And that’s a WRAP on Impact Clubs 2022! Our team did an amazing job sharing the love of Jesus with kids in our location last week. We are looking forward to so much more coming for these kids — stay tuned for some exciting updates as we look forward to the next year at Hope for Kids!
IMPACT CLUBS RECAP 2022!
CLUB HOPE: March 2022
Club Hope on March 26 was incredible! Check out the recap video and photo gallery below.
We had kids from all over the city join us at our building for lunch, an impactful Bible time, and a workshop time. This month, kids heard the next part of Erika’s story all about how to come to the Lord in prayer and find Him as their hiding place. They created dioramas in workshop time that reminded them that they can imagine sitting right next to Jesus when they talk to Him—He is with them always! It was awesome to see the kids listening intently and interacting through the story!
We also started a new group just for our teen girls who have been coming to Hope for Kids for years and are now out of the under-12 age range! We made lattes together and talked about the story of why Jesus came to save us. Our prayer for this new teen time is that it would be an open space for conversations and finding the true hope of the Gospel. applied to exactly where they are in life.
Another highlight was having a family of five and their three cousins decide to come to Club at the very last minute! They are super special to us and it was a huge blessing to us that they were there.
We also had six moms stay during the event while their kids participated! Three of them stayed after and prayed with our staff and volunteers, and two of them brought Bibles home with them. Please be praying for the Lord to work in these families! It was beautiful to see volunteers praying and encouraging mothers who stayed.
It was also so special to see kids who were 5 or 6 when Hope for Kids began, now in their teens and bringing their younger siblings to Club Hope. We pray there will be many more years where we are able to consistently bring Jesus to these families and see His work in their life come full circle!
We need to give a huge shoutout to Tammy for driving a 15-passenger van to make pickups! Transportation for all of our North End families is always a pressing need and this was such an incredible blessing. Thank you also to Janet for a delicious lunch! And thank you to Raquel, Tracy, Taisha, Enith and Nyasia for coming out to volunteer. We had a small group of volunteers this month and 31 KIDS from all over the city! Everyone worked together as a team to serve our kids and it was an awesome day.
Looking forward to our next event coming up very soon on April 9! Because of the postponed March date, our next event is already just a week from Saturday. If you would like to sign up to help at our April event, please click here!
The Mission: before and after!
Check out these before and afters of our building! God has been so faithful—have you heard the story of how Hope for Kids came to have our very own building?
The Lion's Den, a ministry formerly based out of Indian Orchard in Springfield, contacted Pastor Matt in late February 2018 and asked for a meeting. This seemed completely out of the blue, but God had a plan! The Lion's Den had a presence in the Springfield area for almost twenty years, accomplishing a mission similar to ours as they reached children with the Gospel and built relationships with the kids who were a part of their programs. Many of their kids "aged out" of the Lion's Den's target age group and a lot of their volunteers moved on. They were ready to pass on their mission, building, supporters, and community connections to a ministry that could pick up where they left off: and they called Hope for Kids.
God opened this door in His perfect timing. This new building in the Indian Orchard area brings many new opportunities for our ministry. As a way to honor the Lion's Den and continue the connection for many community members who already know this building as "the Den", we began calling our new Outreach Center the Hope for Kids Den. In 2020 as God made our community mission more clear, the building’s name changed to the Front Street Mission.
Owning our own building has opened so many doors into this community: our monthly Club Hope programs are currently hosted at the Mission, and it’s also been home to many community dinners, Christmas gift ministry days and Family Church Sundays. Impact Hope team members use this as a place to meet and regroup before and after Impact Clubs during the summer. This space God has given us is truly a house of prayer, completely dedicated to His work. Being physically present within the Springfield community and having a home address for our growing ministry has given us public visibility and credibility, and even better, a chance to minister to those who come in off the street looking for someone to talk to about God.
We are so thankful for all the progress that has already been made in renovating this space to make it even more effective and welcoming to our families—and we are still a work in progress! If you or your church would like more information on how you can get involved in ongoing building needs and work projects, leave a comment on this post and we’ll be in touch.
Pray for our kids.
Here are a few ways you can be praying for the children we reach in Springfield!
