Starting September 12, young people across the nation will be taking part in Textify, the first youth campaign of the relaunched Hope Revolution movement.

Young people taking part in Textify are being challenged to pray for three friends for three weeks, texting them to start a conversation about Jesus. The organisers hope the ensuing conversations will result in many young people beginning a journey of faith.

Textify promo on YouTube

Some young people have started already and have been in touch to say how it’s going.

One texted to say: ‘Praying for my friends… they seem to be more open about Christianity everyday since I’ve started.’ Another wrote: ‘I casually mentioned Soul Survivor to my friend, she then started to ask loads of questions about God and Christianity – she is now staying over for Bible study Praise the Lord )’

Message Founder and CEO Andy Hawthorne is one of the youth agency heads warmly endorsing the Textify initiative.

He said, ‘Something really, really cool is going to happen through Textify. Bit by bit, people are going to be open to spiritual truth, then we’re going share the good news with them… The only thing we can take with us into eternity is people. And as a result of Textify this September that is exactly what is going to happen.’

Watch more Textify promo videos on Youtube

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Roy recently stepped down as National Director of Youth For Christ (YFC) which he continues to serve as Vice President.

With Andy Hawthorne and Soul Survivor’s Mike Pilavachi, Roy led the Hope 08 initiative, a national campaign which united thousands of churches in evangelism and social action. He was recently appointed Executive Director of Hope Together.

Q. Roy, you recently stepped down as National Director of YFC in Britain. What are the things you will remember most about your 12 years in the role?

A. I have to say that the thing I remember most about any aspect of all my ministry is people coming to faith and being changed.

That and some of those unexpected situations where you wondered ‘Hm, is this going to fly?’, all of a sudden gets the breath of God on it and it works.

Hope 08 had a huge impact among churches in the UK. What’s next?

It’s been an amazing journey and I have to say that the favour of God was upon that project. At the evaluation we said ‘It’s not over, it’s over to you.’ But after that a number of people said to us, ‘Actually, you guys have been truly catalytic and you should carry on.’

When they asked me to lead it, I was nervous. You know, when you appoint a full-time youth leader, sometimes all the volunteers quit. I said, ‘I will only take this on, if we’re all in this together.’ And they all said ‘yes’.

We’ve got a consultation in January and from that we’ll go forward and make it happen.

You’re the second person to be named a Message ‘Legend’ having inspired us over the years. But who have been your role models over the years ?

I’ve been in Christian ministry for 28 years so there have been various people who have had an impact. Obviously, Billy Graham figures highly both from a distance and personally.

But equally, an elder in a local church, John, had a profound effect on me: investing in me, encouraging me, telling me to go for it, both as a young man and throughout my life.

What’s the secret to a long, enduring ministry?

In the end, you’ve got to believe this gospel has the power to change people’s lives. As long as you keep believing that and seeing that, that’s what causes you get up in the morning.

Plus recognising that what you do with your little life, connected up with the power of God can do something amazing.

What’s the outlook for churches and Christian ministries like ours going into the next decade?

At the moment, the mission energy in the UK church is as great as it’s ever been. I’ve been in ministry where people didn’t believe in mission and there was a lack of vision, but I think that the church is really on the front foot. It’s been a long time coming but I really think it’s there. People are ‘having a go’ and God is blessing that heart.

Mission is on the agenda of every denomination and stream. And people are saying, ‘Let’s find a way to work together’ and not duplicating or competing but being out to bless one another.

Can you say a little about your relationship with The Message over the years?

Andy and I have worked together on so many things and he has my complete admiration. He’s a guy who has a go, takes a risk. He’s a man of faith.

What’s been really important for me is that relationship of peers. Leaders need people who are leaders in their own right, working alongside each other, blessing each other, speaking well of each other.

The Message is excited to be one of the organisations backing HOPE Together, building on the momentum generated by HOPE 08 in seeing UK churches doing more, together and in both word and action for their local communities.

Launched last week, HOPE Together is a continuation of HOPE 08 which saw 1,500 areas find ways of being good news and bringing hope outside of their church buildings.

The initiative aims to help the Church build on mission activity and become even more outward-looking over the next four years, leading toward an all-out year of mission in 2014.

