On Friday, December 8th, H.I.S. BridgeBuilders in Clarksburg, West Virginia met with the Clarksburg Housing Authority for the first time.  During this meeting, the Housing Authority discussed their Laurel Lanes property. This property has 96 families and 93 children. During this discussion time, it was discovered that no Christmas event was being organized for the residents. H.I.S. BridgeBuilders decided to plan a Christmas celebration in this development to reach out to these families.

With only two weeks to prepare, the Lord's desire for this community was sought, and God answered that prayer.  God's people donated thousands of dollars worth of gifts: toiletries, clothing, diapers, food, toys, stuffed animals and much more. Kroger donated 200 large grocery bags and we were able to fill one bag per family (96 families) and 1 bag per child (93 children)...and the bags were full!!! God multiplied!!! Each bag also contained a New Testament Bible and a tract. "Merry Christmas from H.I.S. BridgeBuilders" was on every bag!

Life Builders Fellowship Church offered space to house all the donated items in their facility until the event.  Volunteers from all over the area came to assemble the gift bags!  It was a beautiful sight!

Friday night, December 22nd, was the first H.I.S. BridgeBuilders event at the Laurel Lanes city housing development in Clarksburg, West Virginia. Dozens of cookies and refreshments were donated. Volunteers participated in the distribution of gift bags and fellowshipped with the residents.  Children learned Christmas carols and were told the story of the birth of baby Jesus.  People were loved on and prayerfully, given the feeling that they were special.

During the event, many of the residents that weren’t familiar with us asked, "Who is H.I.S. BridgeBuilders?" The hope is that in the coming year as they see H.I.S. BridgeBuilders offering a Bible study or having another event, they will come. This initial outreach at Christmas was to let them know H.I.S. BridgeBuilders cares and is now a part of their community.

We give God all the glory for this event and the future presence of H.I.S. BridgeBuilders in Clarksburg, West Virginia.