We’ve been working with Amy (not her real name) for the last six years, since she was just 11. She’s had lots of tough things to deal with in her life – she didn’t engage well at school and was passed around social services from a young age.

Her future looked likely to follow the same pattern as her family’s past – three generations without work, education or training. She always seemed to think she couldn’t do anything.

Amy started coming along to one of our follow-on sessions where we cooked tea together, ate and chatted. We noticed that cooking seemed to really inspire her so we started encouraging her to have a go. To our amazement, this August she had enough confidence to apply for a course in catering at college – and they accepted her!

With a bit of support, Amy’s now doing really well. We believe that showing her unconditional love over the long term has helped her to realise that she is valuable and can do something positive with her life – what a transformation!

We need your help to put another vital Eden Bus on the road. Will you ‘get on board’?

many years of faithful service, one of our two Eden Buses is about to go into retirement. We’re now seeking your help to put a new Eden Bus on the road.

The Eden Bus is much more than a youth club on wheels; it’s aimed at those hanging around with nothing to do, sometimes getting involved in anti-social behaviour.

And it’s working – to the point where reports of anti-social behaviour have fallen as relationships between young people, local churches and police are strengthened.

Demand for the Buses’ unique contribution to community transformation has never been higher and young people are starting to say ‘I can’ instead of ‘I can’t’.

Our friends at Stagecoach Manchester are generously donating a bus. But before we can take it out on the streets it needs a thorough refit to make it a safe, attractive youth facility on wheels.

Will you stand with us to help refit this new bus? We need 100 people to donate £22 each month for 3 years so our work can continue to give hope to a lost generation.

Click here to download a form to start giving to the Eden Bus project today.

Since Message 2000, The Message has been involved with well over a thousand more community action projects in every corner of Greater Manchester.

‘We’ve cleaned and painted and fixed and helped, and as a result, crime has come down, whole areas have been changed, and — yes — we’ve been privileged to have some great opportunities to share our faith’ says Andy Hawthorne.

‘For me the secret to success in any ministry is to genuinely combine word and deed. We have to ditch the dualism that says that it’s only words that matter, or that actions win out every time. We have to have both, because that’s how Jesus did it.’

The latest in this long line of word and deed evangelism projects is this year’s Shine Your Light campaign. This nationwide initiative fronted by Lindz West and LZ7 kicked off earlier this year with the Shine Your Light website. It will continue throughout the summer on a long tour of Christian festivals.

The campaign challenges young people to do fifteen specific acts of kindness for their friends, family and local community, including spending time with the elderly, buying lunch for a homeless person or dropping in a thank you card to the local police station.

After completing each challenge, young people are encouraged to post pictures, videos and stories on the website and Facebook, helping spread the positive and encourage others to do the same. The goal is the same as ever – that these small acts of kindness will point towards a generous God and provide opportunities for the good news.

‘Facebook and social networking give us an unprecedented way of communicating with vast numbers of people,’ comments Andy. ‘They make peer-to-peer evangelism easier than ever before.’

Shine Your Light ties in with a government campaign for young people, Shine Week, running from July 12-16. Over 6,000 school and organisations took part in Shine Week last year, involving nearly 1 million young people, showcasing their talent and putting young people in a positive light. Shine Week’s theme song is none other than LZ7’s This Little Light, which will be released into the UK charts at the end of the summer.

A nationwide competition to create a music video for the expected chart hit is one of the ways young people will be able to engage with Shine Week, bringing many into contact with The Message’s bands for the first time and opening doors for sharing the good news.

‘Shine Your Light and Shine Week really are awesome opportunities for the good news to go further than ever – quickly and relevantly,’ says Andy. ‘This has all the potential to be the biggest thing we’ve ever been involved with.’

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Perhaps the most powerful change in all has been in the lives of the thousands of individuals who took part in serving during ‘word and deed’ events.

One young man, Tim Mycock, was 19 at the time of Message 2000. He had made a commitment to Christ at a World Wide Message Tribe gig some years earlier and had volunteered to help on the merchandise stand during Message 2000.

