Hope Project Easter 2020 – what’s different?

Hope Project 2019 achieved fantastic public engagement levels. A report can be viewed in the right hand column of this webpage.

However, only 74 churches participated financially – which is too low. The project incurred a deficit. By God’s grace, this was covered by August 2019. Two strategic changes have resulted:

• 1. The 2020 booklet will be shorter (24 pages instead of 36, covering one topic area instead of two).
• 2. The booklet delivery in the largest 80 cities and towns will now be done by volunteers. This achieves a few things.
  • i. It reduces costs – while increasing involvement and appreciation of what is being achieved in our nation through these efforts.
  • ii. Those delivering will be strengthened in confidence through having done something hands-on for the gospel.
  • iii. The churches of those delivering will be more encouraged to equip their members for conversational outreach (this being a primary goal of Hope Project)
  • iv. Unity will be strengthened as churches within cities and towns will are caused to work together to enable the delivery.

To volunteer – contact your pastor to see if your church is connected with the churches in your city. If not – come back here and email us at admin@shininglights.co.nz with your name, cell number, church and city – and we will connect you with your local ‘Delivery Coordinator’. The Delivery Coordinators ‘fact sheet’ (role description) is here

Hope Project – the big idea

The Hope Project is seeking to bring an awareness of Christ back to the public square. The plan is to have THREE annual media efforts that represent the wider Christian community, giving profile to Christ and his message of hope and re-educating us all on our nation’s faith-heritage – which all serves to help the Church be known for what it is for, rather than against.

(i) Hope Project Easter – putting Christ back into Easter  

(ii) Hope Project Christmas – putting Christ back into Christmas (from 2019 onwards)

(iii) Hope Project Family – highlighting what Kiwi churches are doing for families (date of first effort yet to be determined).

The budget is under $1m annually – which is a very small in comparison to what the Christian Church does nationally. However, this kind of national voice can obviously only exist where churches are united in their desire to see a public Christian presence existing like this.

Please partner and support

Helping the Church engage in the public square

Where media can initiate a conversation – the Hope Project aims to help Christian believers become increasingly able to engage those conversations. Public TV ads, booklets to 85% of homes, and 500,000 online engagements with Christian media at Easter alone is a wonderful achievement. However, 100,000 or more believers intentionally equipped by their pastors with conversational skills via pulpits and small groups would be greater!

• (1) Equipping videos on conversational skills can be found for free here
• (2) Sermon series on outreach (including message outlines + matching small group studies) can be found for free here.

BOOKLETS THAT ENDURE:

A vital part of each Hope Project campaign provides high-quality, multi-page booklets to every New Zealand household. The majority of stories coming to us continue to be from the booklets – more-so than web media. Previous booklets can be viewed online here

Your help is requested

Working all together the Kiwi Church can have this voice! 

• Donate via the ‘donate’ page here
• To volunteer for the postal delivery, email us with your name, cell number and where you live: admin@shininglights.co.nz

Read more about the Hope Project 2019 HERE

Read more about the Hope Project 2014-2016 HERE

Read more about the Hope Project 2018 HERE