A year ago World Wide Message Tribe's organisation Message To Schools began THE EDEN PROJECT where Christians relocate to Manchester's notorious Wythenshawe Estate. Tony Cummings and photographer Ian Homer went there to check out a unique vision in inner city renewal.

The Message To Schools complex is a firmament of activity. Downstairs in the basement the steady thud, thud, thud indicates that the Tribe are rehearsing a new dance routine. Up here in the offices Colette, once a dancer for the Tribe and now a full time schools worker, tells me why she's moved into Wythenshawe. "Because God's told me to and I know I can trust him."

Mark Smethurst manoeuvres his car through the Wythenshawe labyrinth. We drive down one street where several houses have been fired by local vandals and now the blackened shells stand testament to the dimensions of Wythenshawe's problems. But already it seems a new start for Wythenshawe has begun.

The area where Mark lives is very pleasant with wide roads, plenty of trees and greenery demonstrating the enlightened designs of Manchester's urban planners. "It's when houses get left empty that the problems really start," explains Mark. "What we're trying to do is to help people get back a pride in their environment. This summer we're going to be working on people's gardens." We drive past a garden overflowing with dandelions and half a car. As Mark shifts gear he tells me what he thinks are the true roots of the Eden Project. "We've not just moved into Wythenshawe with this ideal of how it's going to be changed. We're coming in on the back of years and years and years of prayer work from churches in the area.

They sowed a seed, now we're reaping a little bit. I found out a few months back that just where we're living 80 years ago there was a little mission hall there. I can just imagine these two old ladies sitting in the mission hall praying for Withenshawe saying, 'God, this place is yours...God, this place is yours.' For so long it went down hill, but now it seems their prayers are being answered. We're coming in on the back of guys like Adrian Nottingham (the pastor of the Kings) who've been sold out, praying for Wythenshawe year after year, guys getting up at stupid hours in the morning and prayer walking around Wythenshawe. We're reaping a harvest others have sown."

"Then God challenged me about moving in myself. I heard him saying, 'Stop shouting about my love off the stage and get down and start to show people that love."

Matt Wilson quickly wolfs his tea. He's off to watch a football match having befriended some of the players in the Wythenshawe team. He has been one of the pioneers of the Eden Project, working with Open Door, a secular community project run by a Christian, Nick Carrington. Soon he will be giving up his job as a graphic designer to become a full time worker for Message 2000, the gigantic evangelistic blitz Message To Schools and Soul Survivor are planning for Manchester. I ask Matt why he has Christmas and birthday decorations pinned to his wall. "Just to brighten the place up...and it's a good conversation starter." Having proven its ability to do that, I ask Matt about the Eden Project's early morning prayer meetings. "Yeah, they're Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays. We've got a solid core group there who meet together and pray through issues occurring in the area. Pray for the team. Pray for the needs of the kids as they arise. They're a vital part of the work."

I stand outside the steel shuttered shop talking to volunteer worker Richard Anniss. He moved in with his newly wed wife eight months ago. I ask him how he's finding it in Wythenshawe so far. "Interesting," is his laconic response. He and his wife have already suffered two burglaries in one week. I ask him what they took. "Most things really." Richard, who's a trainee teacher, had been involved in two summer projects at Wythenshawe, "So I knew what I was coming into. We expected things to happen and they have." I ask Richard how he was finding it developing relationships with people on the estate. "It's easier with some than others. I think everyone on the team has different people they are getting to know to a greater or lesser extent. With some of them, it's obviously very hard work, particularly when you know they're doing things like trashing your car and burgling your house. The thing that we've felt we're called here to do more than anything else, is to come here and live our lives, the way God would want us to. Have a Godly marriage. People do look at you round here and it's just to be open about who we are and what we believe in." Two girls and a boy have been listening to our interview and attracted to the tape recorder. Donna, age 11, asks to be interviewed. She lives next door to Mark and knows full well that Christians have moved into the area. "Do you believe in God, Donna?" I ask? Before she can respond her friend chips in with, "She told me that she prayed last night." "No, I didn't," Donna responds, embarrassed. But as I tell her that we too prayed last night she comes clean, "Yeah, I did."

Back at Message To Schools the phone is still bleeping furiously. In between calls I ask Collette how the response has been in the Wythenshawe schools? "They have made us feel really welcome. And the young people as well. They've been really up for it." We're joined by Sophie, who's been working with the Eden Project since it started, and. like Collette, previously danced with the Tribe. Was the transition difficult for her? "No it wasn't. It was 70 per cent schools work in the Tribe, doing a lesson over and over again with different kids every day, and 30 per cent was performing. We went into some of the schools in Wythenshawe and I felt my heart go out to the area. Then God challenged me about moving in myself. I heard him saying, 'Stop shouting about my love from the stage and get down and start to show people that love. The Eden Project seemed to be such an opening to be able to do that."

Zarc Porter sits in Perfect Music, his home studio in Bramhall where he has engineered and produced for the World Wide Message Tribe. He plays me a beautiful track he's been working on for new Soul Survivor group Storm, featuring a Space Brothers-style groove and an exquisite vocal from Lucy, the lady previously heard with Psalmistry. I'm suitably impressed and tell him so. Encouraged, Zarc sets up the computer to play me a mind-boggling demo by Justin Thomas (the rapper who'd previously worked with HOG), which will shortly become a World Wide Message Tribe track for 'Jumping In The House Of God III'. It has a truly manic "Renegade Master" style vibe and the refrain "Everybody in the place make some noise!" will surely be causing near riots at Planet Life events. "You know, Tony," says this shy genius of the studio as he deftly stops the hard drive, "I get more excited hearing about what the Lord is doing in Wythenshawe than hearing how many thousands of units they're shifting in America. I'm grateful to the Lord that he's given the Tribe an international ministry. It resources some of the work in Manchester. But it's hearing about kids giving their lives to Christ and going on with God which makes all this stuff," he gesticulates at the Mac, "mean something."

Andy Hawthorne, having gone in search of a coffee in the Message To Schools basement, enthuses as we climb the stairs "We've seen some cool things happening in Wythenshawe - kids from terrible backgrounds who've been radically saved and are shining for Jesus" It's fantastic. We've not seen the full breakthrough. Like I read some articles about the Tribe now and again and it's like we're seeing full-blown revival. We're not. We're seeing thousands of kids coming to Christ and that's great. But there're hundreds of thousands on our patch. We're seeing good things happen. But we're not seeing revival. We're praying for that, for more and more people to come into the inner city. I hate talking about money, but we have real needs. The Tribe royalties, gigs, merchandise bring in about a third of the money we need." Another need of course is more volunteers to move into Wythenshawe. The Eden Project received a huge publicity push at the 1997 Soul Survivor.

"What we want is people who will pray about upping sticks and moving out of their nice environment to a not so nice environment because they love Jesus," explodes Andy, his eyes lighting up again with excitement. "We had this guy in the office this week, Mike Hack, an evangelist who was instrumental in leading Cam (Cameron Dante) to the Lord. He said, 'I want you to hold out your hands. I want you to weigh things up. In one hand you got 80 years - which is what you'll live on this earth if you have a long life. In the other hand you've got something over 800 million years which is like your first minute in eternity. Just weigh it up. Where should your heart and energy be?' Through Soul Survivor about 200 people applied to move into the inner city. Only about 15 of them came through the whole vigorous process. Because we're treating this like a missionary calling. We're getting references, speaking to their church, getting them down to Wythenshawe, make sure they're happy with the Kings Church, all sorts of interviews, personality profiles... At the end of it we might say (laughing), 'Here's the good news, you can live in the inner city and not be paid for it!'