Finding himself with a bit of time on his hands during the day, Tim volunteered to help wherever he was needed and was soon asked to go and help with a project in Oldham where a particular young man had been causing discipline problems. Tim picks up the story:

‘My first introduction to this kid was to stop him bringing a chair down on the head of another young person. He was a troubled young man but through the week as I got to know his story and understand him, God broke my heart for him and other young men on the margins, the disaffected.’

‘A police officer I talked to told me about him. He called him a lost cause, a hopeless case. I knew that wasn’t true – that God could change his life if he’d let him. On the last night of the event, miraculously this kid showed up and I had the chance to pray with him as he gave his life to Christ.’

As a result of serving on Message 2000, Tim gave up his ambition to be a music teacher and instead trained with The Message’s Xcelerate course. Today he works with young offenders with the Reflex prisons team.

‘I never saw him again so I don’t know where he ended up. But I wish I could have a chance to let that young man know that getting to know him had a profound impact on my life.’

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One of the most remarked-upon aspects of community action evangelism events is how they act as a catalyst for unity among churches. This always produces results far greater than churches could ever see alone.

Momentum from unity-building work among churches for Festival:Manchester in 2003, resulted in the creation of an initiative designed to help churches support their local police and the public sector, Redeeming Our Communities.

The strength of the partnership which has developed over the years will be shown by a Community Showcase event at the Manchester Velodrome on June 30, held in association with Greater Manchester Police and Fire and Rescue Services. And the results speak for themselves: Greater Manchester Police’s latest figures show crime at its lowest level for 10 years – a fact which they attribute to their operations, changes to policing and new initiatives like Redeeming Our Communities.

What was pioneered in Manchester is now being investigated and adopted by other cities. A Merseyside initiative launched last year; Birmingham launches in November 2010 and London in April 2011. Redeeming Our Communities is also now working with the police nationally through the National Policing Improvement Agency which works with all 43 police divisions in England and Wales and the Home Office.

Debra Green, founder, remarks: ‘There has been a bridge built across the sacred-secular divide which we would never in our wildest dreams have thought possible ten years ago. The idea that we could put on a big event that politicians, police, local authorities would gladly come and be a part of – and that is unashamedly Christian – was inconceivable.’

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The Message is excited to be one of the organisations backing HOPE Together, building on the momentum generated by HOPE 08 in seeing UK churches doing more, together and in both word and action for their local communities.

Launched last week, HOPE Together is a continuation of HOPE 08 which saw 1,500 areas find ways of being good news and bringing hope outside of their church buildings.

The initiative aims to help the Church build on mission activity and become even more outward-looking over the next four years, leading toward an all-out year of mission in 2014.

Roy Crowne, Executive Director of HOPE Together, spoke to over 40,000 people at the launch which took place at the ExCel Centre, London on 23 July.

He said: “Our dream is that we would see what the Lord Jesus sees – he doesn’t see the differences in tradition or styles of worship but he sees His Church, the body of Christ. His prayer is that we would unite in the purpose and the mission of God – that mission is to cause our church to be outward focused, to express acts of kindness and then to communicate the love of God in the good news of Jesus Christ.

“We may differ in the things we do but we need to celebrate diversity and understand that we have strengths when we work together – find a way to work together for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and for the sake of those outside of the kingdom.”

Message CEO Andy Hawthorne was one of the founders of HOPE 08, alongside Soul Survivor leader Mike Pilavachi and then-YFC head Roy Crowne.

They set up HOPE 08 to be a catalyst to encourage and inspire churches in villages, towns and cities to do mission in order to demonstrate God’s love by doing more, doing it together, and doing it in word and action, and working with Government bodies, police and the media within communities.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AS9_Pg80QzQ[/youtube]

Find out more about HOPE Together on their website.

Message 2000 was a kick-start for several new churches and community organisations, including G-Force, a charity working with children, young people and families on the Broomwood estate in South Trafford.

