Faye

‘Over the Easter weekend, we were serving coffee to people that were walking around with their families, and we were giving out gardening boxes and “Hope for All” magazines,’ said Faye Clarke, leader of Elohim Christian Church in Barlestone, talking to Hope Together about how her church has used the magazines as part of their community outreach throughout the COVID-19 outbreak.

‘We got chatting to one lady who came to pick up a gardening box, full of things for her to grow. She had moved house during the pandemic, and her dad had died recently. As she started to share about her life, we started to talk with her about the God of hope. We gave her a copy of ‘Hope for All’ and a little card with an encouraging Bible verse on it and she said “I’ve never met anybody like you before!” We were able to talk about God in us and God at work in us and how when we know Jesus he transforms our life and is our hope and anchor in every storm.’

Sharing the gospel through actions and words

This was just one of many encounters Faye and the members of her church have had as they’ve sought to bring hope to their community over the last year and a half. They’ve combined practical action and care for their community with sharing the hope of the gospel through words. One of the ways they’ve done this has been gifting people a copy of ‘Hope for All’, which is a colourful, engaging, accessible magazine, full of real-life testimonies and stories from Christian celebrities, aimed at people who don’t usually attend church.

‘We use the magazines because they’re totally amazing!’ said Faye. ‘They’re relevant and they speak about the gospel really clearly. They are the best resource that we have, I feel, that can go into homes, so at Christmas and at Easter, we’ve always purchased around 1500 Hope for All magazines to give away.’

Members of the church deliver a copy to every house in their community, which leaves them with around 400 spare. They put these out on tables in their church café for people to read, church members who live in neighbouring villages take them to distribute, and people leave them on their coffee tables for people to read when they come round.



‘It’s so easy to just give them away to a neighbour, or if you’ve got somebody coming round. And if someone's struggling, you can say, “Have a look in there, this might help you!”’ said Faye. ‘There aren’t many of these kinds of resources around. They always feature celebrities that people would know, and who you’d probably not expect to have those kinds of stories or testimonies.’

A perfect conversation-starter

The church often adds in a little message from the churches together in Barlestone – for example, advertising their Christmas services – as well as a free voucher for a coffee in their café. ‘People that take it will feed back and say how much they’ve enjoyed it,’ said Faye. ‘It’s a great conversation-opener at the café as well. I love reading them as well, even as someone who already has a faith! But also, they are just such a relevant, easily accessible tool for people who don’t yet know Jesus – so for us, it’s a win-win! Plus so many people are looking for hope, especially at the moment.’

Could the Hope for All magazine be a useful tool for your church to reach out into your community with a message of hope? They’re still available to purchase from the Hope Together shop, for just £0.10 a copy!