Hope 08 - in our Villages, Towns and Cities

It’s the beginning of a new year, and HOPE 2008 has officially begun across the UK. Inspired by the impact of large-scale events such as Message 2000 in Manchester and London’s Soul in the City, HOPE 2008 is a national initiative calling on every church, denomination and person in the UK to work together to do more to reach people where they live with the good news of Jesus during this next twelve months. It acknowledges that for years, Christians in this nation have
been loving and serving their communities in brilliant and creative ways, and hopes to harness this activity to motivate and equip all of us to ‘do more’, ‘do it together’ and ‘do it in word and action’.

So what is HOPE 2008 going to look like? The national team have provided a broad framework for the year, but they want this to be flexible rather than prescriptive - encouraging towns and cities to tailor their activities to their communities. What actually happens relies on locally organised initiatives, with the HOPE 2008 team providing relevant and accessible nationally coordinated resources, so it’s not a case of sitting back and waiting for it to materialise!

In Southampton, HOPE 2008 kicked off with a watchnight prayer celebration event on New Years Eve at Central Baptist Church. Plans for the rest of the year include several churches running the evangelism training course Lost For Words during Lent, a city-wide service tied into the Global Day of Prayer at Pentecost, teams of people serving their communities as part of May’s Million Hours of Kindness and, potentially, four weeks in four different parts of the city with Miracle Street - who have become a central partnership ministry of HOPE.

of course, HOPE 2008 is not just about ‘events’. It is about all of us who know that God has called us to love our neighbour, finding an outlet to do just that, working together with other Christians across the city for inspiration and support. For many of us, it can just be a case of knowing where to start. There are probably several Christians on your street whom you have seldom met or chatted to. Why not consider making contact with them and having an evening of prayer for your neighbours or organising a street party together?! If you are at work or school, then get thinking of simple ways to bless the people you are around each day.

Southampton Christian Network are using www.southamptonchristiannetwork.org.uk as a point of communication and co-ordination for events in Southampton throughout HOPE 2008. If you have an idea for an event or are organising anything then you can let others know about it by emailing it to katie@southamptonchristiannetwork.org.uk. Keep an eye on www.hope08.com for the
national picture, and why not make a definite decision now to be involved this year? Roy Crowne, director of Youth For Christ and a founder of the HOPE movement said:

“This initiative has the potential to be a catalyst, not just for one year. My dream is that it seeds a movement of word and deed evangelism which transforms lives, families and communities. Therefore, with faith, love and HOPE let’s have confidence and courage to go for it together.”

Let’s do it!