the term that was...

This past term has been a real learning curve for me. With there being so many changes in team and trustees there has been many times where i have felt out of control and perhaps out of my depth, but as we have realised this term that is when God takes over and lets rip. So here are a few times where we have seen God work in this past term. I make no apologies for the list style we have put them in, or to be honest the lack of capital letters here and there, what i want us to see is how amazing God has been in the last term. I hope you are as encouraged at this glimpse as i am.

new opportunities to speak with one of the deputy head teachers

the opportunities with all the year 7 young people at Hadden Park school

being able to speak into young peoples lives at a place to be me +

having someone from the Church in Bilborough on as a trustee and a volunteer

the trust most staff have in anything to do with YfC

seeing God in my uni work

welcomed into a church family

within meeting someone twice they opened up about someone mis-treating them

The new work that has come about in Arnold starting January

The 'feel good' factor of NYfC amongst Churches

seeing God work through a new team, and the quality of the new team

The growth of 'big questions' at Chilwell school

Finance coming in for work up until easter at A Place to be Me

16 year old unchurched young people discussing baptism, faith and spirituality

the desire of the team to bring their faith into youthwork

the success of cafe faith

eq:mission to Bath with the girls from Trent Vineyard, God used and worked in us all

3 new trustees and 4 new financial supporters

seeing a young persons face when we told him we believe he could achieve something

eq:uip low on numbers but the young people there were awesome and encouraged us all

girls allowed- when talking about beauty God was there showing every girl that they are beautiful

When the question 'Do you believe in God?' he is there to help me answer it

When one girl in one of our sessions talks openly about what she believes and her journey with God.

A conversation we had with a 14 year old about why he goes to church and what he believes

At a place to be me we ran a singing and dancing competition, God was there encouraging them

When talking to a teacher about his experiance of youth work, God was there

Young people who don't feel valued elsewhere are shown love to by NYfC

teaching an 11 year old to play pool

young people who reject God with their mouths but keep coming along to sessions and talking about Him and building relationships with Christian youth workers

A team put together by God, someone changed placement, someone who changed uni, someone who got placed, someone who was at the right church at the right time and someone who thought they could never work for YfC.

At The Base, remembering a young person and her work ment so much to her as she was told thet we wouldn't think about her and what she did.

A group of young people actively chatting about Jesus in a very raw but real way.

Please do comment and put where you have seen God in the last few months.

Richard

new team blog (3) Miss Charli Wood

Hi I’m Charli, I am a first year student with Midlands Centre for Youth Ministry (MCYM) at St Johns College, studying youth work, community work and practical theology. It’s a massive challenge sometimes, but it also means that I am on placement with Nottingham YFC, and I am absolutely loving it!

Having only just come out of being a young person in my own Church youth group, the jump from young person to youth worker has been pretty scary over the past few months, but I work with some incredible young people who are making the experience worthwhile. I am currently placed at Hadden Park High school in Bilborough, mainly working with year seven. With this age group, I take part in running a lunch club, offering support during class time and assisting in running after school clubs. One of the clubs we run that has impacted me the most is our girls only club- ‘Girls Allowed’. We have looked at topics such as beauty and self-image, and it is so touching to hear the views of young girls on these kinds of subjects. We also tend to share our own Christian views on the topics we explore, which is something that is new to some of the girls, yet they seem comfortable with sharing what they think. To be alongside these girls as they grow is a privilege, and I learn so much from them!

How many people do you think know .....

Tell Me Something I Don’t Know Already

How about the Christmas story?
The real meaning of Christmas becoming buried under mountains of wrapping paper is no longer a big shock. And the TV specials being the focus of our attention rather than a dirty manger in a pile of straw is hardly breaking news either. But we know it’s there.
Even if we love God we can get a bit distracted in the Christmas hype, focusing on the mandatory Tesco shop instead of the nativity service. Finding the biggest turkey can make us forget the tins for the homeless dinner and the search for the new Nintendo can seem more urgent than re-reading Matthew 2. But what if you didn’t even know the Christmas story to forget it?
This week, chatting to some young people about Christmas, they were asked,
“So what happened at Christmas?”
“Erm, didn’t Jesus die?”
I honestly thought they were having a laugh. How could the BIRTH OF GOD pass them by? But it has. We could pass the blame book about, pointing the finger at politically correct school productions featuring reindeer instead of camels. We could turn to our churches and ask what’s gone wrong. And not forgetting the best scapegoat of all, we could blame the media for commercialising the whole affair. But the blame game never has a winner.
My Grandad was doing his Christmas shopping last year in the town centre. Even though he’s been married to my Grandma for forty odd years, buying her gifts remains a yearly struggle. Needing a rest, he stopped off at Marks and Spencer for a coffee and had to sit next to an old dear, there being no other seats available. They got chatting and he said,
“All this shopping and spending. People have forgotten the real meaning of Christmas.”
“And do you know the real meaning of Christmas dear?”
“Yes. Yes I do.”
“Well praise the Lord!”
Turns out this lady knew the real meaning of Christmas. But what if she hadn’t? What if she’d had said, “What is the real meaning that everyone’s forgotten?” What would you say? Well it all started 2000 years ago in a place called Bethlehem?
This December the world will be worshipping a whole host of gods, but the humble, loving carpenter from Nazareth will remain a stranger to many.

Becci Raine

*note the picture used was the only picture of the Christmas story on the first 5 pages of google images. hmm

eq:mission November

We kicked off our 2nd eq:mission 7am on 13th November. Once again only the YfC team knew where they were going as we started to drive out of Nottingham onto the M1, M42 and M5. We eventually ended up going through Bristol and ending up in Bath. We were being hosted by Bath YfC and St Michael's Twerton who were opening their rec house.

In the end 8 of us came from Nottingham to help St. Michael's connect with a local community close to the Church.

After lunch we went up onto the estate and started knocking on doors offering to do a free car wash. There was plenty of variety in the responses we received from no response to be invited in by the guy of the house before being kicked out by the woman of the house. Although saying that the conversation we had with the guy we had after this incident revealed we had given him a nudge in thinking about God and faith. At one point we had some children helping us wash the cars which was great and got offered cups of tea and coffee. While some of the team continued to wash cars and invite people to the opening of the rec house that evening, a few of us went down to the high street to offer free prayer and giving people chance to ask why we are a Christian. Although not a huge take up we had a great conversation with a girl from the local university who chatted to the group about how she was feeling lonely, and said she would maybe try out the church in the next few weeks.

