Change Lives This Thanksgiving!

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Hope AcademyImagine with me a neighborhood where 3 out of 4 families live near or below the poverty line. Half of the homes are single-parent homes. Only 24% of students are reading on their grade level or above. Crime and violence are an everyday reality.

Imagine driving each day past the boys and girls lined up quietly and fearfully on the corner awaiting the school bus. They have very little real hope. They do not necessarily feel safe. They are probably hungry and worried and quite uncertain about what the days ahead may bring.

Now, let’s dream together. Let’s dream about an environment that brings peace, hope and beauty into these kid’s lives. Let’s dream about empowering these girls and boys with the belief that their present can look very different, and that their future can too. Let’s dream about tripling their test scores; placing them in a place of safety each and every day; and ensuring that they have a solid meal, a community that loves them and believes in them, and an education that can take them very, very far. Let’s dream these things can be accomplished boldly in Jesus’ name.

Friends, this dream is a reality, and it is called Hope Academy, nestled amidst the extreme poverty, crime, violence, and moral erosion in inner-city of Minneapolis. Believing that education is the critical road up and out of poverty, Hope Academy was founded in 2000 as a rescue mission for low-income, urban youth and families, with a mission to foster hope in God in the inner-city by providing youth with a remarkable, Christ-centered education.

Check out this brief video to hear more about Minneapolis’ extraordinary Hope Academy.

Now, as many in the New Hope Church family know, every Thanksgiving season we collect tens of thousands of dollars—the Thanksgiving Offering—of which half goes to a unique, strategic ministry making a remarkable difference for the glory of God. For this year’s Thanksgiving Offering, New Hope Church is partnering with our friends at Hope Academy. Specifically, they are taking a huge step of faith by doubling Kindergarten from two classes to four, with the goal of “planting acorns that in the years ahead will grow into mighty oaks.” New Hope Church’s partnership with Hope Academy will help cover the additional costs of educating more children at a critical stage of emotional, spiritual, academic, and social development.

New Hope Church’s Thanksgiving Offering will be collected Sundays, November 22 and 29, as well as at our special Thanksgiving Eve gathering on Wednesday, November 25. One can also give online. By God’s relentless grace we can see a significant difference made in the lives of families in one of Minneapolis’ most challenging communities. This Thanksgiving, let’s extend Christ’s love to an organization changing lives every day. Let’s overwhelm Hope Academy with a resounding New Hope Church Thanksgiving gift!

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