April 2026 Newsletter

Verse of the Month

I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ.

~Philemon 1:6

Paula’s Perspective

Greetings!

Wait! Would you read our verse of the month one more time?!

God is using Tangible Hope Ministries to do a lot of good work in our community. The people involved and affected by it are clearly aware of its impact. We have had a few executives from various organizations sit in on one of our Living Forward classes. Their comment always seems to go something like this:

“You can talk about these classes and tell us what is taking place, but until you actually sit through one, you have no idea the work that is being done in hearts and lives.”

We want you to know that the partnership we have with you, our prayer partners, our financial supporters, our pen pals, and our many volunteers who give their time and material items, is the reason we get to do this.

We want you to know that your partnership with us is effective. We want you to understand that the part you play in this ministry is making a difference.

We pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ.

You are welcome to stop by one of our classes. You may see for yourself what God is doing in the lives of the men and women in prison, returned citizens, and the many kids in juvenile detention centers throughout Michigan.

With gratitude,

Paula Creswell
Executive Director
Tangible Hope Ministries

Tangible Hope at the Ottawa County Juvenile Detention Center

Last fall, Tangible Hope Ministries presented four gaming systems (TVs, consoles, controllers, and games) to the JDC in Ottawa County. The detention center has now started its own Esports Youth Justice Influence League program (modeled after the one at the Kent County JDC). It’s an 8-week program that introduces structured esports activities to youth in the center. The program promotes teamwork, discipline, critical thinking, and emotional regulation through competitive gaming.

This program is designed to build self-confidence, offer opportunities to earn college scholarships, and allow students to compete in official esports tournaments for cash prizes.

We can’t change the past, but together we can reverse the future.

Your partnership allows programs like E-Sports to make a difference in youth detention centers. Click the link below to donate and help create pathways to hope, healing, and new beginnings.

Tangible Hope Ministries would like to extend our sincere thanks to Christ Lutheran Church for partnering with us as a Tangible Hope Church. We received an email from their Outreach Committee letting us know they had collected items for our “Bags of Hope” for graduating participants from our Living Forward program. We were so thrilled to receive a carload of bags filled with everything on our list! Enough items were donated to fill our bags for several months (and possibly more)! When we have a need, we can count on their Outreach Committee to step up and give more than we anticipate!

Christ Lutheran is located at 2350 44th Street SW, Wyoming, MI. Sunday services begin at 10:00 a.m. Click the link to find out all the amazing things that are happening at Christ Lutheran Church!

Your congregation can join us and become a Tangible Hope Church—walking alongside those often neglected and forgotten in our society. E-mail paulac@tangiblehopeministries.org for information on how your church can become involved.

PEN PAL GUIDELINES (and why we have them.)

Each month, we will share one of our guidelines and the reason for it. We want to clearly communicate to you the importance of maintaining these rules.

Guideline

“I will write to my pen pal at least once a month, including on their birthday and during the holidays, even if I don’t receive a letter back.”

Reason

It’s important to show your pen pal that you won’t abandon them. Most inmates eventually stop hearing from friends and family. They don’t want to start writing to a pen pal only for communication to stop abruptly. It feels like just another person who has walked away. If you consistently write, even when you don’t hear back, it builds trust.

They may not have enough money to write every month. Stamps, paper, and envelopes are expensive in prison. We are not allowed to provide these items to inmates. We have heard over and over how much getting mail means to them, and the consistency of receiving even a note each month shows a level of care and concern those of us on the outside may never understand.

If you have been writing consistently for 3 months without a response, please email us, and we will check on your pen pal to see if there are other circumstances preventing them from writing.

Subscribe