope Center in Detroit, and it was nothing short of amazing! Our Sunday morning worship service reminded us that Hope was born here and that hope is still here! From written words to singing babies, it was a fantastic time that was followed by a lunch that left many too full to even consider eating dinner later. We then had a great time watching our Detroit Lions win. All of this is just a side note to the best part of the day when secretly, during all of this, due to the absolute definition of a group of ‘giving hearts’ from so many individuals, churches and organizations, every child who was there received multiple gifts! Several families left with giant bags full of toys, wrapping paper, and gift cards to ensure that their home would have an awesome Christmas morning. We also opened up the clothing portion of the warehouse store that is full of free, new and gently used clothes for the whole family. There were several families from the community who walked to church that we had to give rides back home because they had so many heavy bags full of toys and clothes! 
One special guest, Erica Cartwright, has two children, a two-year-old boy named Aaron and a one-year-old girl named Erin. She has had an extremely tough year with losing her transportation and job. She comes to the church maybe once every three months, but when we started reaching for names of families to be a blessing to, her name came up early merely because of her sheer will and desire to improve her life. When we contacted her about receiving help for Christmas, she cried on the phone and cried again Sunday as she picked up the toys. She really wanted her boyfriend Eric, who treats the children as if they were his own, to be a part. It was his first time at the church, and he said he loved every minute of it. They both spent an hour in the clothing warehouse and left with clothes for the whole family. We gained a new relationship to encourage and speak life into.
The partnership between K-Love, World Hope and The HOPE is proving to be a life changing dream team by reaching out to the whole man with nothing being more important than sharing the Gospel and the Love of Christ. All of the gifts and clothing came from all over the United States,from Florida to Canada. Many people were involved and many brought things just from hearing the need on the K-Love radio. The best part is, we’re just getting started!