The four-day focus on social action activities during Message 2000, served to highlight the needs in Broomwood and identified Paul and Tina Huxley, leaders of a local Christian youth group, as community action entrepreneurs.

Tina explains: ‘For Message 2000, we had 100 volunteers come into the area to do projects focussing on cleaning up the woods, shifting rubbish, planting flower beds and cleaning round the youth centre, with a big fun day to close. I think it highlighted the big issues on the estate which we knew were there but this really brought them into the light.’

It seemed natural for the couple to set up a community association, involving parents and local residents. This led to God opening doors up for them supporting needy individuals and families; special courses in local schools; adult education classes and groups for the elderly; an arts and crafts drop-in in Altrincham town centre, and a community cafe in the heart of the Broomwood.

Most recently, the group has been involved in a consultation and fundraising with local young people to redevelop local park land.

In just ten years, G-Force has won several prestigious awards for its pioneering work, and has become a magnet for funding from local authorities and businesses. What started as a small youth group surviving on revenues from the tuck-shop on a Saturday night now supports five full time staff and a host of part-time people in face-to-face contact with over 900 children and young people a year.

‘You realise there are certain milestones in the development of G-Force and one of those was Message 2000 and all those guys coming in,’ reflects Paul.

‘The impression they made and the impact within the hearts of the people in the community was huge – they didn’t just change the environment but there was a sea-change in the way local people looked upon Broomwood as the place where they lived. They saw how it could change and the assets that were there but were being overlooked – like the woods.

‘It was inspirational for the community and inspirational for other agencies working here too, one of whom gave us a grant to put a beautiful fence up around the woods, saying “Broomwood Community Woods”. They suddenly realised, hey, we can do stuff here. It all came from Message 2000.’

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‘I was surprised. What on earth did washing someone’s car have to do with the gospel? How did painting park benches lead to salvation? I couldn’t remember Jesus talking about the importance of weeding communal gardens!’

But his decision to agree with the Soul Survivor leader led to the creation of Message 2000, an unprecedented festival of ‘word and deed’ evangelism that was to set the tone for the rest of the next ten years.

Over ten summer days in July 2000, 400 community action projects across Greater Manchester involved almost 10,000 young Christian volunteers in social, environmental and crime reduction projects on some of the city’s roughest and toughest estates. The results were instant and dramatic. New life burst out on old streets.

Andy continues: ‘There was something remarkable about that time we spent together in the summer of 2000. It was as if we did ten years’ work in ten days. Perhaps some of our earlier attempts at ‘hit and run evangelism’ had led people to believe that we were some kind of foaming-at-the-mouth fundamentalists. But suddenly we had the police and local authorities on our side, seeing us as a real force for good rather than people to be avoided.’

In the coming years, The Message built on this momentum with Message 2K1 (2001); Festival:Manchester, in partnership with the Luis Palau Evangelistic Association (2003); the Big Deal weekends in Salford, Stockport and Macclesfield (2005-6); the UK-wide Hope 08 initiative in partnership with dozens of other agencies and thousands of local churches (2008), and last summer’s 10,000 Hours of Hope, part of the !Audacious youth conference.

Stories of how lives were changed and whole new initiatives were birthed as a result of Message 2000 and subsequent word and deed evangelism find their way back to The Message all the time.

Communities benefitted from the sudden influx of fired-up young people with a paint brush in their hand and a smile on their face. In several cases, whole new churches or community organisations were set up as a direct consequence of people being inspired by what they saw was possible when churches worked together to make a difference.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be looking back on Message 2000 and asking: what’s changed?

Church unity grown

Local communities transformed

Individual lives impacted

What’s next?

Until recently Greater Manchester was known as the ‘ASBO capital of the UK’ reflecting the high number of antisocial behaviour orders imposed across the city since they were introduced in 1999. Around half were imposed on youths under the age of 17.

But that’s beginning to change thanks in part to new partnerships between the police, communities, churches and organisations like The Message. Leading the way is the innovative Eden Bus project. Its two double decker buses show up weekly in some of Manchester’s toughest neighbourhoods, acting as a focus for long-term youth work, and a remedy for youth crime and antisocial behaviour.

