HUG
How HUG started
In 2008 Ignite Church founder, Rev. Darren Edwards, was asked to help out at a Foodbank style outreach that one of his Church leaders was heading up in Northampton. On his first day Darren invited their first client in for a cup of tea whilst waiting for food parcel and HUG was born.
Within a few months the first HUG meetings had split into two and were serving around sixty people each week. As you can imagine when Darren came to Lincoln his heart for hurting people meant starting HUG in Lincoln too.
HUG stands for His Ultimate Goal, and represents what Jesus said in Matthew 25:
The Sheep and the Goats
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
HUG today
HUG then is the people of God treating people with respect whilst relieving poverty and loneliness.
On Thursday lunchtimes we currently have a bacon butty drop-in on Moorland Avenue. As part of the drop-in you can grab some clothes from our clothes rail. We can also point you in the direction of people that can help with benefits and housing or any other needs. On top of all this we also pray for the sick, and from time to time we see people healed and relieved of pain.
HUG is also a gardening and home repairs service. We are able to take referrals for people that might struggle with health issues that might need someone to come and mow a lawn, or help to clean or decorate.
Finally, from time to time we have clients that just need a friend. Our HUG department looks to arrange for Church friends to visit people at home who may feel like they are held captive by mental health issues or a physical ailment. All of our volunteers are DBS checked and can lend a listening ear.
