eq:mission March 2011

Our eq:missions continue to impact communities across the UK as well as young people from Nottingham in their faith. Our latest adventure took a team of young people to Orford in Warrington. Working with Warrington YfC and Bethel Free Church in Orford the team stepped out of their comfort zones throughout the weekend.

Once again the young people turned up at the NYfC office not knowing where they were going to end up. This time it was slightly longer mission as we started on the Friday night rather than the Saturday morning. The reason for that? the team were involved in speaking at UNITE Warrington YfC's youth worship event. This was a great time of worship and then the young people all shared what it meant to them to 'step out of the boat.' We then went to our accommodation where we were going to spend the weekend. Bethel Church were especially generous with the overnight heating. For the Saturday we were joined by a team from Sheffield as we went out door knocking asking people to help with a questionnaire that was put together by Bethel Church and inviting them to the fun day in the afternoon.

The fun day consisted of a football cage, face painting, free bbq, table tennis, volleyball and karaoke. Over 150 people turned up for the fun day where the young people helped lead the various activities. The Church were really please as there were 4 or 5 new families that they hadn't come into contact with before. We had some really good conversations, with one woman saying she had used to go to church but had only gone 2 or 3 times but after this day she was going to start going again.

The team then went and had a good feed at Pizza Hut before planning for the next mornings service. The young people led worship, ran a drama, shared what they had done the day before and what it meant to them to be ambassadors in their schools and colleges. Each of the young people saw God use them in an amazing way throughout the weekend from: 'I was really worried about whether people would like me, but God has shown me that i am to be more confident.' to 'it was really good to see that God used us to make a difference in peoples lives and make them feel good about the Church.'

The fact that the Church wouldn't have done the whole event if we hadn't turned up meant that we really had made a difference in that community. Keep checking out facebook and twitter for information of our November eq:mission later in the year.

Prayer for the lives lost in Chilwell and Beeston.

Over the past few weeks there has been some real heartache across the community of Chilwell and Beeston. There have been 2 needless deaths where people have felt like they have had no hope. As a response to these events NYfC alongside the local Church, held a prayer vigil overnight last Wednesday. Please find below some of the prayers and thoughts from that vigil.

Jesus taught them:
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth

It is hard enough to handle when you have a faith, how do those people cope that don't. People may not have to talk to someone but they must have the opportunity.

Psalm 20: May the Lord answer you when you are in distress, may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.
Isaiah 41:10: fear of the future and the hugeness of emotion won't overwhelm - God will strengthen you.

We pray that through the pain and sorrow there will only be one way they will turn. There is only one who can truly comfort the huge sorrow that is being felt.

You saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul. i trust in you Lord, I say 'you are my God' - Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord.

Oh my Jesus, be with these young people, show them your compassion, your love and your understanding. We know they can have no realisation of what this all means. Nobody knows what really happened to these 2 unfortunate souls. We can only trust they are with you and all sins are forgiven. Please be with the family and friends. Give them comfort.

Isaiah 41:10
So do not fear, for i am with you: do not be dismayed, for i am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. We hold this vigil, Lord, not only to mourn these 2 lost souls, who met such a tragic death, but also to pray for those that they left especially the young friends who must be suffering from shock. maybe some feel they are to blame in some way. Help them Lord, be with them. Shine a light on them Lord, show them the way to enlightenment.


James 5:16a-18
"The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. "
I pray with you for God's blessing on this town and its people

Praying comfort for the famiies and friends in their great sadness, God's presence in the memorial service and that the young people of Beeston and our city would know the love of Jesus.

Praying here in Sheffield for Chilwell and Beeston at this time. Real sense of everyone praying from their rooftops, calling out to God and his angels enveloping the whole town. Keep standing together in prayer.

May God be with you. Turn to him and he will comfort you. He loves you and cherishes you.

Praying for young people of chilwell and beeston that they will know they are loved and have a purpose

Praying for all the family and friends of both Chloe and Daniel. That somehow and somewhere they will find a God who can comfort.

We continue to pray for all those affected.

Richard

Is there any point in being defensive?

I love hearing about Church history. Whether that be the early church in the book of Acts or the start of denominations like Methodism and the Salvation Army. Listening to Question Time at the minute and hearing them talking about the amount of people trying to create a revolution in the middle east over the past few months, i remember stories about the abolition of the slave trade or the day of Pentecost and i love the face that the Church has been part of so many revolutions. So what i would like to know is when is the next one? Some would say it if you look at the Church it is a long way off, although some would say we have this sleeping giant just ready to awake. So why isn't it happening? One of the reasons is that we have become defensive about our faith, and defensive about what we believe. In a world that is becoming more secular, and in a country like ours that has become less Christian, instead of using this culture shift as a challenge and a chance to become part of a new revolution, we have become more restrained, by trying to keep our own traditions and our own ways safe. We can see some elements of this still when we see cultures within a lot of churches not being able to connect with the culture outside the doors. Being part of a revolution is not about doing what everyone else does, or even changing because everyone else does. What being part of a revolution means is to stand for what you believe that goes against what is going on around. What it also means is that you don't go into your shell, batten down the hatches and sit it out, but move out and show what you have is of the greater good. Could this be the Church? or shall we just wait until it is all over, but if we continue on the back foot, there maybe none of us left to come out from behind the door.

Richard