Inheritance

A few months ago, my Great Uncle sadly passed away from cancer. I didn’t know him well or see him often, so I was very surprised to learn that he had left me some money in his will. The money has enabled me to purchase my own equipment for filmmaking – something I love doing (not as much as my job at NYFC obviously) and something I believe God has given me a talent in. I have been able to buy an amazing camera with everything I need to make professional quality films.

This combined with the fact that I will be moving on from my role with NYFC in the summer, has got me thinking about inheritance. My Uncle left behind something that has enabled me to carry on doing something I love doing. It was a gift that he never saw me receive, something that didn’t benefit him in any way and something he didn’t have to do. Inheritance involves grace and selflessness.

What are we going to leave behind?

I feel bad for young people growing up now in what is essentially a society of bad inheritance, where previous governments and bank bosses have failed to think about the long term consequences of their actions and decisions.  It is now our young people who are paying the price for their mistakes. With budget cuts, massive youth unemployment and the ever-increasing gap between the rich and the poor, the inheritance we are building for future generations is not a good one. That challenges me.

In every aspect of our lives we can be challenged about what we are leaving behind us. In our jobs, in raising our children, in our relationships and in the way we steward what has been given to us. We will leave behind something, but whether it is good or bad, remains our choice.

What are you leaving behind?

When Jesus left his disciples, he left the Holy Spirit; ‘When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance’ – Ephesians 1:13-14. The Holy Spirit is part of our inheritance, reminding us of what is to come. What an amazing gift to leave behind! Jesus came to earth, invested in a bunch of young people others had given up on, changed the world, made a way back to God, started the church and gave us the Holy Spirit. Impressive!

For us as Christians leaving an inheritance will rarely be about money. It will be the way we treat people, the things we invest our lives into, the stories we tell our kids, what we spend our time doing. Living a kingdom life leaves an inheritance, planting seeds deep in the hearts of future generations that will one day sprout up into glorious spiritual fruit. So much of youth work is about planting those seeds, trusting that as we plant and water, God causes them to grow into live giving oaks of righteousness, that will impact this generation and the generations to come.

jo@nottinghamyfc.co.uk

Jo is NYfC's key worker in Radcliffe-on-Trent

Choices - what do you prioritize?

Everyday we are faced with choices. Some of those choice we make subconsciously and it is just our regular daily routine. So when was the last time the choice you made was something that really you wanted to do?

I have been looking at the story of Mary and Martha recently and thinking about some of the choices that were made in that story. (Luke 10 v 38-40). The first choice that was made was Martha chose to welcome Jesus in. Martha wanted to spend some time with Jesus. This led me to think about the first time I welcomed Jesus into my life, the choice I made was to let God into my heart. How amazing that we can choose to welcome the creator of the universe into our lives and what is even more amazing, He welcome us into his arms no matter what we say or do.

The second choice in this story is that Martha allows herself to get distracted. This made think about some of the distractions I have in my life, like my phone, facebook, friends, work etc. These thing distract me from spending time with God. Sometimes I don’t always realise that these thing are a distraction but I need to make the choice to put time aside to spend with God. I think  in this story Martha was not necessarily doing anything wrong she just didn’t see what was important at that time and let preparing the meal distract her . When was the last time you spent time with God?

The final choice that I can see is that Mary chose to spend time with God “ There is only one thing to be concerned about and Mary Discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her” Mary discovered that spending time with God is important. So what I have taken away from this is perhaps I need to be making the choice to spend more time with God and not get distracted! What will your choice be?

emily is key worker in Inham Nook
and church resource development worker


 emily@nottinghamyfc.co.uk

To be in the world, but not of it

This concept is challenging enough at the best of times! However, recently I’ve been thinking about this specifically in the context of the schools work NYfC does. As a keyworker, I spend a lot of time in lessons and basically play the role of a teaching assistant. A lot of our schools already have great learning support departments, so the challenge for us is to be different.

​Although I’m sure we’d all like to think that our lives naturally shine with Jesus, the reality is that in such a regulated environment, this light is often a little dimmer. So, the question is, how can we be relevantly different? How can I be in the school, but not of it? Well, rather surprisingly, the answer to this question actually came in the form of an offhand comment by a teacher.…

‘You don’t believe in lost causes’

And that’s it. That’s how we’re different. In an environment so heavily tailored towards getting pupils through formal assessments, there is very little scope to work with those pupils who simply lack the inclination to achieve their potential. Of course this is a sweeping statement, and there are many members of staff within schools to whom that doesn’t apply. However, as an external organisation, we have a unique freedom to speak truth into the lives of these young people.

​Jesus taught us about the importance of pursuing the lost. I’ve always thought of that in terms of the spiritually lost. But isn’t it just as important to pursue the academically lost. To pursue those who have simply been written off as a ‘lost cause’. And by showing these young people that they have real potential, and that their futures are just as valuable as everyone else’s, maybe the light of Jesus will shine a little brighter in our schools.

