iHOPE

Video from Zimbabwe

 

Deanna Heyn was back in Zimbabwe this Spring and brought back some wonderful images and stories. Take a look at all the great work going on in this video she put together. I was there 11 years ago and it is staggering to see all the progress that has been made, even as it is clear there is much to be done. 

New Hope Presbyterian Church helped establish this ministry and works with other churches in the Denver Presbytery to expand and enhance this vital work as part of the Zimbabwe Mission Partnership (ZMP). 

Enjoy!

"My heart is filled with joy"

 I love getting emails like this. It came from Martha Cisneros, who coordinated getting all the gifts that were collected for this year's Giving Forest into the hands of the families from South Elementary School in time for Christmas. Here is part of the note she sent when everything was finished: 

On Friday, we successfully completed the distribution of all Christmas gifts from New Hope. What a blessing it was to see the joy in people's faces as they received their gifts and expressed gratitude for the love and generosity of our congregation. Once again, New Hope has made a difference in the lives of those who could use a helping hand, especially around the holidays. Because of operation Giving Forest, skillfully led by Mike Dennis, 52 South Ridge Elementary families will have gifts for their children this Christmas. In all, 292 gift wishes were fulfilled.

 Below is an email from the Assistant Principal at South Ridge Elementary.  I am so proud to be a part of New Hope.

My heart is filled with joy. 

 Mike Dennis has been heading this effort up for many years. He has overseen its growth from a "Giving Tree" (which he helped to build!) to a Giving Forest. This ministry wouldn't have thrived all these years without him, and he would be the first to say that this is definitely a 'team effort'. Hundreds of people helped gather the needs, make the tags, create the "forest", sort and store the gifts, organize them by families (thank you Cindy & Nancy!), set up Fellowship Hall and make sure they get to the families so they can be ready for Christmas.

Stories of Hope: Roy Koerner Interview

 

Sunday we showed a portion of an interview with Roy Koerner.  Here is the whole thing.

The interview was with Gregg Macaluso and is the first in what we hope will be a series of interviews of people telling their strories. This one is about the decision to be involved with prison ministry- a decision that was more than 3 decades in the making!

Thanks, Gregg & Ben (another  Macaluso), for bringing us this story. Thank, Roy, for telling it and giving us a glimpse at the many ways God is at work today. It's all part of God's Story of Hope.