Willow Creek begins annual Celebration of Hope campaign

Willow Creek Community Church will host leaders from organizations in Detroit, Iraq and Kenya during their annual Celebration of Hope campaign, which runs from April 22 through May 7.

"Celebration of Hope is one of my favorite times of year," Senior Pastor Bill Hybels said. "It allows for us to reflect and learn about crises going on all over the world and understand how powerful the local church is in making a difference. It's also an invitation for people to come together and act out our faith in Jesus Christ by supporting communities across the globe who so desperately need it."

Featured speakers will include Harvey Carey of Faith Covenant Church in Detroit, Gladys Mwiti of Faith & Learning International in Nairobi, Kenya, and Jeremy Courtney of Preemptive Love Coalition in Iraq.

The Recycled Orchestra, a Paraguayan musical group of young musicians who play instruments made entirely out of garbage, will kick off the series with a concert.

The church also will host 20,000 volunteers who will be filling one million seed packs to be sent to African families.

For a full calendar of events go to willowcreek.org.