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Where do you think Jesus would place himself in your community?

What happens when an area is labelled 'deprived'? Or a country is labelled 'poor'? The way we see our community and the way it is perceived by others matters.

This pack will help us think together about where Jesus chose to locate himself and about our experience of place and community.

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On this page you will find everything you need for the fourth session of our Act on Poverty Course.

Our course pack includes:

  • Materials to help you discuss why Jesus chose to eat with 'tax collectors and sinners' (Mark 2.13-17)
  • Audio interviews with
    • Zanele Makombe, Programme Advisor for Gender & Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights at Act Ubumbano, South Africa.
    • Rev Dr Al Barrett, Rector of Hodge Hill Church, Birmingham.
    • Clare McLean, Street Connector & co-leader of FAB Church, Birmingham.
  • An inspiring video showing how regeneration, respite and revolution shape the work of the South London Mission in Bermondsey.
  • Ideas for how you and your church can take action on poverty.

Listen In: Zanele Makombe

Zanele Makombe is the Programme Advisor for Gender & Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights at Act Ubumbano - a network of European and Southern African development and faith-based organisations working for social, environmental and gender justice across a number of African countries.

Zanele speaks about the power that communities have to act for local change, and the call to serve one another as human beings and to challenge exclusion and division.

Listen In: Al Barrett and Clare McLean

Revd Dr Al Barrett is Rector of Hodge Hill Church in an area of Birmingham that has experienced significant deprivation. Clare McLean is a street connector with Open Door in Firs and Bromford and co-leader of FAB church.

Al and Clare discuss the perceptions of areas where there are higher poverty levels, the ways in which communities can become empowered to speak up for change and the role of the church in community life. 

Get Inspired - Respite, Regeneration, Revolution at the South London Mission