The holiday season is full of family and gifts, celebrations and food - and some of us have an abundance. Join us as we strive to make the holidays brighter for others by serving in one of the below opportunities around the Bay Area in December.

On December 3, at Mitchell Park in Palo Alto, HOPE worldwide will be assembling holiday gift bags for Grace Village. Grace Village is temporary housing for domestically abused mothers and their children. The bags will be delivered to GV and will be distributed by them to the 14 women and 14 children currently living at the shelter. In case of rain, you will be notified of an alternative location.

If you can not make it to this event, no worries, we have others coming up!  Please see the bullets below:

• Saturday, December 16: We're cooking and serving breakfast to the Tenderloin community (and distributing the Scout's hygiene kits).
• Saturday, December 16: We have not one but two shifts to wrap presents for families in the East Bay. 

For more information and registration, click the button below. Sign up for one or many, and make the holidays a little more merrier for our neighbors in need.

Registration for all HOPE Volunteer Corps opportunities begins on December 1, 2023!

There are many different ways you can volunteer with HOPE Corps. Here are some of the ways:

• Volunteer Corps (HVC): The all-generations Volunteer Corps is open to anyone - teens, families, campus students, singles, empty-nesters, etc. There will be a variety of service activities, and everyone will find their niche! 
• HOPE Youth Corps (HYC): is for teens and campus students! Full of energy, zeal, and friendship-building!
• Singles Corps is for our single/non-married volunteers. We love Singles Corps. Your skills will be put to use as you help build capacity in local HOPE worldwide programs.
• Service Corps: If you want a longer service trip, maybe a few months instead of a few weeks, then you'll be interested in this service opportunity. You will be able to serve for a few months in places such as Nepal, Zambia, Kenya, Alaska, or Papua New Guinea (amongst many other locations), and use your education or professional skills. (all year round)

Click on the button below on or after Dec 1 for more information of all of the available opportunites.

As we close out November and National American History Month, we wanted to highlight five things about the Bay Area's Indigenous Past.

An article written in The San Francisco Standard by Liz Lindqwister and Olivia Cruz Mayeda mentions some things about the Bay that are worth knowing as we work to befriend all of our Bay Area communities, including the indigenous people. 

As we have shared, if you live in the Bay Area, you live on land inhabited by the Ohlone. In the article, it says, "This city is known as a space that honors Native people, and yet there's a lack of visibility, a lack of representation," said Sharaya Souza (Taos Pueblo, Ute, Kiowa), executive director at SF's American Indian Cultural District. Souza wants to encourage non-Native folks to support projects that increase visibility for SF's Native community—and not just in November."

The article points out five things about the Bay's Indigenous Past. For the complete text, click the button below.

SF Is the Original Home of the Ramaytush Ohlone People: Well before San Francisco earned its modern title, more than 10,000 Indigenous people coexisted in dozens of tribes across the Bay Area. Though these groups spoke different languages and operated as separate groups, today, they are collectively placed under the umbrella term "Ohlone." In San Francisco, the Ramaytush Ohlone are the peninsula's original peoples, most belonging to the Yelamu group, an independent tribe located within modern city limits. Of course, not all of SF's Indigenous population identifies as Ramaytush Ohlone.

One of SF's Most Famous Religious Landmarks Was Built by Forced Native Labor: Constructed between 1782 and 1791, the Mission San Francisco de Asís is the city's oldest standing building—and it's hard to miss, painted bright white and seated just steps away from SF's famed Dolores Park. It was also built by the Ohlone people, whose forced labor constructed the building for Spanish missionaries led by the Franciscan priest Junipero Serra. These missions were designed to convert California Indians to Christianity.

Native American activists reclaimed Alcatraz, protesting on the island for 19 months. Members of the movement demanded the U.S. government return all out-of-use federal land to Native Americans who previously lived there—efforts that led to broader visibility for the Native American civil rights movement and the formation of the International Indian Treaty Council. Indigenous people now hold a Sunrise Gathering event on Alcatraz every year on Thanksgiving. It could be a nice date and opportunity to learn more.

SF Has the Largest Two-Spirit LGBTQ+ Gathering in America: "Two-spirit" describes Native American people with both masculine and feminine spirits within them and who experience the world through the lens of multiple genders. San Francisco is home to the largest two-spirit powwow in the world. 

The Indigenous in SF now: Learn about native history around the Bay, like murals and artworks, restaurants, exhibits, a native stories walking tour, and more. They provide many links and websites for more information. It could be a fun date or a family excursion.

We have many opportunities for fellowship happening this month! 

The location and times are on our website for most events, but some gatherings which are for specific fellowship groups are not posted on our website. If you are interested in a specific region, please send an email to the region that you are inquiring about for more information. You can find all of our Fellowship Groups emails on our website on the Find Your People webpages or by clicking HERE.

There are no midweek classes for the rest of the year and Midweeks if any are by Fellowship Group. 

We hope we get to see you at one of our upcoming events and hope you have a great week!

Rom 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.