The Hope of Christmas
To Our Dear UHCC Family,
As I write this short exhortation on the hope of Christmas, I am reminded of how many people in our urban communities do not have hope and truly do not understand what Christmas is truly about. It's Friday December 23rd, the day before Christmas Eve and the urban violence happening in Birmingham shows no signs of slowing down. Just two days ago, 12-year-old Audriana Pearson became the most recent victim of the chronic gun violence in our urban communities and serves as a reminder that not everyone has this hope of Christmas. Someone needs to interact with the young men who don’t have the hope of Christmas in their hearts.
Urban Hope’s mission is to make known this hope of Christmas in Fairfield and in other urban communities without this hope. Presenting this hope to fatherless young men, so that they could come to understand and believe in the Christmas story, which holds the only remedy and lasting solution to bring peace to our broken urban communities. We cannot expect the governments of this world to bring this kind of peace.
We believe the God-Man born 2,000 years ago in Bethlehem is doing a gospel work in Fairfield that will be advancing to other parts of Birmingham in the very near future. We are calling this movement “The Manifold Wisdom of God.’’
Above, there is a 3-minute video providing a summary of how the Lord is bringing hope and restoration to Fairfield and how we seek to strengthen and replicate this work through the establishment of a single, unified “Manifold Fund” led and managed by a board of advisors. This fund will be housed with our ministry partners at Clerestory Inc. (https://clerestoryinc.org). More details and information will follow, but we are asking that you join us in this vision by sending your donations to the “Manifold Fund” in one of the following ways:
1. Online at https://clerestoryinc.org/donate/ by selecting “Manifold - Fairfield/UH” under Fund option “Manifold - Fairfield/UH”
2. By check sent to Clerestory at 2 Perimeter Park South, Suite 550E, Birmingham, AL 35243, with a note indicating “Manifold”
3. Through NCF or other donor advised funds directed to “Clerestory, Inc”, which is in their system, and include a reference to "Manifold Fund"
Merry Christmas,
Pastor Alton Hardy
