Proclaiming Christ (our Hope) at Easter through Baskets of Hope!



“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead….” [1 Peter 1:3, NJKV]





On Sunday evening, April 17^th, we celebrated our 2^nd year anniversary for our Baskets of Hope [BoH] ministry which we launched here at UBC three years ago! We blessed 126 families Sunday evening with complete Easter dinner and trimmings for them to prepare and share with their families to celebrate Easter together! In addition, we blessed 26 families on Thursday, April 14^th, partnering with our new church planter Chris Straw, Living Word Bible Church. So our total number of families blessed through Easter Baskets of Hope was 152 this year compared to less than half that number our 1^st Easter BoH!

At our Sunday evening service on April 17^th, we worshiped together with our UBC praise team, Kids for Christ [KFC] choir, and our hand-bell choir! Pastor Tom shared a devotional message about the encounter with Christ by the two men on the road to Emmaus. What a change Christ’encounter made in their lives!

Personal lives were also changed at Baskets of Hope as they encountered Christ through the gospel message. We had a total of 2 folks who invited Christ into their hearts and lives [one on Sunday and one on Thursday] and 2 re-dedications on Sunday night! Praise the Lord…new believers were added to the Kingdom of God!



4H Group



Our BoH ministry is also expanding out into the community as well. Irene Parent from our UBC congregation, invited the youth and parents from Warren County 4-H to volunteer and help us! What an awesome team numbering 30+ helped at hospitality and VBS tables, assisted in packing the Baskets of Hope, and helped carry the baskets out to our BoH recipients’ cars. Even better news, the 4-H group joined us in our worship time and heard the gospel too!

 








Our Baskets of Hope initiatives for Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas are led by Cheryl Kemp. Thanks to our great team leaders that work with her to make all this possible: Kelly Cummings, Nathan Coates, Susan Byrd, Sandy Huddleston, Cathy Dwire and Pat Mitchell. More leaders and helpers are needed to grow this ministry. To learn more about how you may serve in this awesome ministry, contact Cheryl Kemp at ckemp4@woh.rr.com or Mike Wright, UBC local mission’s strategist at mwright@urbancrest.org.