Last Thursday night was a night to remember! Hundreds of people from all across the state gathered to celebrate restoration, second chances and HOPE!
From the git-go, our staff and volunteers set out to make Night of Hope Tulsa a party style atmosphere in which people left feeling inspired, uplifted and ultimately loved. By all accounts we succeeded!
As you can see by the pictures, the guests arrived and were welcome by a crew of energized, wild and crazy blue-shirted volunteers that clapped, cheered, hi-fived and yelled their hearts out for each person as they made their way down the celebratory blue carpet runway.
(Check out all the pictures here: Night of Hope Tulsa Picture Gallery)
At the end of the blue carpet runway guests were greeted by our outstanding professional photographers who snapped their pictures in front of the themed backdrop. These pics came out great, make sure you go check them out, buy a few and post them on FB, Twitter, or IG. #NOHTulsa of course…
Once inside, attendees could peruse over a dozen exhibits to find out about all the great resources on addiction we have here in Oklahoma. Near 7:00 the guests began to make their way into the worship center and found bright blue NOH goodie bags full of fun stuff waiting on each chair.
As the countdown hit 0:00, the worship team began an incredible music set featuring the Jesus Culture tune “Forevermore” whose opening lyrics “Hope, Hope is Alive in me” perfectly kicked off the evening. Next up the band played through Matt Redman’s emotionally packed ballad “Never Once” which had the crowd fully engaged and ready to witness the powerful video testimonies of two Hope is Alive Ministries volunteers and supporters, Wade Quinton and Matt Schenck.
As the worship set came to an end the crowd was hyped and ready to hear from the speakers. As I made my way to the stage, the energy was off the charts. I’ve never experienced such a powerful feeling of “life” in a room. It was awesome!
Coach Sean Sutton was first up and gave an emotional, heart-felt and vulnerable speech. He talked about the pressure of growing up in the spotlight, his battle with depression, the humiliation he felt after losing his job and told stories of his trips to treatment. He inspired the crowd by proclaiming that WE WILL outlive our darkest days and that HOPE is Alive! He said, “By the grace of God, I pray that my darkest days are behind me, regardless if they are or not, I know that my faith in God will carry me through.” Coach Sutton closed and was greeted by a standing ovation as Oklahoman’s showed just how proud they were of all he has done to bounce back.
As Coach Sutton ended, the audience was stirred into a frenzy with the goal of taking the most creative “selfie” or “groupie”. The prize of an iPad Mini awaited the winner and as you can see the choice was not easy!
You can view all of these awesome shots, by searching #NOHTulsa on Instagram, FB or Twitter.
After the selfie contest the crowd was anxious to hear from the keynote speaker. Darryl Strawberry graced the stage and in his typical fashion knocked his speech out of the park. He boldly talked about his past, his ups and his downs. He claimed his mistakes and spoke specifically to his struggle to maintain his sobriety under the watchful eye of the New York media. What I loved about Mr. Strawberry was his clear depiction of a life transformed. No one in the room could doubt that God had done an incredible work in his life. Mr. Strawberry was passionate and unashamed to proclaim that God had done for him what he could not do for himself. He gave a clear presentation of the gospel of Jesus Christ and inspired hope in the lives of all attendees.
On a personal note, in case you were curious how it was to work with Mr. Strawberry… Let me just say… in a word: Outstanding!
Darryl was gracious from the moment he stepped foot on the church property. He conducted 3 interviews backstage, took hundreds of pictures and even stayed after the event to meet with every single person that wanted to shake his hand. He was a class act through and through!
As we begin to tie a bow around Night of Hope Tulsa, many of you now know what this event is really all about. I hope you see that its about freedom, joy, happiness, love, acceptance and lots and lots of HOPE! As we move forward with planning our next Night of Hope event you may be thinking, how do I get involved? Maybe you want your organization to be a sponsor or maybe you wanna join the wild bunch of blue shirts we call the Hope Squad. If so, head over to the Connect Page on the new HIA website and drop us a line. Tell us how you want to begin spreading hope to others at future Night of Hope events.
In closing, at the end of the day my prayer for the event and any event we present is that ONE life would be changed. If that happens, then all the work, all the money and all the time were well, well worth it! And with tears in my eyes I can write today without a doubt in my mind that several lives were changed forever through Night of Hope Tulsa!
So will we do it again??? Absolutely!…..Details coming soon.
-Hope is Alive
