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Affordable Christmas: Metro East Style

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This last Saturday, The Journey: Metro East (soon to be Trailhead Church) hosted our first Affordable Christmas at our space in Edwardsville, IL.

Affordable Christmas was the brain child of Josh Wilson and the crew at Mission St. Louis.  They decided several years ago to try to empower a group of low income parents with a way to shop for their children's Christmas by giving them an event that offered new presents at drastically reduced prices.  This event has proven to be one of the most anticipated events put on by MStL. 

So, this year, we jumped in with them (or, I should say they jumped in with us - they brought over a great crew to help us staff and run our event)!  We have been working over the last two years to build relationships with a group of families living at SIUE's family housing, and this even was a great way to empower them and continue to serve them with the love of Christ.

It really was a blast.  We had fun.  The parents had fun.  The kids had fun... man, what a win.

Here are some comments from the Moms:

"I am so thankful to have been invited to this.  I wasn't sure how I was going to do Christmas for the kids this year.  I am preparing to move off campus and I am trying to save up.  I was able to walk out of here with gifts for both of my kids and also a new purse for myself.  It feels good to be able to do this for my kids."

"I just wanted you all to know how grateful I am for today.  It was so nice to shop for my 3 sons and then relax and eat breakfast with some of my neighbors.  There are so many organizations on campus that could be reaching out to families.  I am so thankful that you have reached out to us (the mom's in Cougar Village).  It feels good to walk in here knowing this is for us.  I thank you so very much."

"What an incredible opportunity.  I got all of my Christmas shopping for my kids done today.  This was so organized and relaxed - thank you." 

"My kids had a great time in childcare - shopping for my kids was very easy and now I will be able to surprise them with items that are on their wish list for Christmas."

"I loved that you had childcare.  It is hard to go shopping for kids when you are a single parent - usually you have to take them with you or get a baby sitter so you can actually surprise them on Christmas.  Thank you for taking care of us and our kids."

"The decorations were beautiful and everyone was so helpful - it was so exciting and fun to go shopping for my kids."

One final story.  Two of the moms came to church with us for the first time this Sunday after the Affordable Christmas.  It warmed my heart to see them there.  One of the kids came in wearing a new winter coat his mom had bought at our event - he wore it proudly and walked around saying, "What do you think?  What do you think?"  He was incredibly cute and we were reminded that God's love restores dignity and celebrates redemption.

A few pics - more to come:


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