Pray that God’s Word sown into their life would be both heard and understood and take root in their life, like the seed that fell on the good ground, bearing fruit and producing a hundred times over. (Matthew 13:23)
Pray that they would confess with their mouths, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in their hearts that God raised Him from the dead, and accept His gift of salvation. (Romans 10:9)
Pray that the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard their hearts and their minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7)
Pray that though they walk in the midst of trouble, God will revive them, that He would stretch out His hand against their enemies, and save them with His right hand. (Psalm 138:7)
Pray that they would walk with the Lord and come to personally know who He is: a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth. (Psalm 86:15.)
Pray that our God will supply every one of their needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19)
Pray that they will not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of their minds. (Romans 12:2)
Pray that they would be drawn to the love of God as their Father—that they would see kind of love the Father has given to us, that they should be called children of God. (1 John 3:1)
Club Hope is this weekend: here’s how you can pray!
Club Hope is coming up THIS SATURDAY, February 12! We are so excited to bring a workshop to our kids centered around God’s love. We’ll be decorating donuts and making valentines for kids to share with their friends and families!
Please be praying for this event!
Pray that we will have a full team of volunteers and that everyone will stay healthy as we get ready to serve our kids.
Pray for the kids who will be attending! Pray that they will have no hindrances to keep them from coming to Club Hope. Pray for their hearts to be hungry to hear about Jesus' love. Pray for the truth they hear and the conversations they have to stay with them long past the event.
Pray for all needs to be covered & for the event to run smoothly!
If you would like to volunteer at Club Hope and have not yet signed up, click here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0b49a8aa2da5fb6-club39
Impact Clubs 2021!
Impact Clubs 2021 just wrapped up for the summer — and what a summer it was! Our team gathered Monday-Friday for three weeks and reached three different neighborhoods in Springfield. Each day, we got to connect with families we’ve known for years in these areas and also met new children every day. We brought snacks, played games and got to know the kids who came out every day, then sat down for club.
At the beginning of club each day, we jumped into song time—our songs this year were No Greater Love by Colton Dixon and Unstoppable God by Sanctus Real! Next up was missionary story skit: this summer, we taught the story of Samuel Morris. Then we shared a Bible verse teaching—each verse centered on the theme of hope! During the Bible lesson section of club, we taught through the entire Bible each week, starting with Creation, highlighting God’s rescue plan through the Old Testament and the stories of Noah, Abraham, Moses and David, and ending with the life, death, resurrection and return of Jesus. Club always ends with a review game, as well as an invitation and opportunity for children to be counseled. We had many children pray to receive Jesus as their Rescuer. We are so thankful for what God is doing! Our team worked so hard this year and we are so proud of each and every one of them.
Check out the photo gallery from Impact Clubs below!
Impact Clubs Training Recap 2021
Impact Club Training 2021 is in the books!
We are so thankful for the team that came together this year. The first week of July was full of learning, growing as a team and working hard, and now we get to take all that we’ve learned to neighborhoods in Springfield. Check out the video and photo gallery below!
SHARE HOPE this Valentine's Day: build a gift bag!
This Valentine’s Day, we have a special way for you, your family or your church to spread hope + share Jesus’ love with children in Springfield! We are putting together gift bags, including fun toys, Gospel booklets, candy, and more to bring to our kids on February 13. Instead of partnering with our HFK family to bring in individual item donations, this time we have a form that you can fill out to select what you would like to add to a gift bag valued at $20—and we’ll do the shopping! With going into stores being a little more complicated these days, this will be the simplest way to get these gifts into our kids’ hands. Click here to build a gift bag! Please fill out this form no later than February 7 to allow time to put together gift bags in time for Valentine’s Day!
How it works (all included on the form!)
choose a gift bag recipient gender and age range: 4-6, 7-9 or 10-12
choose five items from options on the form
add a NLT Bible to your gift bag if you’d like
add a personal note if you’d like
let us know your contact info
gift your selections through PayPal or check, and we’ll take it from there!
Valentine’s Day is always such a special time at Hope for Kids—and even though this year will still be different from our regular events, we can’t wait to put these gift bags in the hands of our kids and tell them how much Jesus loves them.
