About us
About The Living Hope
 Beginnings of the Charity, The Living Hope
This desire for a charity began with the response of a biblical king, Hezekiah, king of the Jews, to a dire situation in Jerusalem. In our daily Bible reading, my wife and I were reading Isaiah chapters 36 & 37. The king of Assyria captures the whole land and laid siege Jerusalem. Then he sent messengers to insult the Jews’ God, undermine Hezekiah and demoralise the Jews, while offering rewards if they surrendered. However, there is a disguised threat – the Assyrians will take the Jews to Assyria as slaves. In 37 Hezekiah sends messengers to ask for the prophet Isaiah’s help. Isaiah passed on God’s promise Hezekiah – don’t be afraid, God will defend your people and the Assyrian king will die.Â
Meanwhile, the Assyrian king had problems and went home, but sent a threatening letter to Hezekiah, saying don’t let your god deceive you – you have no hope against our power. Reading the letter, Hezekiah dashed off to the temple and (crucially for me) ’spread it [the letter] out before the Lord’ and prayed. Isaiah sent a lengthy prophecy to Hezekiah – as God’s response to his prayer – God is in control; your people will be unharmed, unlike the Assyrian king. By the next morning, thousands of Assyrian soldiers around Jerusalem were dead. Later, the Assyrian king was killed by his two sons.
During this time, my concern for homeless people deepened. I became particularly concerned to support individuals who are ill-equipped to move from professionally supported accommodation to independent living. They are stuck – preventing others, who are sleeping rough, receiving the security and support they desperately need. So, when I read of these biblical events, I opened my hands on the Bible, like Hezekiah did with the letter, and asked for God’s help to know what to do.
Within days, I had enquiries and initiatives to support homeless people, from a variety of individuals and charities in Hereford. Several people also asked if I knew of a Christian homelessness housing charity called Green Pastures. Then I had a visit from Steve Thomas, whose life had clearly been touched by God, he and his wife, Vikki, owned a large rental property which they wanted to use to house homeless people. Very rapidly they made us an offer. We also had support from Green Pastures and increasing support from local charities. I was sure that Steve was sent by God as an answer to prayer. I believed it was God’s plan to work through Steve and now Vikki and he has – far more than I realised.
As Vikki and I spent time together, we both realized the need to establish our own charity. Thanks to Vikki’s business acumen, this happened very quickly, and The Living Hope was born.
However, we realised that Steve and Vikki’s property was too big for us, as a ‘start-up’ charity, to use. So, we have had a bid accepted for a smaller house, where we can assist individuals to develop positive approaches for sustainable, independent and fulfilling lives. The Living Hope is developing rapidly. I believe God will ensure it thrives, with many more challenges, surprises and joys on the way!
Our charitable objectives
The prevention or relief of poverty by:
- Promoting the effective use of emergency, and potentially life-saving, accommodation for individuals who are rough sleeping in Herefordshire;
- Providing accommodation and a support programme to help homeless people ‘move on’ from transition housing, where residents have been supported by specialist staff;
- Providing grants, items and services to individuals in need, and/or charities, or other organisations working to prevent or relieve poverty.
Sid Freeman
