# @hopewdm on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DCaTRknvSnk
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/24885279-hopewdm-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/legacy-do/91a923332b6c879e0f0e4762141cfd04cbb2b756a5ef51a29c0fa2b4aeb3af87.jpg
- **Posted:** 2024-11-15T23:46:10.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** HOPE (@HopeWDM) — https://gondola.cc/HopeWDM

## Caption

My Hope story begins at the office building behind Perkins off Hickman Road in 1991. My husband, “Music Mike,” and I were newly married, and he was asked to play keyboard for a mission church. There were maybe 15-20 people attending, our first choir was 8-10 people, our first Vacation Bible School had six to eight kids, and there was a pastor and an interim pastor before Pastor Mike arrived on the scene. Soon after, God really started moving, and he hasn’t stopped.
 
Church of the Land at Living History Farms was Hope’s next home. I was part of the first praise band when we started a contemporary service, and was also one of the first 100 charter members of Lutheran Church of Hope.
 
Next, at Hope’s first location on Ashworth Road, the building grew in phases, often to meet the capacity of people who were already attending. God was on the move. I remember attending a conference in Arizona, and the pastor of that church shared with Pastor Mike that he was “called to lead thousands.” So, seeing Lutheran Church of Hope thousands strong and with multiple campuses and Local Sites today is amazing!
 
Our journey to parenthood is a big part of my Hope story. In 2001, Mike and I lived in Windsor Heights and were not able to have children. We were encouraged by friends to go on a Jamaican mission trip. After service at a local chapel, a young boy latched on to Mike, and when I saw them together, I felt in my heart that this was the child God had planned for us. The next day we learned that his middle name was Michael and he was from Windsor Heights, St. Ann’s Bay, Jamaica. God was confirming what I had felt in my heart. A year later, Raymond Michael became our son. In 2003, we met our daughter, Sheila, on another Jamaican mission trip, and she eventually  became our daughter. I never planned or imagined becoming a parent through adoption, but it has been so fulfilling.
 
Today I continue serving at Hope, singing in the choir, volunteering on local mission projects and providing special music for services. It is a church I’ve grown up with and a great place to call ‘home.’
 
Erika Horstmann
#HopeStories

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## Credits

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## Tags

hopestories

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