After a nice McDonald's dinner we set up the rec house for the evening. There was a nail bar, DJ, recording studio with instruments, pizza, drinks and other food. there was a really good turn up and we were able to chat to a number of children, young people and families that we had met previously in the day, as well as some new faces that we invited in off the streets. There was a couple of young people who used to go to church as children but had stopped coming along since they started secondary school, but were interested in coming back along, along with a lad who was already planning to start getting involved in some music stuff on the drums and being involved in the St. Michael's community.

After a good nights sleep we then joined the St Michael's congregation for morning worship and then ran the youth group and helped with the children's work. For the youth group some of the group facilitated a discussion on what how we could bring Jesus into our schools and colleges.

We then finished with lunch before heading back to Nottingham.

Over the weekend Richard Wilson (the leader of St. Michael's) really encouraged the team by telling us that without them coming over none of what happened would have happened. It was an awesome time in which each one of the team saw not only how Jesus worked through them but also how mission can develop each of our faith journeys.

A big thanks to Melissa, Luke and Tristan from Bath YfC for their organisation and hospitality, and to Richard, his family and all at St. Michael's for letting us serve them.

For more pics see our facebook page www.facebook.com/nottinghamyfc

new team blog (2) Ant Stevens

Currently I am studying at The Midlands Centre for Youth Ministry (CYM) on the youth and community work with applied theology. I drive a motor bike and am originally from Birmingham. I have previously worked with YfC in Nuneaton where i was a full time volunteer for a couple of years. Within NYfC I work at Hadden Park school leading various lunch and after school clubs. One thing i am really excited about within the work i do with NYfC is empowering and equipping young people and other young adults for living a life of active faith, through sessions like eq:uip. I am also really challenged about how we need to disciple all kinds of young people within the drop in sessions I run. I recently went away for a couple of nights with the school and their year 7's. This was a great opportunity and i was able to start building some quality relationships with them. Please pray that these will continue to grow over my time here.

new team blog (1) Miss Becci Raine

On a gap year with YFC, I moved to Nottingham last month and I’m loving it here. I’m based in Chilwell and Beeston and the past few weeks have been a wonderful whirlwind of new clubs, new names and new challenges!
Two days a week I work in Chilwell school helping in humanities classes and an Asdan group. It’s fantastic to just get alongside young people and (try!) to help them with their work because I get to build relationships with young people who wouldn’t be seen dead in a Christian lunch club!
We also run drop in clubs which is an entirely new concept to me having always been involved in youth groups but it’s an amazing opportunity to get alongside young people, get to know them and let them know someone cares.
One of the things that has impacted me most though is our EQ:uip event which is an evening we run once a term to equip young people for mission. Numbers weren’t sky high but I met 16, 17 year olds who were excited about Jesus and were desperate to reach their schools and colleges with the gospel. These young people are an inspiration to me and it was an absolute privilege to be apart of something that builds them up to undertake mission.
Becci Raine, ETA

How do we treat others?

First of all a huge apology to anyone (or the someone) who reads our blogs, as it has been an age since we last posted. It has been an amazing time over the past few weeks, what with a great new team starting and myself starting an MA in mission and evangelism at cliff college. All massive loads but each rewarding in different ways. On top of this, just last week i was in a performance at a local theatre group. This in itself brought up loads of things, that having reflected on, really challenged me in my youth work.

There were young people and old (I was in the latter category), and it was just really interesting in seeing how the young people were spoken to by the leaders. There was a very patronising feel to the set up. There were a number of things that created this atmosphere from the way the young people were spoken to, to the positioning of them behind the band.

It all got me thinking about how we treat young people in the sessions we run, are we a team, am i a youth worker, who listens to young people, takes on board what they are saying and what they have to offer. Do i value them as human beings. I am happy to say that the majority of the time we do, but it doesn't stop myself checking what i am doing when i am slightly tired or if i have a lot of other work to do, and i am too focused on other stuff to invest in the young people we work with.

On top of this we were having a drink after the last night of the show and chatting to some of the young people, talking about how they audition people to come into the group. One conversation was really interesting. We were chatting to some of the older group and they mentioned that if someone doesn't fit in or behave they just ignore them and in the end they will leave. Once again it really challenges me in what i see going on in the groups we run. I know young people, and us older ones as well, like to belong to something, but when does that belonging start to become territorial and then negative in the way they act to others.

So i have been challenged, as a lot of times we all are, by being in a negative environment. Lets make people feel that they are worth something, and not just there to fulfill our whims and needs. I know i have got to change a few things already. What about you?

does anything really change?

'Taking good news relevantly to every young person in Nottingham' is an interesting statement, particularly the relevant bit. Working with young people this could mean that you develop different styles every moment.

So what does being relevant mean? For anyone who knows me they know that i can be the king of tenuous links. Sometimes this works, sometimes it is just ridiculous. I don't think writing pantomimes helps lol, as they are just ridiculous although they are supposed to be.

I still sometimes get a bit embarrassed by some Christians as they attempt to be ultra relevant. Whether that is the clothes they wear (mutton dressed as lamb is one relevant phrase), or the music they sing a long to or listen to (just cause it has swearing in doesn't mean you have to listen to it to be relevant). I think sometimes we try and over do the relevance as Christians. Being in the world, but not of the world is a tricky concept but really helpful to get your head round. YfC used to have the mission statement geared to the times, anchored to the rock. Awesome.

The encouraging thing is that this isn't a new thing. I am currently doing some preparatory reading for a course i am about to start and one of the books i am to read is Christian Theology: an introduction by Alistair McGrath. Here he talks about the relation between Christian theology and secular society. Mentioning how Christian poetry and song was often put to secular music even in those days. See it has always embarrassing lol, but the desire for the Christian faith to be relevant has always been there. Which shows that there has always been people who have wanted to connect people with Jesus. That is encouraging.