Roy Crowne, Executive Director of HOPE Together, spoke to over 40,000 people at the launch which took place at the ExCel Centre, London on 23 July.

He said: “Our dream is that we would see what the Lord Jesus sees – he doesn’t see the differences in tradition or styles of worship but he sees His Church, the body of Christ. His prayer is that we would unite in the purpose and the mission of God – that mission is to cause our church to be outward focused, to express acts of kindness and then to communicate the love of God in the good news of Jesus Christ.

“We may differ in the things we do but we need to celebrate diversity and understand that we have strengths when we work together – find a way to work together for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and for the sake of those outside of the kingdom.”

Message CEO Andy Hawthorne was one of the founders of HOPE 08, alongside Soul Survivor leader Mike Pilavachi and then-YFC head Roy Crowne.

They set up HOPE 08 to be a catalyst to encourage and inspire churches in villages, towns and cities to do mission in order to demonstrate God’s love by doing more, doing it together, and doing it in word and action, and working with Government bodies, police and the media within communities.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AS9_Pg80QzQ[/youtube]

Find out more about HOPE Together on their website.

Message bands LZ7, Blush and Twelve24 spent time in six schools in the area, taking lessons and running workshops.

The gig, hosted by Ian Henderson and Nathan Milnes, featured performances from each of the bands including a moving performance of ‘The Avenue’, a track from Twelve24′s new album, by band member Ryan. A total of 95 young people texted a response at the end of the show, and have been given the opportunity to take part in a four-week follow up course.

The first follow-up session took place this Wednesday (October 20) at The Hub, a Community Centre in Altrincham. The sessions, run in partnership with youth leaders from local churches, will look at issues such as ‘Who is Jesus?’, ‘What is a Christian?’, ‘Building a relationship with Jesus’ and ‘Church and the importance of church in a Christian life’.

The schools weeks and subsequent gig were carried out in partnership with local churches, in an effort to provide the young people and their schools with a well-rounded and positive experience.

These two weeks are just the latest in a series of schools weeks happening across Manchester this year, part of our busiest year in schools ever.

14 July at 7.30pm.

Hundreds of people of all ages, backgrounds and denominations from across Greater Manchester are expected to attend the free event called ‘Hope for the Future’.

The evening will focus on youth culture and what is being done all over Greater Manchester to help our young people.

Alan Saunders, Coordinator of Hope Manchester, comments, ‘Hope for the Future is an evening when we don’t focus on any ministries or initiatives but Manchester Cathedral is filled with Christians to pray for young people and the future for Greater Manchester.

‘The night will feature prayer for revival and revolution, parents praying for their children, prayer for young people in our churches, praying for all those who work with young people, and young people who don’t yet know Christ.’

‘During the planning, we were led to Isaiah 61: 3 and 4 which prophesies: “They will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for his own glory. They will rebuild the ancient ruins, repairing cities destroyed long ago. They will revive them.”‘

Entry to ‘Hope for the Future’ is free of charge. Everyone is welcome.

!Audacious ’09 is coming to Manchester this year. And right at the heart of it will be a community outreach programme designed to show the love of God to the people of Greater Manchester through acts of kindness.

On the two afternoons of the 6th and 7th August, all the !Audacious 09 delegates will suit up and ship out to serve on community projects across the city to deliver ’10,000hrs of Hope’.

‘A-Teams’ of up to 25 young people will be transported from the Manchester Central base to local neighbourhoods, equipped and let loose on projects such as cleaning up the local shopping parade, litter picking, scrubbing off graffiti or painting railings.

Problems that local residents have been concerned about for months or years – an alleyway filled with rotting mattresses, kitchen sinks and other rubbish – can be cleared up and transformed in a couple of afternoons.

The projects may only take a few hours but each one makes a significant impact. The results are visible for the whole community to see.

But there’s more to it than that: there’s a spiritual aspect to it as well. While teams are there, they are encouraged to interact with the local people who happen to be out and about, generally raising their eyebrows and taking it all in.  Many are curious enough to ask what’s going on, some even probe into the deeper motivation behind it, and so direct evangelistic opportunities emerge. Delegates suddenly find themselves with amazing opportunities for telling the gospel.

It’s easy for you to get an ‘A-Team’ into your local community. Visit www.bigdeal.org.uk to find out how.

Find out more about the !Audacious conference here.