Rebecca is key worker in South Notts.
rebecca@nottinghamyfc.co.uk

How do we see the Church?

We are just completing some research in the schools where we work looking at how young people view the world and how they view Christianity. Once completed we are looking at over 1,500 young peoples views on life and there have been some really interesting comments. As you can imagine with that many there have been some really varied answers, i think my favorite was to the answer to the question ' what are the 3 main influences in your life.' which had 'my testicles' as one of the three. 
One of the questions i was most interested in was 'What do you think of the word Church?' This had both some encouraging replies but also some distant and derogatory comments. This challenged me to think about how i see the Church. Working for a Christian organisation that is often termed as a parachurch organisation some people would put words in my mouth. I once heard someone say parachurch organisations are called that because they are like parasites where it takes rather than gives. This is totally against everything YfC and in particular Nottingham YfC believe. In Revelation it talks about the Church being the Bride of Christ and so if we love the bridegroom we must also build up, encourage and love His bride. When someone last asked you about Church, what did you say? Did you winge about something that you didn't like? Did you dismiss the question and move onto another subject or did you tell them how beautiful and amazing it is. 
How do we see the Church? Let's build the Bride of Christ up as honour Him.

Richard Dawson

Big day out you've been framed

Watch "Big Day Out 2012 'You've Been Framed'" on YouTube

Check out some of the great videos created at our you've been framed sessions at our big day out last month

2012 verses of the year : Matthew 25:14 - 30

Each year we pray into what God is saying to us for the next 12 months. If you have followed us over the past few years you will know that last year we had Paul's vision of the Macedonian man running through our ministry. Paul wanted to go one way and doors kept closing but God drew him to Europe and that way was free. In the past 12 months we have seen huge growth in our ministry and we are thankful to God for that as it has been down to Him that we have been on the move. An early picture that one of our trustees had in our first year back in Nottingham was that of Nottingham being lit up in 5 or 6 different areas by the influence and the work of Nottingham YfC, with the ministry being light in the darkness. Let me just say this wasn't to suggest no one else or no other organization was providing light, this was just a picture of what God possibly wanted NYfC to look like.

Ten and a half years on and we see God's light shining through NYfC in 6 different areas of the city and influencing many more. Arnold, Beeston, Bilborough, Inham Nook, Radcliffe and South Notts are our key areas where the light is shining but our influence through support, mentoring and empowering the local church to impact a generation is growing more and more.

Often we see growth as a numerical thing and that is not always wrong. Gavin Calver, our national director has a vision to see a million young people reached each month through YfC, that is exciting and we would love to see that. In fact if you looked at the amount of young people we come into contact across Nottingham then we have the potential to see over 6,000 young people each month, that is amazing and i can't help but be humbled by what God has given us.

This year our passage for Nottingham YfC is Matthew 25: 14 -30 the parable of the talents.

God has given us an amazing opportunity but sometimes we don't take that opportunity or even take it for granted. Do we take what God has given us and protect and defend it because we are scared of losing it or do we take what He has brought into our lives and grow it. Our work with young people is very relational and i love the fact that we see the same young people week in week out bringing Hope and potential in their lives. Sometimes though in relational youth work it becomes more about turning up, getting through the evening making sure they behave. What we aim to do through the work and what I hope and pray will be a key word in Nottingham YfC is TRANSFORMATION. We want to take what God has given us, the young people he has brought our way and transform their lives with the love of God. If we can do that then 2012 onwards is going to be a great time to be part of the Kingdom of God and in particular Nottingham Youth for Christ. Please pray for us as this is what will really bring these words to fruition.

Who is teaching who?

A few weeks ago now I went with a group of young people on the eq:mission. Since returning I've had a bit more time to reflect on the things that happened and ways we sought to work with the churches and Burton YfC to serve the community there.

So often images portrayed of young people are negative - they are the ones that drop litter or are disrespectful. The young people that came on the 30 hr mission challenged this stereotype in Burton. They collected litter, all with giggles and smiles, and they gave away drinks and held doors open. Generosity was shown in face painting and in sellotaping a bit of loose change up for those who might need it at the bus stop or the pay and display machine. The light of God working in and through them was evident and no less bright when the face paint had been taken off. We went to Burton to serve and learnt so much ourselves - coming back to Nottingham challenged to live out the small actions that we did in Burton in our home city.

My lasting memory of the weekend will be looking for a young person who had disappeared - I eventually found her in the kitchen washing up!

The young people that I spent the weekend, and the many others that I see and work with in Nottingham humble me in so many ways and is a reminder to me of how I often feel like they teach more more than I ever will do them.

Sara Reynolds