Balance that with the fact their has always been slight tension between those who want to do that and the established Church and then you really see nothing has changed over 2000 years.

As we strive to be relevant let us be secure in the knowledge that people have been there before us, and that the reason the Church has lasted this long is because there are people and fellowships that continue to strive to bring Jesus to their communities in a relevant way.

But let's try and get it right by providing the true Jesus and not cheesy Jesus.

5 Ways to Find God in the Everyday with Rob Bell

Hi guys, just found this video on Greenbelt's site. Not going to be able to go this year, but this video gives us all a rfresher that God is always there, even when we are not aware of it.
Enjoy the video and check out the full link below.



5 Ways to Find God in the Everyday with Rob Bell on Vimeo

Rhythm

I have always been told that i have no rhythm. I once tried to learn to play the guitar, i got about 4 chords (isn't that all you need to be a Christian guitar player?) The one thing i couldn't get hold of was the strumming. I really tried but just couldn't get it, so i thought you know what i will play the bass, you don't need to strum the strings, you pluck (very technical terms i know), not realising that actually you need a lot of rhythm to play the bass guitar also, so it sits in my loft.

People tell me that once you get the whole strumming thing, it becomes natural, it is so simple i am told.

How ironic then when i was at a retreat earlier this year and someone said they had been praying and the word rhythm came to them for me. Was this a prophetic word that i may become the next big worship leader, average worship leader? No...

... No, unfortunately not, although i do still harbor thoughts of becoming like Graham Kendrick. Yet i think it will be more about age than talent and musical gifting.

No i have been challenged and provoked over the past few months on the rhythm of my life. Not just how we live it but the way we live it. I often visit a marist centre on retreat, just spending time with God and some great people. The nuns there and other communities esp. those that live a monastic life live their lives in rhythm, it keeps them focused, and although to some of us it may seem dull, it actually brings discipline (another word we don't like), and a way to live a life so close to God.

Not being a planner this whole idea fills me with dread, but what i do know is that to build a life with God in it's DNA, i need a rhythm that works for me to get the best out of life.

With summer season here (you may have noticed a lack of blogs this month), and the Christian festival scene in full flow, you realise it is to develop a rhythm while away on camp, but what does it look like when you get back?

Well for me i will start with what works... Lucas on life first thing, time with my kids, and praying with my wife in the evening. Not much but we all have to start somewhere.

30hr eq:mission July '10

Thought it might be quite nice for those of you that are interested to let you know in a bit more detail how our first 30hr eq:mission went. Photos will get posted later so look forward to that.

So it all started on Saturday morning when 20 of us met at the NYfC office at 8am. The group were made up of young people from across the city, and although no one came on their own (one group of 6, two of 3 and two of two - some with leaders some without) they knew no one apart from those they came with. None of the young people knew where they were going, and probably didn't even know when we got there. After an extended bus journey (no one knows why although the driver did look a bit spaced), we arrived at Hebron Evangelical Church on the Wirral at 11.30. The second half of the journey the young people split up and sat with someone they didn't know, so they could introduce each other when we got there.
Once all our things were off the bus we had an induction from Martin Dickson, Director of Wirral YfC, who was hosting us for the weekend.

After lunch we really got into it. We split into 3 groups initially: one group on sports activities, one group on gardening, tidying and one group on flier drop and prayer. Here is a Little about how each got on.
Sports group: These guys took a football out and some other sports equipment onto the local park, just to try and get some kind of game started. To start with they just started to kick a ball around themselves but within 15minutes around 20 lads turned up and so a big game of football went on, for about 3 hours.
Gardening group: This group went along to the same park as the sports group, but with the remit from the park manager that if they found anything they think they could tidy up then that would be a great help. After an initial scout round the park we found 2 places that were really untidy and where nettles and other weeds were restricting trees and plants but also making the place look untidy. So the group split into 2 and spent the next few hours really making a difference to the look of the park. While one group were working a group of lads on community service came past doing a litter pick, and one of our group managed to have a really good chat about why they were doing it and why we had come up to the Wirral to make a difference.
Street group: The final group were walking up and down the main shopping street of Wallasey, handing out fliers about the church but also about a drop in youth club we were running that night. Pretty soon they had ran out of leaflets and wondered what to do next. So they went and bought a mini white board and just wrote on it 'Free Prayer'. Initially there was some scepticism but within a few minutes they had people coming up to them. One woman asking for them to pray for her husband, another group of young people asking to be prayed for school and family issues, one group stayed and chatted for well over an hour. They then wiped the board and on it wrote 'ask me why i am a Christian'. Again, some really good conversations came and they were able to chat to some more people in the middle of the town centre.

After some cheeky pasta and pizza we set up for the drop in youth club in the church itself. Not knowing how many young people we would get, we decided to have a team go back onto the park and offer to pray for people and ask God for any word He might have for them.
Youth club: With not knowing what to expect it was really good to have around 15 young people aged 14 - 17 come along and just hang out with us playing table tennis, games consoles etc. We had also taken our vinyl decks so we had some good conversations over those about Church and what is important in their lives. Some of them really opened up. It was also really good cause the Church had a relationship with a few of them and in fact some of them were responsible for a previous youth club closing down because of vandalism, and they went up to Martin and apologised for the things they had done in the past. The young people were blown away when he told them that we had come from Nottingham just to do something for them. They all got given a 4points leaflet as they left and relationships have been restored and seeds have been sown.
Park team: a group went back onto the park and although there were some good conversations, this was really hard for some of the team, as there were drunken lads on the park and a real sense of oppression. Saying that they had a really good conversation with a couple of French girls who said they were atheists but let us pray for them, and a couple of girls who one of which really wanted to open up about something but was too scared in front of her friends, so we just prayed for them both.

After all this we split into 3 different groups and planned the next mornings service. One group led the adult Church for the first part of the service, one ran the children's session and the final group ran the youth session. .

After the preparation a late night trip to the beach was the order of the day (or should i say night).

The next morning we joined the prayer meeting before the service and then went into what we had prepared. All three groups did really well and the church were not only encouraged but challenged as well (their words) at how accepting their community is to prayer and Christian witness. One thing that got us all was the generosity and welcoming nature. Whether we were in the church or out in the community there was a real friendliness about the place.

