For Hawthorne, demonstrating hope is key to bringing people to Christ: "There would be more Christians in this country if we as Christians did more to demonstrate hope. I think as a church we've lost some confidence. But the Gospel works and we've actually got all the resources we need to reach every man, woman and child in the nation."
At a time when secularists are finding their voice, Hope08 is discovering people across the UK who want to experience Gospel-inspired hope.
"Some Christians develop a siege mentality and then they just pull up the draw bridge and think that no one else is interested in their story and that Sharia law is going to kick in any minute and everybody is against us, and it is just not true," says Crowne. "There is a stack of people who are really interested in our story and what we are about."
He believes that Hope08 is helping to break down some of that siege mentality.
"The churches taking part are discovering that there are people out there who want to hear what we've got to say and seeing that, they are having confidence in the Gospel again. Their faith is actually being built up through their involvement and their engagement."
Hawthorne agrees. "There's a real openness to the Gospel side of it, particularly when people see our good deeds. If they just hear us preaching it lacks a lot of power, but if they see our good deeds and then on the back of that we share the hope of the Gospel, it seems to be a tremendous opener. That seems to be part of the exciting movement going on at the moment."
Moreover, some of the challenges in society provide the perfect opportunity to put faith into practice and reveal the transforming power of the Gospel.
"I think as people of faith we can't just live in denial," says Crowne. "The guns and gangs thing is massive in some inner city urban areas. But what I have to bring into that situation is faith and a sense that this situation could change - the Gospel does have the power to do that. Even with the prevalence of gangs and guns, the Gospel does have the ability to transform and work through that."
Hawthorne is unflinching in the power of the Gospel to change even the most wayward: "When He is entered relevantly, Jesus works. The Gospel works. It's lost absolutely none of its power. It still is the power of God for the salvation of anyone who believes and when hardened criminals and drug addicts really get the Gospel, hope comes into their lives and they are transformed. We see it again and again in our work. So it feels like an exciting season for us."