Bus Project Manager Julie Mason explains: ‘On our estates in the city there are so many young people just hanging around, nothing to do, nowhere to go. At the same time, within our churches we’ve got hundreds of people who really care about the kids in their own communities. What the Eden Bus does is put the two together.’

Each bus is fitted out with hi-tech gadgets and games but more traditional games, including skipping, football and rounders, are just as popular: ‘We try to get kids involved in activities which cause them to chat to each other and interact with the adult volunteers on the bus’, adds Julie.

The Eden Bus team works in partnership with local churches who supply volunteers with a heart for local young people. Increasingly support is also being provided by police and local authorities who are beginning to see the bus as a powerful way of fighting nuisance behaviour and crime.

One partnership that has seen particular success over the last year is in the Limeside area of Oldham. There, local police turned to churches and third-sector organisations to help tackle problem behaviour among young people around Limeside.

In the autumn of 2009, neighbourhood police Inspector David Stopford began planning with local groups for a three-month dispersal order. But the approach was different from the beginning.

‘Dispersal orders are often initiated by the police on their own, without partners,’ Inspector Stopford told us. ‘It’s one tool in the toolbox to deal with young people acting in an antisocial manner. This is fine but what you can end up doing is simply moving a problem from A to B, and not really solving the root issues.’

‘What we tried to do this time is to work with partners to provide positive diversionary activities for young people. So it’s not just been about law enforcement, it’s been about providing good facilities for young people to go to, rather than hanging around on street corners.’

By the time the dispersal order began in December, several new initiatives for young people were in place, including the Eden Bus, strongly supported locally by New Life Church in Failsworth.

The partnership was a huge success. Inspector Stopford’s team saw a reduction of over 50% in calls about antisocial behaviour from the general public from December to March. Reports of associated crimes such as criminal damage and vehicle crime were also down. It’s a trend that he believes will continue:

‘It’s had a great impact. Right from the launch of the initiative in December, the young people have understood why we’re running this dispersal order and seen how groups of young people can be intimidating to other residents. They’ve also seen our motivation to put something on for them – facilities, initiatives, opportunities – and these things will continue even though the dispersal order has finished.’

The project has also succeeded in changing young people’s attitudes towards the police, their community and the church, believes Julie Mason:

‘We can certainly see a difference within the young people and the way they interact, both with us and the police. They were quite sceptical at first but that’s disappeared. They’re starting to come to the bus volunteers with issues and asking for support in the things they want to achieve in their lives. It’s a real testament to the people working on the project.

‘Barriers between young and older people in the community are beginning to break down. I’m delighted that the Eden Bus has played a part in that.’

To find out more about the Eden Bus project, visit www.message.org.uk/bus or call Julie Mason on 0161 946 2300.

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This article first appeared in the Summer edition of Flow Magazine.

Shine Your Light is challenging young people across the UK to do fifteen specific acts of kindness for their friends, family and local community including spending time with the elderly, buying lunch for a homeless person and dropping in a thank you card to the local police station.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRenM5O7LDM[/youtube]

It’s all designed to bring a little more light to our dark world, says Message CEO Andy Hawthorne: ‘Two thousand years ago, Jesus said’ “You are the light of the world… let your light shine. Shine Your Light is all about that – plugging in the power, ripping off the lampshades and shining brightly. We’re serious about wanting to see massive changes in our schools and communities.’

The campaign is being run online, hooking into the power of social networking and digital media. Over the next few days, new challenges will appear on the Shine Your Light homepage. As youngsters complete each task, they are encouraged to post comments and footage.

The Message hopes that over the coming weeks and months, Shine Your Light will become a massive movement which in the words of William Wilberforce will help to ‘make goodness fashionable’ in the UK.

The Shine Your Light campaign is the latest in a long line of community action projects backed by The Message over the last 10 years. Last year’s Audacious festival saw over 1,000 young people taking part in 50 area improvement projects in 25 locations across Greater Manchester.