Lunch was generously donated and then it was off back to Nottingham, to get some well earned sleep.

The team were amazing and i just want to mention : Jordan, Bethan, Luke, Abbi, Rachael, Rebekah, Josie, Owen, Angus, Georgi, Helena, Rosie, Leanne, Hannah, Luke, Sarah, Joshua, Kristy, Lukas as they all did Jesus proud.

Looking forward to the next eq:mission in November. Want to know more details contact us

Will put some pics out when we get them downloaded. Hope you are as inspired and proud as i was over the weekend.

Fort Rocky 2010 photos

Nottingham YfC took a group of young people to Fort Rocky @ the pioneer centre in July 2010. Here is a bit of what happened. More pics on our facebook page.

crux media photos

June 2010 was when crux media arrived in Nottingham to work with young people looking at their stories, their influences and what their dreams are. Here are some photos of the week

How do you manage change?

I am a big believer in being relevant. I am also a big believer if something stays the same for too long without looking at whether it is working, it can become stale. I like adapting, i like moving things around, i like looking at things from a different perspective - when it's on my terms. Funny that isn't it? When we are in control we can cope with things so much easier. This summer is a really interesting time with Nottingham Youth for Christ, as for the first time in about 6 years, our whole team changes- apart from me. This would normally excite me, empower me and enthuse me, because normally there would be an element of it being my decision and my choice. But this time it is totally out of my hands, and i still have no idea what my team will look like from September.
If someone came up to me and said do you put your trust in God, I will normally say ' oh yes, of course, his life is in my hands.' This would probably be an answer at a point in my life when everything is going well, and things are going as i want them too. We say somethings so easily, and probably believe them until the words we say are challenged by circumstances.
Apart from the issue of us running some great events and regular programmes for young people and us needing to staff those (check out www.nottinghamyfc.co.uk/support thanks for the cheeky plug), but we have also had a great team this year that have impacted young peoples lives with the very real love of God. I want to be annoyed that we have no continuity, i want to be cross at God for circumstances that are no ones fault, but I can't because i have to believe that actually things will work so much better when i let God lead the way instead of me thinking i know the best. Although i do wish He would tell me a bit sooner.
So i have decided that change is good, but not just for the sake of change, but because actually something much better is around the corner.
What's the best way to manage change? Let the one who created you take charge.

Guest blog: Emily Swinburne

Emily Swinburne is on staff at Nottingham YfC. She oversees the work in Chilwell and Beeston. She is currently taking time out from her ministry with young people to have her first child.




Its been strange few weeks for me as I have been working up to go on maternity leave, it slightly scares me knowing I’m going to be a mummy any day soon.

So as I have been working these last few weeks I have been thinking and reflecting on the past few years that I have been working for Nottingham YFC and how God has challenged me and used me. How God has taken me to places that have taken me out my comfort zone. I recently have been reading about Moses and when God called him to go back to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. I was really challenged when I was reading this story especially when Moses protested to God because he didn’t think he was good enough to go to Pharaoh. " But Moses protested to God, "Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt" Exodus 2 v 11. This made me think about how many times in the past few years God has asked me to do something and how I have protested to God saying I’m not good enough send someone else. This led me to think about how many opportunities I’ve missed because I have not Trusted God even though he promised several times to be with me and that was his response to Moses. v12 God answered " I will be with you".

I also know there have been times that I have stepped out for God and took that risk and stepped out of my comfort zone. When I have stepped out of that comfort zone how amazing it’s been. God chose Moses at that time to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and Moses did do what God ask him to do and Moses saw amazing things happen. God chose me and has a plan and purpose for my life which involves taking risks I suppose the question I need to ask myself is am I prepared to take those opportunities? Are you prepared?.

so here we are again!

It's a tough week for me personally. I don't think i need to tell you that there is a football match tomorrow, one that a few people (inc. moi) are not only excited for, but very nervous about. At the start of the tournament i was a new realist of an England fan. 'We were OK but we won't win'. But you get drawn in though don't you? You start believing what people say. That we are good, we can win the whole thing (It would be nice just to win a game to start with), and that we are one of the favourites. You keep with your view to start with, trying to bat away the optimism, duck the enthusiasm, keeping focused on not being let down once again. But then when you have your back turned, it creeps up on you without you knowing. You turn on the TV and then you realise, you have the virus. It is all over you and there is no way you can get away from it. I hope, i pray, i do everything i can to make sure England has the best chance of winning a football match. Tomorrow will also be the first time my kids will have sat with me during an important football match. They have heard me listening to Nottingham Forest, but this will be the first time they have seen me in full flow.

So reality hat on..... unless we go onto win it, i am going to be disappointed. Why? because I get carried away in thinking we are the best football team on the Earth. We aren't! But we can hope, we can dream.

Thing is being a Christian, I know what it is like having the highs of a great experience in Worship, and seeing young people come to faith, but i also have the lows of wondering why God let's some stuff happen, and not getting my head around things that are happening. But the low times, make my faith real. It makes it something that isn't a flippy floppy faith, it makes it a faith with substance and depth. Just like a football fan we can sometimes get fickle in our faith lives. If God isn't doing or reaching the heights we think He should, we don't want to know.

With the last in the series of Dr. who on Saturday i hope for little disappointments over the next week , but hey then we have Andy Murray in Wimbledon. Is there no hope? I think there is...

