Hope 2008 Birmingham, hope in our towns, villages & cities
Hope08 Birmingham
What would you do if you had more money?
Or more time?
What if you weren’t tied down by red tape?
What if your community was fully behind you?
Let’s find out, together.
Churches in Birmingham are coming together, to give meaning to the message of hope that Jesus came to bring. Every community needs something. Maybe it’s a practical need such as cleaning, teaching, or healing. Maybe it's a spiritual need in a community broken by crime, poverty and anger. Whatever the need, the Christians of Birmingham are coming together to try and help.
This is just the beginning. We are aiming to add news, events, and so much more! So keep coming back and get involved.
Upcoming Events
ROCK - the story of Simon Peter
November 1, 2008
Premiere of Roger Jones’ latest musical on the life of Simon Peter. Tickets are now on sale at the Adrian Boult Hall in Birmingham. http://rockthemusical.blogspot.com/
1 and 2 November 7.30pm
GREAT BIG CHRISTMAS SING
October 29, 2008
Friday 5th December 7pm
St Martins in the Bullring
An Eclectic Evening of your favourite carols with guest performances and vivid reflections on today’s Bethlehem
Host of the night is Birmingham Poet Laureate 2006/7 Spoz
Guests include Paul Carr, Organist and President of Birmingham Organists Assosiaction and Nader Abu Amsha, Director of YMCA Bethlehem
Tickets £10 (includes FAIRTRADE refreshments)
All proceeds […]
An Evening with Syd Little (of Little & Large)
August 14, 2008
Bearwood Baptist Church
27th September, 7pm
Syd Little gives an informal interview about his kids, his work and how Jesus is working in his life. There will be the opportunity during the evening for people to find out about Alpha and there will be an opportunity for private prayer (for those who want this). There is no […]
Previous Events
Raising awareness about drugs
These days (and perhaps it’s always been the case), teenage life can be a bit of a rollercoaster ride. As well as dealing with adolescence and developing a sense of identity, they face all kinds of dangers and pressures from peers. Teen soap Hollyoaks regularly deals with teen issues – in fact, it’s currently running a […]
Community Group Activity through Karis Neighbour Scheme
On a Thursday evening a dozen people from the Moseley/ Kings Heath Community Group turned up at the Ladywood home of a lady who had requested help from Karis with tidying her garden and painting the walls and woodwork of her large hallway, stairs and landing.
We soon had a team armed with brushes, rollers and […]
Community Group Gardening
Over the course of 6 hours on Cup Final Saturday ten people turned up to work on the garden of a neighbour of a Community Group member. The front garden was a weed covered patch bordered by an overgrown privet hedge. The huge back garden was an overgrown grass area full of brambles, junk […]
Healing in Birmingham
Healing and restoration is an important thread throughout the Bible and In the Old Testament, physical healing and spiritual restoration are intertwined. The prophets tell the story of God’s judgment towards the sin of
Jesus’ ministry was largely one of physical and spiritual healing. His healing ministry appears to be a signal of the coming
And the desire to heal in Jesus’ name is spreading across
Several churches have sensed a mission for healing and have set up various means of doing this.
Parentless Children Need Hope
“I wonder what picture comes into your mind when you hear the word “orphan”? For me, it’s a picture of a vulnerable malnourished child in Africa, struggling for survival. Surely we don’t have orphans in our society, do we? And if there are any, they must be fine, mustn’t they?”
Our anonymous writer reports on the plight of Britain’s 60,000 modern orphans and gives you some ideas for how you can help.
In Need of Hope: Orphans of Birmingham
The Bible on Hope
Hope is mentioned quite a bit in the Bible. See what it has to say in this resource of biblical quotes.
The Bible on Hope (pdf, 247kb)
Interview with a local
Miriam Gaskell is one of those people that inspires. Sitting in her living room, listening to her talk about her passion for her neighbourhood really made an impression on me. She believes in the importance of strong neighbourhood communities and longs to see people know God’s love. Miriam first came to Birmingham in 2001 to train as a physiotherapist at the University of Birmingham. Now a practising physio, she has made Birmingham her home and has developed a real heart and vision for the Stirchley estate in which she lives. But Miriam doesn’t just ta lk, she acts, and in her spare time she’s working towards setting up a youth group on the estate. I asked Miriam about neighbourhood, community and her vision for transforming the lives of those who live around her.
Hope Quotes
A simple collection of quotes about hope to help spur you on 
Hope Quotes (ppt, 6.3Mb)
Hope Quotes (pdf, 3.6Mb)
Asylum Birmingham
Birmingham: a City in need of hope
The purpose of Hope08 is to give meaning to the message of hope that Jesus came to bring. At the heart of this message is meeting the needs of those in our communities, be they physical, emotional or spiritual. Part of the Hope08 vision is to see collaboration between churches and community groups, focusing our energies on prayer and activities, creating a lasting legacy of both physical and spiritual change in the lives of communities and individuals.
The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37)
In this article, Lizzy investigates the difficulties facing asylum seekers, through speaking to local
people who work on the ground with asylum seekers and by highlighting some of the issues
raised by the Independent Asylum Commission’s interim report.
Birmingham: a city in Need of Hope? (pdf, 784kb)
Could you or a group of you at church befriend an asylum seeker?
RESTORE are running some information and training days in October. For
more info click here (pdf, 22.8kb)
Jesus, Hope and Us
This piece came to us from an anonymous author, a combination of images and text talking about how Jesus’ message is all about hope. Beautifully written, maybe we can persuade the author to write more - let us know if you like it.
Jesus, Hope and Us (pdf, 264kb)
Raising awareness about drugs
These days (and perhaps it’s always been the case), teenage life can be a bit of a rollercoaster ride. As well as dealing with adolescence and developing a sense of identity, they face all kinds of dangers and pressures from peers. Teen soap Hollyoaks regularly deals with teen issues – in fact, it’s currently running a story about drug addiction. Kids certainly know more about the drugs culture than most adults do. At least, that’s what parents reported at one parenting course run by Riverside Church last year. So Riverside decided to do something about it. Earlier this month, they ran a drug awareness event for parents – free of charge as part of Hope08. The event was organised in conjunction with Queensbridge School, Moseley, and the Local Health Authority.
Tony Ayres, seconded from the Police to work as a PHSE advisor to schools, led the informal morning session. The session was opened by Dave from Riverside Church who told his own story of drug addiction and recovery. Tony then took over to explain the ins and outs of drug use and addiction. The session was extremely engaging and informative and even included a session in which the attendees had to identify various mock drugs that were handed around. Tony also covered alcohol, substance abuse, prescribed and performance related drugs. Real life stories, media articles and pictures brought the reality of drug use alive and served to highlight the importance of educating children about the dangers of various substances from an early age. Whilst this session was a great success in educating parents about drugs and addiction, it also highlighted ways of engaging children in talking about these issues. This was a very successful event that really went to the heart of meeting a real need in the community.
Posters !
Lizzy has put together a great poster to help get the word out about the site and about Hope in Birmingham generally.
If you’re looking for easy ways to help, printing one or two of these off and popping them up on your notice board would be great