Love Southend with MEMO

launch a poster campaign on buses across Southend

"Back in the day, places of travel were often characterised by advertising of a 'religious nature' - billboards with posters proclaiming passages of scripture to long-suffering commuters and loitering down-and-outs. It's still the case in many parts of the country, but recently, the tables have been turned. No doubt you will have read about Humanists in London, attempting to raise £12,500 to display a very different message inside around thirty London buses. Since then, Richard Dawkins has offered to match the money raised, pound for pound.

It may be a sign of the times, but it happens to coincide with a similar, more traditional poster campaign in south-east Essex. Local churches, under the banner of Love Southend, will attempt to place an evangelistic poster inside ALL 152 bus routes within the Borough...many of which, also continue on to other parts of the county of Essex, such as Rochford, Basildon and Canvey Island.


The posters will be similar to this one

The genius of the campaign is that, although they'll be paying for a one-month period from 24th November, the posters are likely to still remain 'up' for weeks to come after that. Bus companies are usually unconcerned about removing previous advertising unless they have new material to replace it with. Working alongside the national organisations MEMO (Message On The Move) and Contacts For Christ, the coordinated initiative will provide contact details for curious seekers looking to find out more.

Prayer for the intitiative is sorely needed - not least that the churches raise all the necessary funding! Talking of which, any donations (large or small) will be gratefully received! Cheques should be made payable to 'Love Southend' and sent to:
MEMO/Love Southend
c/o Diane Hunter
Avanti Ministries
6 Clarence Road
Southend-on-Sea
SS1 1AN

LOVE SOUTHEND's John Cheek says, "If it leads to just one person coming to faith in Jesus and therefore, eternal life, it'll be worth it. But we know that it will also provoke a lot of thought and discussion amongst local people, anyway." "