money for nothing

Have you ever wondered why some people think what they think about money? It has been interesting to watch the world cup and see the diversity of riches between those that are in charge (and the footballers), and those who have very little in the townships. It reminds me of the trips i take to India and the observation that the richer are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.
I was also reminded of the fact that people actually don't see anything wrong with this, especially those who are in the richest bracket, when watching an interview with Amanda Holden this week. Someone was commenting on how nice her shoes were and she went onto say that they aren't even a pair of those shoes that cost silly money and that they weren't that expensive. Then a few minutes later someone in the audience shouted out "How much?" and she replied "£300". For a pair of shoes? I think someone else doesn't realise what the reality of money is.
Working in the city centre up until last year you often came across 'fundraisers', who were paid to raise money for charities, and as they often went through their spiel, and trying to empathise with myself, when they found out i worked for a charity (although they could never understand why i thought that they couldn't really know what it's like because they didn't work for the charity but were being asked by a third party to represent a charity).
Running a charity, one of your main concerns is the desire to have the money to realise the dream. Nottingham YfC is no different. You become more aware of what money can actually achieve. That any money that comes to NYfC, is spent on the work we do with young people, you can have no doubt, and we are continuing to dream of impacting young peoples lives in the future. Whether that is finding the money to buy a football cage ot to running a youth alpha course. Impacting young people like Sean (names changed) who a few years ago struggled to build relationships, and would certainly not admit to having a faith. Sean now comes regularly to a number of things we run and joins in with enthusiasm. He now also calls himself a Christian, which is amazing, and being part of his journey has been a privelage.
If you would like to see your money make a difference, then check www.nottinghamyfc.co.uk/support you can donate online or set up a standing order, whichever you decide know that your real money will make a real difference.

trade in for a new model?

Had the most bizarre experience today. While i was trying to order some new toner for my printer, i had a conversation with the sales assistant, as always trying to get me to buy something else. She explained to me about this new printer and that with the cash back option it would cost me less to have a new printer filled with lovely toner, that it would to buy a set of toner for my existing printer, (of which i have only had for 4 months max). How mad is that? That actually you end up spending less getting a newer model. Although this seems like a brilliant idea (and yes i know it is just a con because printer makers know that the money is in cartridges, rather than in the printers themselves), but having reflected on it a while, it shows how easy it is to throw things away, how fickle we are, that as soon as something has run it's course, we move on to the next best thing. Mobile phones, prime example, you don't have to look after your phone because you know you will get an upgrade pretty soon. Nowadays we don't have to work anymore to keep things going, we don't have to try for the long haul because there is always something newer to replace it.

Chatting to 2 of our year outs, one from Canada and one from Germany (bring on the world cup). They both said there are so many older houses here than where they live. Especially in Canada, Kristy said that it is all new towns and cities, and in Germany Lukas says when a house gets too old they knock it down and rebuild.

If you are like me you will remember when Dr. Who used to be over 6 weeks, with 20 minute episodes gripping you each week with a cliff hanger. You think we live in an age now where people would persevere with that?

We see it a lot in magazines with relationships, that when we get bored with someone, we trade them in, get someone a bit younger, a bit more lively, someone with a bit more money.

Do we move on too quickly in life? or do we try and make things work. Do we get bored when we can't do something or do we persevere.

If we want quick fixes in our lives then Christianity isn't the answer, but if you want the best life possible, want to journey with others that can easily get things wrong, but come out the other side having learnt lessons, then Jesus wants you to get on board.

Let's not throw things away, think of the waste, whether a book, a toy or even a relationship, things we value deserve to be worked at.

Invest in some toner.

Guest blog - Phil Knox : Where is His Kingdom?

I don’t know if you, like me, were gripped by election fever. I enjoyed an amazing night of banter on Facebook as I stayed up until 5am watching the results come in while drinking lots of coffee and eating Doritos. And now we have a new Prime Minister and he’s got a new best friend to help him out and now all the questions are about how do they change the country and move us forward.

I wonder whether when they looked at the world over 2000 years ago, the ‘cabinet’ of Father, Son and Holy Spirit had a similar conversation – how do we bring this broken, hopeless world back to ourselves? And when we send our diplomat to earth, what policies will he be shouting about?

When Jesus came to earth, his message was simple, loud and clear. ‘Good news! The Kingdom of God is near! Repent and believe!’ The reason I work for YFC, the reason I am active in my community and the ache I feel whenever I see young people is because I believe in the Kingdom of God and I am desperate for this world to embrace it, its policies and mostly its King. So what does it look like?

Firstly it is where Jesus is King. A street, a school, but most significantly a heart. And it is a Kingdom of relationship rather than rules. It’s about the heart rather than looking good on the outside. Morality and spirituality are woven together. If you are after a political manifesto then the sermon on the mount is the party conference speech. The poor are blessed, it’s peacemakers rather than a defence policy and traditional sins like murder and adultery go deeper and become more about the heart – actually issues of anger and lust, ‘If a man looks at a woman…' It’s party political tag line is ‘Love God, Love others, Love wins!’ And the picture Jesus paints of being in the Kingdom is more like being a guest at a massive party than a solemn member of a religion.

What would it look like if this Kingdom invaded our streets and towns in 2010? I see fat cat bankers running out of their glass towers in city centres to the nearest McDonalds and spending all their bonuses on feeding the poor, the prostitutes, the chavs, the oppressed and the downtrodden. I see a football match with people of all backgrounds and ages, Liverpool and Man Utd fans on the same team, asylum seekers and skinheads, ASBO kids and police, Labour and Conservative members, hooligans and policemen, former terrorists and soldiers – and hugs and handshakes after the game because they know a love bigger than themselves. And in a generation where so many sons and daughters grow up not knowing a parent, I see moments of children returning home to the dad they never knew, the father seeing them far off being filled with compassion, running, putting his arms around him, a coat on his back and a ring on his finger. This generation was once lost but now is found.

Jesus taught his disciples to pray, ‘Father your Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven’ and may we each day pray this for this world of ours. May we fix our eyes and our actions on a relationship with Jesus and a heart that is full of love and compassion. And may we dream and live for banquets of generosity, football matches that unite and a lost generation coming home to a party.

Phil Knox works for Youth for Christ at head office as part of their missions team.

Why do people like football?

OK so i am biased. As are most football fans. But this morning was hard. After having convinced myself that i wasn't bothered if Forest didn't win last night and get through to the play off final, sitting at half time in the city ground, i was absorbed in the knowledge we were going to do it. But pretty much like always we didn't. Don't get me wrong, finishing 3rd in the league i would have taken at the start of the season, but in the moment, you start to hope and dream of what could be.

Screaming your teams name, jumping up every time they go forward and have a shot, it is easy to get carried away with the occasion and the emotion of the event. I think one of our problems in life is that we live for the experience, the highs of life. This can be great, especially as we learn and experience hoe much God loves us, but it can also become a crutch. When we live for the experience it can be like a drug, and although that time you are on a high nothing feels better, each time you come down from that high, it is easy to feel low, and keep feeling low till our next high. I know after last nights match what a downer felt like, and it was more so because there were times where we were in the lead.

