Heath Monaghan, Church Leader at Aspire Church in Isle of Wight explains the impact on his church of partnering with Hope into Action:

We got involved with Hope into Action when one of our members discovered it and would not stop badgering me until I looked at the website and the leaflets. 

“BAM!” It was one of those God instances. Ed Walker and I have a similar background in housing.  We’re both passionate about the potential for a social action organisation to be a fresh expression of God’s love. In short, Ed’s organisation scratched an itch I’d had for a long time! 

We opened our first house in February this year, offering two spaces for vulnerable women. We have aspirations to open more homes according to the need. People are already knocking on the door so the demand for more is clear. 

We’ve made fantastic local partnerships with the Probation Service and the Local Authority who are actively requesting more places. The support we’ve had from Hope into Action has been superb: they’ve had a handle on everything and have helped us immensely since we started working with them. 

It’s hard work, but the rewards are immeasurable. Matching people who want to be supporters with the people who need their support is a joy to witness.  Watching one of the ladies really start to thrive and blossom – it’s tremendous. She has become very involved in the work of Aspire Church at Ryde and comes in to cook Thai food once a week for all the staff. She’s on the fringes drawing ever closer... 

The ability to welcome people, to give them a sense of belonging and to see wonderful relationships and friendships being forged is a blessing in itself. 

Obviously there have been some challenges – but you can’t do anything like this without the odd hiccup. We get fantastic support from Hope into Action and we’ve learnt form the challenges. They’ve made us stronger and better equipped to put that new knowledge into practice. 

Our mentors get a great deal out of their involvement; as well as the satisfaction of knowing that they’re practically supporting someone, they can see the transformation of individual lives. 

If you think your church could be involved in transformations like this, give us a call on 01733 558301 or email us via the contact us button.  We would love to hear from you.

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