The Story so far

As Mike Pilavachi, Andy Hawthorne and Roy Crowne met together in 2006 they had a vision but no idea where it would lead. This ‘crazy God idea’ of mobilising the whole Church to reach the whole nation with a year of mission had sprung from previous huge mission events such as Message 2000, Festival Manchester and Soul in the City (which also took place in London). Those programmes had seen thousands of young people volunteer their time to reach out to the cities for Jesus in word and through action, with staggering results. Huge numbers came to faith, local people were impacted and significant crime had been reduced during that time.

 

The birth of HOPE 2008 was filled with expectancy and excitement that this could happen all over the UK in every village, town and city and that unified mission across traditions and denominations can happen. HOPE 08 saw a strong desire from Christians to work together and in many cases the key role was played by young people. HOPE intended to provide churches of all shapes and sizes throughout the UK with a fresh opportunity to work together across their communities over a twelve month period in a way relevant for urban or rural churches irrespective of tradition. 

Momentum developed rapidly as thousands of Christians, from all pockets of the country, grabbed the vision and were moved to reach out to their communities in all manner of creative ways. They put their faith into action, living out God’s love, proclaiming the Gospel in word and action and doing it all in unity with other Christians. Hundreds of short and long term projects were set up to bless local communities in that year. The results were mind blowing and beyond expectation.

The aim was 500 areas and by the end of 2008, 1,500 areas had lived out HOPE.

 

The range and variety of initiatives and events was enormous; joint praise celebrations, fun days, gardening projects, street evangelism, give-aways, healing teams, acts of kindness, street clean-ups, sports ministries and so many more innovative ways to do mission. Churches worked together and formed partnerships with the police, council and all kinds of local groups in order to make a difference in their community. Many used key points in the Christian calendar such as Christmas and Easter for golden opportunities to reach out.

 

An Independent evaluation, conducted by Theos, told us that 85% of the 1,500 areas that did joint projects under the HOPE banner saw a definite change in their community.  Many towns and villages (70%) realised such a momentous change that they have continued and built upon those new ministries in 2009 and 2010.