How do we lead our lives? are we looking for the experience or are we content with what we have? Our lives would be so much richer if we look for God in the everyday, see His creation around us, rather than dismissing it and believing He is only around when we feel warm and fuzzy. If we live like the latter we deny God His creativity and His desire to be in every bit of our lives.

If we see what God truly has to offer our lives will be so much richer. Then when we do experience His love and mercy, it won't then lead to a downer but to a richer and fuller life.

Will i listen to my own words? Of course, but i will still be misguided enough to believe Forest will get promoted next season. Duh...

How easy is it to listen?

I don't know if you think your life is full or not? I have come to realise that i like noise, and i like to have stuff happening. I wouldn't say I don't like silence, but i find it hard. Whether i am in the car and have to have the radio on, or in the house and there has to be music or the TV on. Maybe even in the office where i have to have the Internet on or on the phone. What do we put in our lives that helps us avoid silence?

I think silence is very powerful. Whether it is the end of the last Dr who episode where there is just silence, or whether it is the disciples in the boat and He calms the storm, which would have totally freaked me out, the impact of silence is deafening.

I have just been to a convent down in Gloucstershire for a retreat and although it wasn't a silent retreat, it was difficult to get into. No internet access, one small square inch of mobile phone coverage and all of a sudden you feel like there is nowhere to turn, but once I got through the first hour or so you realised how powerful and impacting the silence could be. By cutting out all the noise you start to realise that God doesn't just want to hear from you but He wants to talk to you. I know a lot of people, Christians and not who would say well you can't hear God, or He doesn't speak to me. I think i have realised that actually God does want to and does actually speak to me, the question i have to ask myself though is ' is there too much noise in my life to hear God's still small voice?'

Does anything get in the way of you hearing from Him?

Guest Blog - Rev. Martin Kirkbride : when do you feel audacious?

Rev. Martin Kirkbride is the Church leader at Holy Trinity, Lenton and The Priory, Lenton. He is also regional co-ordinator of New Wine.

Last week I spent a couple of days in London, breathing the refined atmosphere of Kensington (even if my hotel was in Earls Court). Many years ago we lived in London and I miss the place. Would love to go back to the noise and bustle - but please don’t get excited in Lenton, I’m not going to. One memorable part of this recent visit was spending a couple our hours wandering round the V& A ( Victoria & Albert Museum). It was great till we got to the fashion section. There was a 1970’s exhibit that included flared trousers and platform shoes . Now to all you younger guys who walk round in jeans that only start where your boxer shorts finish - I think you look utterly naff. But on reflection I think I’d rather walk round Nottingham with half my backside and Calvin Kleins on display than revert to my 1970’s embarrassment of lurching round 5 inches taller than I really was to the background noise of my trouser bottoms flapping against each other. ( slight overstatement as I can’t afford Calvin Kleins and somehow Tesco branded boxers don’t have the same street cred)
Anyway , sans naff fashions I also attended the nearby early morning prayer meeting at Holy Trinity Brompton . They apologised that the guy supposed to be running it had been held up at Chicago Airport. Having myself had some delay at Watford Gap I fully understood the stress of international travel. The prayer meeting commenced with the challenging greeting “Are you feeling audacious this morning? Are you an audacious person?”. Now those of you who know me will be aware that I’m not even a person in a morning till I’ve had at least one very strong black coffee. Generally it would take me several cups of caffeine before I could even contemplate aspiring to audacity. But the statement immediately resonated within me. What can be more audacious than a small group of half awake very ordinary people believing that spending 60 minutes in prayer can have eternal significance, can shape global events, can bring healing and transformation of lives, can change hearts and minds, repair broken relationships, fix broken hearts, bring peace out of turmoil? How can it be that the creator of heaven and earth, the one in whom all things hang together, the one who unlike the fashions never changes, would invite you and me to have input and partnership to his plans?

major bloopers

i don't know whether you ever stay until the end of a film in the cinema or watch the credits on a DVD to see if there are any out-takes showing huge gaffs and people messing up. I don't think any of them could have come up with what we saw or heard today. On a huge campaign trail and trying to retain their government from 3rd place (although people keep showing me that that is more than possible), what a huge opportunity Gordon Brown had to meet some real people, in a campaign where he still has the responsibility of running our country. You know he is probably fuming at himself today as he was overheard, under pressure, muttering that a woman he had met was a 'bigot'. Definitely not a wise statement in a close fought election battle.
A couple of thoughts on this whole situation. First, we all make mistakes, but there is no smoke without fire. I made a pact with myself when i was 16. i wasn't a christian, but had got into the habit of swearing quite a lot and i didn't like it, it made me feel horrible about myself, so i decided to stop swearing then. Now if something bad happened to me, or if i hurt myself, i wouldn't slip into swearing because it is not in my head to do so. if i swore occasionally, then i would probably do so if i hit my thumb with a hammer, because the words are in my head. It is what is said and thought when no one else sees or hears that will come out at some point.
Second, we all make mistakes and i think that the mistake that Gordon made today will probably come to haunt him on May 6th, because however many times he apologises he will now be tarnished. We are so good at holding things against people. The Church, as a whole, the place where grace, mercy, forgiveness and restoration are the manifesto of their leader Jesus, are up there with the best. How forgiving as a Christian am I? or do i hold things against people. What do we stand for?
I am not a political beast, and for me the elections are not about personalities but about who, as a team, can lead this country. Yet i have been challenged by how i judge people and what I, as a candidate representing Jesus, can offer others. Richard

can everything be man-made?

