LABELLE — Loud, joyous singing filled the air on Christmas Eve, as carolers from Bethel Holiness Church rode through neighborhoods on hayrides. Pastor Jeremy Howell Sr. and his merry congregation passed out gifts during Operation Hope Christmas, a project to bring Christmas cheer to the children of LaBelle after an arguably tough year.

“Dad lost his job, and so we didn’t think we would have any gifts for the littles,” said one teen who came out to listen. “It’s really nice that they came to pass out presents.”

The church’s dedicated group of carolers sang through sunset, and were met with many happy faces as they handed out a total of 840 wrapped gifts to boys and girls along the way. Some stopped to listen, some even joined in and sang along with the group, and everyone smiled.

“It was wonderful,” one neighbor said, “Like an old-fashioned Christmas, it’s been so long since we had heard Christmas carolers, and the hayrides full of gifts is just great.”

Bethel Holiness Church is located at 1153 Cornelia Drive in LaBelle, and service times are:
Sunday mornings 10 a.m.

You can also listen to Pastor Jeremy Howell Sr. on Spreaker: https://www.spreaker.com/user/bethelholinesschurch.