I can. It is a light that gives me hope in the face of this pandemic.  

Church volunteers are packing kitchen cupboards with food to welcome the homeless home. Church volunteers are forming support bubbles with women fleeing domestic violence finding safety in a new home. Church volunteers are helping children to read via Zoom to narrow the gap that homelessness leaves. 

In hundreds of ways Churches are stepping up, meeting Jesus in the poor and growing in the knowledge that we are alive for one another.  

That’s Church power. And those are the kind of stories we love to tell online here in our blog and in our book, A House Built on Love. 

We are able to bring you these stories because of the generosity of our supporters. Particularly our wonderful community of Hope Givers who donate £3 a month or more. Their collective strength provides a rock for what we do. 

Our donors are a cornerstone of the community that makes every story possible. Regular support enables us to sustain and train existing and new church partners to reach more people so desperately in need of the love of a Church Community and a home. 

Did you see the headline that 207,543 households approached their local council for help with homelessness or the threat of homelessness between April and December 2020? This is not just people who have been evicted. In our experience, homelessness is often a direct result of relationship breakdown. Through us churches are offering homes and love to those fleeing domestic violence and those who can no longer sofa surf because of the pandemic. 

Churches like our new partners, St Mary Magdalene in Gorleston, Norfolk, a small local church with a huge heart. Rev Matthew Price told us why they are opening a new home for 3 male tenants in the heart of their neighbourhood: 

“For some years we have been involved in supporting people in homeless situations or on the edge of homelessness and this partnership represents a natural progression for our work as a church.  
  
Hope into Action’s track record of success in supporting people out of homelessness is excellent and we are excited about joining in with this work. Transformation is at the heart of the good news of the gospel and the Hope into Action model provides a framework which our church congregation can be involved in and support God’s transforming work in the life of the tenants.” 

It is because of messages like this that I am hoping more people can give monthly towards our vision of home in every Church community.  

If after reading this you can give just a little each month, it will make a tremendous difference. You will help our Hope into Action church community get through this time. And keep the stories of Hope coming for everyone. 

We are all worried about the future but I am hoping as you read this you might accept our invitation to become a Hope Giver with a monthly donation of just £3 or more? 

We would love 10 people to sign up as new Hope Givers this month. Remember the mustard seed, the smallest of the seeds? Once sown, it grows into the biggest shrub sheltering the birds in its branches. Any sum, however small, can go a long way toward ensuring that despite this crisis, positive stories can continue to be created and shared. 

If you feel moved to give monthly to Hope into Action locally, please contact them 

Be a Hope Giver