This Detroit Gang Has a Mission to "Revamp the City with Jesus-Loving Children"

Lindsay Elizabeth : Jul 25, 2018
Faithwire

"Many of them come from homes that are filled with despair and hopelessness, but we know that through Jesus Christ there is hope." – Pastor Matt Cripps

(Detroit, MI) — [Faithwire.com] Detroit has gained an awful reputation over the years for its financial struggles and skyrocketing crime rates. But after years of what felt like a downhill spiral, the city is on the mend. While the government and large corporations will be given most of the credit for the rebuild, such a drastic turnaround wouldn't be possible without the efforts of local community leaders and nonprofits. (Photo Credit: CBN News via YouTube)

"Good News Gang" is an inner-city ministry whose mission is to rebuild some of Detroit's roughest neighborhoods.

Matt Cripps, the pastor of Metro Life Church, started Good News Gang in 1989, when he realized how much the community around him was hurting.

Cripps grew up in and out of foster homes in Detroit and has had a passion for Jesus and the city since he was young. He empathizes with the kids he works with because he knows "from his own experience that the emptiness and pain could only be filled by the love of Christ."

The Good News Gang is "committed to equipping the children of Detroit to become leaders of the next generation," part of the mission being to revamp the city with a population of Jesus loving children.

The organization's website cites its three main functions:

Helping children encounter the hope and love of Christ through our weekly Saturday program, summer camps and personal mentorship.

• Investing personally in the lives of the children we serve through consistent one-on-one relationships, weekly home visits and child sponsorship.
• Meeting physical needs that hinder personal and spiritual growth, such as school supplies, coats and food.

But how do they get these children to their weekend programs? They pick them up in 10 vans they call "soul-winning machines."

In a recent interview with CBN News, Cripps gave an inside look at the daily operations of his ministry.

Even on the days where it takes extra prodding to get kids to go to the Good News Gang, the pastor said it is still more than worth it for him.

"We want to see their lives radically transformed by the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ," Cripps told CBN. "And throughout the week, we're knocking on their doors; we're praying with their families; we're inviting them to Good News Gang, and most importantly, we're establishing a relationship."

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