Thank you for sharing hope this season!
HOPE IS ALIVE: 2020 Christmas Outreach at Hope for Kids
Christmas is almost here, and hope is happening!
With Christmas just around the corner, we are so excited to announce a few ways that you can get involved in a very unique kind of Christmas here at Hope for Kids, and ongoing ways that you can partner with our ministry!
CHRISTMAS BAGS
If your church or family is looking for a simple way to make a difference, this year we will be collecting filled gift bags for kids ages 3 - 16 years old!
In an effort to keep gift bags generally the same in size and value, we are offering the following guidelines:
medium size gift bags
dollar value between $5-$10
all items must be new
food items are encouraged- but nothing with nuts and no hard candy
download a printable gift tag here to attach to your gift bag! (please specify the approximate age range and gender if applicable)
FOOD DELIVERIES
Bags of Hope continues to bless families throughout Springfield, giving us a tangible way to spread hope and show them the love of Jesus. We give out food donations as fast as they come in week after week!
We’ve recently been given an opportunity to partner with a monthly food co-op! This would allow us to receive shipments of high quality, farm-fresh food to consistently deliver to our families for about $500 a month. If you have shopped or dropped off groceries for Bags of Hope this year and are wanting a more simple way to get behind this ministry, partnering with us towards this food co-op opportunity would be incredible! Aldi gift cards are a huge help as well since they allows us to shop efficiently for families when an emergency need arises.
WINTER COATS & BOOTS
We are currently collecting all sizes of new and gently used winter coats and boots! Contact us to set up drop off.
PRAYER
If you would like to be a part of an all-night prayer meeting, or meet Matt and/or other staff at the Mission to pray, please reach out!
BIBLES
We are collecting Kids Hands On Bibles, Kids Action Bibles, and Adults Bibles!
BUILDING PROJECTS
We have had two churches bless us by helping us begin work projects in our building! If you would like to be a part of painting, framing in rooms downstairs, or any other work projects, contact us for more details.
If you would like to meet building supply needs, paper towels, hot cups, paper plates, toilet paper, 50 gallon trash bags, hand soap, hand sanitizer are all supplies we are running low on.
Christmas is always a special time for Hope for Kids, and we can’t wait for this year.
Even with all the difficulties and ministry pivoting that have come with 2020, we know that God still has so much in store. Children and families are being reached with God’s love and seeing His power to change lives. Through the rest of this year, we will continue meeting physical needs with grocery and winter coat deliveries, praying with our families and meeting our kids where they are with the story of the Hope of Christmas through intentional community outreach every Saturday in December. We are so thankful for all God is doing and we are so glad you get to be a part of it!
HFK and Coronavirus: YOU can help!
YOU CAN HELP US as we minister during Corona season!
We will be distributing Bags of Hope to as many families in need as we can in our community! As we enter neighborhoods and hand out physical provision, we are praying that we can further establish the Lord's name and the name of Hope for Kids in these areas and connect families to our ministry.
Here are the items we are collecting for Bags of Hope:
1 family-size can of soup
1 pound pasta
3 pounds rice
2 cans tuna
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 box cereal
6 ramen packets
1 loaf white bread
1 jar peanut butter
1 jar jelly
1 box chips or crackers
4-pack toilet paper
bananas or oranges
cheese (string or block)
yogurt
graham crackers
baby carrots
mac and cheese
hot dogs
toothpaste
hand sanitizer
card game or playing cards
coloring book
crayons
play dough
The Jesus Storybook Bible: purchase here
NLT Bible: purchase here
Print this list here! If your church has been looking for an opportunity to reach out and show Jesus' love in our community, we are praying that you will partner with us. These bags will be put together and passed out as soon as possible as supplies come in! If you would like to collect supplies as an individual, family, small group or church, please let us know. You can call or text (413) 566-6291 to schedule drop-off at the Den (40 Front Street, Indian Orchard) or possibly arrange for another drop-off location. If you feel led to help financially with this project, you can visit our donate page here. We know God has a plan for this time in history, and we are doing everything we can in this time to bring glory to Him. We're in this together!