Hope08 challenges Christians to donate one million hours of kindness to UK

Hope08, the nationwide year of grassroots mission, has set the challenge to Christians to give a million hours of kindness to the UK this May bank holiday.

Christians and churches of all denominations and traditions will come together throughout the day to undertake a practical action that meets a particular need within the local community.

Mike Pilavachi, the Soul Survivor chief who founded Hope08 together with The Message Trust's Andy Hawthorne and head of Youth for Christ Roy Crowne, encouraged Christians to demonstrate God's love through their actions.

"The million hours of kindness is a million hours of worship - it's as much an expression of love for God as it is an expression of his love for others," he said.

The initiative, 'HOPE' Where You Live, is the third of the five Hope08 'high points'. The high points represent seasons of activity at different points of the year that encourage churches to carry out a particular activity knowing that other Christians across the UK are doing the same thing. 'HOPE' Where You Live will be followed up by 'HOPE' Explored, a season of outreach inviting the community to explore the Christian faith in September, and A Gift of 'HOPE' at Christmas.

Some of the activities taking place include graffiti cleaning, litter picking and painting community murals. Other more interactive acts of kindness will harness local people to help in the running of schemes like parent and toddler groups and community clear ups.

Hope08's bank holiday action also brings together some well established events, including The Noise, in which Christians across Bristol show God's love in practical ways, and Soul Action, set up by Tearfund and Soul Survivor to help Christians be good news for the world's poorest by responding to God's heart for justice.

Evening events are also proving popular, with many of the 1,500 Hope08 locations choosing to hold BBQs and gigs.

To ensure that every single act of kindness is counted, a new facility has been set up in the 'For Churches' section of the Hope 08 website (www.hope08.com) where churches can log on and report their donated hours.

Hours from across the whole year will count towards the target of a million hours, with May regarded as a high point of activity.