Do you find you have to try and control everything? I think there are certain things i cannot cope with if i am not in charge. For example it was Joel's 4th birthday last week, and for his party he had decided to have it at a soft play area. In itself that seems fine, but this was the first party either of my children had had that wasn't a good old fashioned kids party. No musical chairs, no pass the parcel, no mad games, just soft play. So, my most successful part as a dad so far, had suddenly stopped. I had nothing to run.
As you are aware there has been this most surprising effect of a volcano over our flight paths over the past week or so. This is something that no one had seen coming, and has created the most havoc that we have seen in the air the UK has ever seen. Now for a lot of people it has effected their lives, some have just had extended holidays, others it has cost them a lot of money. What i do find interesting is that, having a conversation with someone the other day, is that there is the feeling that this should have been sorted before, and that someone didn't do their job properly.
You know what, i get the feeling that we think, sometimes, everything has to be controlled, and when it can't we just can't cope. It also seems to me that when we get to that situation whether that is through extreme weather or through a natural occurrence, that we still need someone to blame, someone has to be at fault.
Let's face it we are like that as a Christian as well, we need to be in control, and it is so hard to let God be in control. The problem we have is that He knows us better than we know ourselves, and that it is always best to let him lead, even if it is hard. If we try and run things in our own strength, we know there is a chance it will fail, but letting Him lead? only leads to success. So are our lives going to be man made or God made?

one death after another

I was really fortunate on my birthday to receive a blu-ray player. being one that likes techy eqpt. it was going to happen one day, and so persuaded Laura to go in with other family members for the next set of birthdays and Christmas's' lol for this blu ray. And having got a player i then needed to purchase some blu ray discs. And with me taking my kids with me shopping, i ended up with 2 films, cloudy with meatballs and 2012.

What struck me about 2012 was that pretty much it was about death. Yes there was the hope that the hero(es) might make it, and i suppose you would say ' well, what do you expect, it is a disaster movie', but i just couldn't keep up with how many people kept dying. It was like the original A-Team in the 80's. They used to end up reeking so much havoc out of a matchbox and a piece of string, and there were people who just ended up diving out the way when blown up. aah to be a stunt man lol.

It just got me thinking that we end up taking life so much for granted. so we have this amazing opportunity to live, yet we don't really do that much with it before it becomes too late. we end up going through the motions and not really thinking about much, when there is such a life to live. we can end up making such a difference to people around us and the place we live. Changing lives and having such an impact. Yet we just tick over half the time, probably because it seems that it is too much like hard or that actually we are not that important and probably one of the biggest reasons is that we actually don't think we can do much. Those are the lies that we end up believing often because it is easier and we are less likely to be let down or hurt.

And the irony of it all is that the only reason we can live to have such a huge impact is because one person died. How mental is that, the fact that life can only be had if we accept the death of one guy. Jesus. So when we put that death into perspective, it wasn't just one of the many we say day by day, but one that has made, does make and will continue to have a huge impact on everything He touches.

Guest blog - Roy Crowne : Holy huddle?

Roy Crowne is executive director of Hope - an organisation that encourages Churches and Christians do put word and deed together in mission. Here he gives us an insight into his dreams for the Church and young people over this Easter period


Saturday afternoons have been exciting for me over the last few weeks, as I am a bit of a rugby fan and Six Nations is probably the most exciting tournament, apart from the World Cup.

As I sat watching the intense game last Saturday there was a ‘ruck’ in which players were engaged which seemed to last for ever. No-one was moving and actually they were starting to move back.

My mind went off to a thought I had, maybe from a book or some speaker I had heard, where they were talking about the church getting stuck in a ‘huddle’, with no ability to move forwards. ‘Huddles’ or ‘rucks’ are quite important for planing or developing a strategy, but not to stay there. If you stay there you will always end up going backwards. You see – in the end the ball has to come out and go forwards with the goal, the touch down, and the try, then the conversion.

The church in many places remains as a ‘huddle’. My dream for you as young people is that you throw the ball out, stating that’s where we are heading. Then with all the energy, drive of the forward, the middle row and the back row, everyone works towards the end of the conversion.

I think this is a really exciting time for us to throw out the ball and for people to follow with the goal of the conversion. Jesus made an amazing statement, when he says to his disciples that the way to change the world is one by one, but the only way to achieve it is to throw the ball out into the deep and let God achieve the try and convert.

There was a fantastic little comment I heard once, when I was fishing – which I don’t enjoy – when someone put a worm on a hook, and I said to them ‘I don’t like worms’. They agreed, but said that whether you like them or not is not the issue. The fish like worms and the worms will catch the fish. So when we step out we may not always like some of those God has called us to embrace, but by doing so you will discover that there is a God in heaven who catches the fish.

So, this week, today, this month, this Easter, let’s throw the ball forwards against the opposition, and see what Jesus will do to mobilise the team to action.

Roy will be speaking at our next eq:uip event on 11th June. For more details check out www.nottinghamyfc.co.uk/eq

do we really understand what we are able to acheive?

Having been doing mission across Nottingham over the last 9 years i have been surprised, looking back, how much God has let us be involved in. Although we haven't purposely set out to be schools workers and doing Christian schools work, we have ended up being able to see nearly 2,000 young people each week through our work in schools. This has been through just serving the schools and giving them support and standing by them, in particular with spiritual and pastoral issues. Yes, we do assemblies and we do mission weeks through lessons and roadshows, but schools have really appreciated the ongoing support we have been able to give them.
To be honest, as i have looked at Jesus I see this as something that He would do. Jesus was someone who didn't judge but stood with people, got alongside them and supported them.
This is also something that we are passionate in doing. Getting alongside young people, supporting them when they feel alone, when they feel no one else is around for them, that is where Jesus would be.
Through the things we do, and looked to acheive we look back and see that by just being there, we suddenly have the opportunity to speak into thousands of young peoples lives.
Isn't it funny what creeps up on you, when you just aim to serve others.

Whose strength?

Being a bloke, i have this competitive edge. Even as a youth worker (I know i shouldn't) I very rarely will try less than 100% when it comes to playing sport or games. As i tend to play at this level quite often it is always a little embarrassing and humiliating when i lose. If it is a young person that beats me then they also like to tell me that they have beat me.

Of course then my pride kicks in, because my best wasn't good enough, and that sometimes hurt. I also look at some of the people in the Bible and see how good they were and what great things they did and sometimes wish i was like them.

