Heres HOPE

HOPE
TOGETHER
GREW OUT OF
FRIENDSHIP
AND
TRUST
For me and Mike, Christianity
was something completely new.
Our mate Andy was growing
up in a Christian family, but
at about the same time,
he too responded to God as
a teenager. He says, ‘I went to a
gig with my local youth group and
was surprised to discover that
they were a cool Christian band.
An American guy preached,
and I gave my life to Christ.’
S
The
HOPE team bringing leaders together
in 2011 at Jesus House
tanding in a field on the edge of a
Christian summer camp in Cornwall,
I started to talk to God in a way I
had never done before. For the first
time, God was up-close and personal.
My life was never going to be the same
again.
About the same time a Greek Cypriot
guy called Mike had been searching for
something spiritual. He recalls: ‘Some
Christians came out of the woodwork and
explained to me the gospel, and I realised
that Christianity wasn’t about rules and
regulations and going to institutions, but
it was a relationship with a person. I met
Jesus as a result of that and I gave my
life to him.’
Decades before we met, God was at work in each
of our lives equipping us to work together with a
common vision: to see our country transformed
by Jesus.
HOPE Together grew out of the friendship and
trust that had grown between we three guys: me,
Mike Pilavachi and Andy Hawthorne. By the time
HOPE began we were all at the head of different
youth ministries. I was national director of Youth
for Christ (YFC), Mike was director of Soul
Survivor, and Andy was director of The Message
Trust. Rather than be seen to be competing, we
decided to work together, and the only way to
do that was to be in relationship. Busy people
with full diaries have to be intentional about
developing friendships. We met twice a year, just
for 24 hours, to chat and invest in our friendship.
Because of those times together, we trusted one
another and knew each other’s strengths and
weaknesses. We were able to laugh at each
other’s idiosyncrasies, and we developed a
high level of trust, which meant we could work
well together. As our relationship was built on
friendships and trust, we could believe the best
of each other because we knew each other.
7