CityHope Church shows love to Eastern Shore communities

By Crystal Cole
Posted 8/30/16

Galatians 6: 10 reads “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.”

The CityHope Churches across the Eastern Shore …

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CityHope Church shows love to Eastern Shore communities

Posted

Galatians 6: 10 reads “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.”

The CityHope Churches across the Eastern Shore and the region lived up to their scriptural charge recently after holding a Serve Day in July.

Jim Gates, outreach minister for CityHope Church, said he hoped the communities felt blessed by the outpouring of support.

“We had 1,700 people out showing God’s love to people out in our communities across Baldwin and Mobile counties, which is an amazing thing to be able to do,” Gates said. “We believe that when we go out beyonf the walls of the building, we can show the love of Christ without condition.”

Serve Day was a nationwide event where hundreds of churches around the country gathered their members to go and do service-based projects in their area.

“We went to various schools and helped clean the outsides up – landscaping, mowing, hedge trimming,” Gates said. “We went to a disables combat veteran’s home and made over the exterior of the house, replacing damaged materials and putting in new flowers and bushes. We saw where there were needs in our community and we’ve tried to continue to help meet them.”

Gates said the message behind Serve Day is one of Christians showing love and support to everyone in their community, something CityHope Church tries to do on a regular basis.

“We often do things on a smaller scale on a regular basis, whether it’s volunteering at football games so that parents have a chance to watch their kids play,” Gates said. “We also partner with other churches in our area to try to meet needs we collectively as the family of God can help with.”

Gates said one Serve Day project they approached was helping the Macedonia Church in Daphne with some needs at their church. However, he was surprised by the outcome.

“Instead, a group from that church got together and came to help all of us out over at Daphne High School,” Gates said. “It was really nice to be able to fellowship with them and share God’s love in our community.”

Daphne Councilman Randy Fry said he and the entire community were grateful for the efforts and support shown by the church members.

“They’ve always got good outreach projects going on across Mobile and Baldwin counties,” Fry said. “This is a church that is always out helping people in our community, which is definitely a great thing. We always talk about how strong the Daphne community is, and things like this Serve Day help show that we care about one another and try to help where we can.”

Gates said the Serve Day and other community outreach events don’t just help those in need – those in service gain something as well.

“It definitely helps build a sense of purpose in these Christians’ lives, to get out and show God’s love to others in a real, tangible way,” Gates said.

Gates said the congregation has another Serve Day coming up on Oct. 15 and encourages anyone who wants to get out and get involved to join them.

“This isn’t about trying to get people to join our congregation or lift up our church,” Gates said. “We do this to try to make our community a better place and to bring some hope and joy to those in need of it.”

For more information about further Serve Days or CityHope Church, visit their website at cityhope.cc.