I was reading in Judges about Samson and the person he was and i remember back to Sunday school and hearing how strong he was and how muscly he looked on the picture. i think i always saw him as the 'Christian superhero' (apart from Jesus obviously) and was someone who was the ultimate superman. Yet i was reading a commentary the other day saying that idea of Samson being that type of man, the He-man of his time is actually wrong and denying God. It says that people were surprised by his strength and that they couldn't work out where he got his strength from. Well, if he was that muscle bound man people wouldn't have been surprised and people would have known exactly where he got his strength from. His muscles.

So to know that Samson got his strength from God challenges me to think about how much i use my own strength and how much i depend on God. OK maybe not at table tennis, but at life stuff, things that are really important. Decisions that i need to make, Choices that come my way, i want to be strong, but how often do i realise there is no way i am strong enough on my own.

eq - mission training for young people

One of the most exciting things that Nottingham YfC have been
involved in over the past few years has been the training of young people to share their faith. Starting in 2003 it has been great to see over 40 young people trained and equipped in sharing their faith to their peers, through a year long course.
Although that generation of eq has come to an end, NYfC and myself in particular are still passionate about training and equipping young people in mission and evangelism. So the regeneration of eq has arrived. In 2 streams eq will aim to put mission and evangelism back on the agenda of young people across the city, and give them opportunity to hear from experienced and gifted evangelists and mission practicioners as well as giving opportunities to do mission.

eq:uip is our training hub. It happens 3 times a year and will give young people the opportunity to hear from the best in the business. It will be challenging and thought provoking and most of all it will give practical tips on how to share your faith with the people around you. Our first event is June 11th and we have Roy Crown (who heads up HOPE) as our speaker.

eq:mission is our experiential zone. Twice a year we will take a group of young people somewhere across the country to make a difference in a community, as well as give them opportunities to share their faith with others. Our first mission trip is July 17-18 .

Future dates will be produced with enough time for youth leaders to put these in their programme. The eq:uip events are turn up on the door for a fiver per person (youth leaders come free with 5 or more young people), and the eq:mission is thirty quid inclusive. Our heart and passion is for the young people of the church to be mission focused as part of their faith. For more details on the up coming eq events the check out http://bit.ly/9XNLPt
Let's see young people learn through hearing and doing in a world where it is all about having the experience that develops young people most, what a great opportunity to change your world.

do we dip our toes in?

I have recently been very challenged about everything i do and how much i put into it.

I have been out of action over the weekend due to a minor op, and this has coincided with Laura deciding that we are going to redecorate the lounge. Now for me this has been quite good timing, as i am not very good at decorating, and i tend to cut a lot of corners, and it ends up looking worse than it did before.

While i have been out of action i have put our V+ box to work and while the rest of the family scuttled off to church on Sunday morning, i started to watch a soul surviour programme that i had recorded. It had the very funny J.John spaeking about commitment and how people like to dabble in something but not really jump in with both feet. There is a fear of committing to anything.

Working with young people I see that a lot, and in a way that doesn't bother me because we all tried to get away with things when we were younger. What worries me is that us adults don't seem to have grown out of the problem. A few years ago i worked with someone, that when you asked them if they wanted to do something, or plan something they would say " I'll let you know" or "we'll see" .

On the bus journey into work today i got chatting to a woman next to me and we were chatting about our kids, and she kept refering ot her other half as 'her partner'. Even in reltionships we are sceptical about getting let down or hurt, so our defense shields say ' I will keep things at an arms length.'

Now .... i suppose this could all sound logical, even to me, if people get hurt, people get trod on and things kept going wrong. What i can't get my head round is when people who claim to be Christians do the same with God. You see for me, this is the one relationship where i know i will be safe, i know I won't get let down, and yet i still, sometimes keep Him at arms length. I don't totally hand my life over to Him. Why? Because sometimes we let our nervousness that we have of people, affect our relationship with Jesus.

This doesn't make me less loved by Jesus, it doesn't mean i am a rubbish Christian, it just means i am not getting everything i can out of life and, more importantly, I am not getting everything God wants to give me. And with this in mind i think how is this going to affect 'The Church' ? because if we don't have everything God wants to give us how can we pass it on.

So the question i have is ...... do i keep dipping my toes in or am i going to get soaked?

Guest blog: Paula-Marie Leech : Decisions

Each month Nottingham YfC are having a guest blogger. This month Paula-Marie Leech, chair of trusttees for NYfC gives her thoughts...

Decisions, decisions, decisions!

I am currently trying to decide which is the best printer to buy for the NYFC office this should be a fairly simple task after the trustees at their last meeting deciding upon a colour laser printer. But no, now I have to decide which company should make it, should it be HP, Cannon, Xerox, Dell, Oki and so the list goes on... and even when I decide on who should make it I then have to decide which model it should be, the list is equally as endless..., as well as choosing how much I will spend and deciding if what it does is what we need etc. Our lives seem to be an endless number of metres of hurdles, making one decision and being immediately confronted by the next. Not to mention the worry of will it be the right decision, will I make it over the hurdle?, will I end up flat on my face? This reminded me of my eldest daughter on holiday in Switzerland trying to buy a traditionally dressed wind up Swiss musical doll as a souvenir. There were three to choose from a red dress, a blue dress or a green dress some would say this was not a difficult decision. However, she couldn't decide and trying to be helpful the shopkeeper much to my horror started bringing out more dolls with different coloured dresses and then different musical tunes!!! As I suspected this only made the decision making worse, as the more there was to choose from the more unsure she got! Needless to say we had been in the shop for what seemed like an eternity, when I asked her why she couldn't choose, she replied 'I don't want to make the wrong decision.' You will be pleased to know that she did eventually make a decision, the blue dress out of the original three choices!
What still amazes me is the sheer number of decisions that we make from getting up in the morning to going to sleep at night. But what amazes me more is that this is the way God made us to be, he gives us free choice, he allows us to make bad decisions just as so many people we read about in the Bible did, he continues to love us whatever we decide, he even allows us the decision not to return his love and be in a relationship with him. So we need to remember that God gives us permission to choose for ourselves, no doubt we won't always make the right decisions, but we can be assured that God loves us and remains with us whatever decision we make.

Paula-Marie has been chair of NYfC since last November. She is married to Pete, who is training at St. John's college to be an Anglican minister. They have 4 children.