power in my prayer

For the last few weeks I've had the children’s Christian song by Dave Godfrey called “power in my prayer” stuck in my head. It goes like this: “there’s power in my prayer, there’s power in my prayer, James 5:16 you know what I mean, there’s power in my prayer.”  So I decided to look up the verse in the bible.  James 5:16 states “therefore, confess your sin to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”  The song and verse is clearly telling me to pray as it holds great power. But why do I need to pray? Surely if God is omniscient (all knowing) then he must know everything I want and need, without needing to say anything.   Anyway, even when I do pray it doesn't mean I get what I ask for, so how is it so powerful?   

                 I began answering that question by acknowledging that am 100% certain that God is all -knowing and all -power full and therefore doesn't need our help for anything.   But God asks us to pray for our own sake, he wants us to build a relationship with him. Like when a father asks his young child to help him with his DIY project, the father is perfectly capable of doing this task alone and in fact the child could be more of a hindrance to him, but he uses the task as a way of bonding with his child, in the same way being involved with the work that God is doing through prayer, helps us to bound with God.   We are closer to God as we are involved in what he is doing.   We must also remember that as God is all-knowing and we have limited knowledge, he knows far more then we about what we need and therefor e we should trust in him to provide and not come to him with a wish list that we expect to be for filled, after all, the joy in prayer isn’t the things we get out, but building a relationship with God and working alongside him.  

Once I get a song stuck in my head I have to listen to it so that I will sing it no more, and so I looked it up online. By doing this I was reminded of anther one of Dave Godfrey’s   songs and a time when his children stood at the front of my church and sang this: “as I trust in you, you give me peace within, so I look into your face and say, daddy I need you” for me that’s how you should pray, seek God for guidance and support in all, for he is our Daddy listening and comforting,   there really is power in my prayer.   

Abby Clark is on the yfcone eta drama program

She is based in Radcliffe with the Methodist church

Journeys

Have you ever had to travel on a car journey with no map or sat nav? Hiked across the countryside with no compass? Or even been lost somewhere, with no one to ask for directions?

It’s often hard to get lost in the 21^st century with smart phones and good road signs, but in life sometimes we can feel like we are on a journey and have no clue where we are going, and if we did, how we would get there.

This thought of journeying has been something I've been thinking a lot about recently and has made me remember how God has led me over the past couple of years. When I stop and think about where I am now and how I got here, there is so much I can be thankful to God for. If someone had of told me when I was 15 that I would be living in Nottingham, study a schools, youth and community degree and volunteering for NYfC I probably would have laughed at them. As at that point in time all I was interested in was carpentry.

It was only a few weeks ago that I shared in a rock solid group how God had been with me on my journey through life. I asked the group what they thought their journey looked like and gave them a picture with four different pathways. Each had a different obstacle or difficulty that might have affected the journey. But through this I asked them to draw their own path or life journey and show me if it had ups or downs, obstacles or diversions and maybe even if they recognized God journeying with them?

I have always found Abram’s call by God in Genesis 12 helpful, as it makes me put things into perspective and I can liken my story to his. You see God appears to Abram and without warning or explanation tells him to leave his home, his family and the land he knows because God has something better in store for him. Abram has this incredible ability to just obey without argument or complaint and leave with no map (or sat nav or smart phone), just relying on God to direct him as he travels.

Often when we don’t know where we are going it can be really scary, most of us like to be in control of our lives and be the ones to make decision about whether we turn left or right. I would personally like to challenge you to let God be in control. If Abram had never been willing to let God lead him, he would never have become one of the great fore fathers in the Bible and if I had never said yes to God when he asked me to go into youth work I would never had experienced his blessing and provision and would probably still be in Leicester working as a carpenter.

Jeremiah 29:11 - For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Simon Bentley is on his first year placement at NYfC

He is studying Theology and Schools work at MCYM

Having a Personal Faith

Something I’ve been challenged on recently is the idea of having a ‘personal faith’. It’s so easy to fall in to that trap of feeling like you know all there is to know about Christianity, so you must therefore have a really strong faith, right? Well, maybe. Doing a degree in youth work and theology at a Christian college often tempts me in to thinking that attending lectures, learning about the Bible, going to prayer meetings and being a Christian youth worker is enough. But I’m starting to learn that it’s not. My ministry needs to be rooted in my relationship with God; otherwise there is just no point. So, like any other relationship, a relationship with God requires sacrifice. That sounds brutal, but I mean it in the sense of sacrificing our time and effort to spend time getting to know God on a personal level. This means listening to Him and valuing what he has to say. Only then can we truly have faith, because God can do some wonderful and exciting things in our lives that we couldn’t even imagine unless we take time to invest in Him. It’s like; imagine that you had never tasted chocolate. So you read about chocolate and people tell you about how great it is. But only you know how great chocolate really is when you try it yourself. And let’s be fair, the rewards are pretty amazing! So today, I encourage you to think about how you can have a personal relationship with God, and go for it!

Charli Wood is key worker in Bilborough

She is also on the 3rd year @ MCYM

What have you been trusted with?

Writing a Blog always makes me reflect about what is important to me, important enough to write about and share with other people, so I was really glad when on our Notthingham Youth for Christ away day our boss, Richard said that the scripture for Youth for Christ this year was the "Parable of the talents" (Matthew Chapter 25 verses 14-28). This story really impacted me as a child, and challenged me once again when I read it with the team.

The story talks about a Master who gives 3 servants with a different number of talents, to one he gave 10, another 5 and another 1 before he went away. While he was gone the first two servants invest in their talents and are able to double their numbers. The Master is overjoyed, praises them and is able to share and entrust to them more of what he owns. The servant who had one talent didn't invest in his talent. In fact, he was scared of the way his Master ran his work/business so hid his talent in the ground until his Master came back to return it. As a result he was punished, his talent taken away and given to the one with 10 and he couldn't share in the Master's riches and was thrown into suffering.

This story reminded me that, in life, we are all different in our giftings and responsibilities, that God has made each person in a particular way. Our gifts, personalities, skills, styles, strengths, weaknesses, weird habits and relationships with people in our lives make us unique. It's not just what they are, or whether they seem a lot or a little that defines us, it's maybe even more what we do with them.

I used to focus on the last servant more than the other two who had used their talents. I used to feel sorry for him because he let his fear of a person (his Master) and a scenario (his Masters business) which was a misunderstanding in the first place, confuse and rob him of his duty, which was only to do the task right in front of him, to look after his talent. Because of fear and misunderstanding he missed out on the opportunity to use his talent, enjoy using and learning How to use it, reaping the rewards and sharing that, and more with his Master and the other servants.

This story reminded me again that God is a Dad, He is a loving Father. We may not always understand Him (the Master), in fact we CAN'T because He is an indescribable Being who controls the universe (His business) and we can't even control a fly or our lives properly, but we can know this: He has made us who we are, and there are things that we have been trusted with, people, jobs/chores, (home)work, decisions, opportunities and talents and if we are faithful with the few things right in front of us then when the time comes we can be trusted and blessed with more.

I hope this has blessed you as much as reading the story, and writing this speel has blessed me. Don't let life confuse you, don't be afraid, learn to enjoy who you are and what you have, and believe that He will always want to bless you.

Mona is key worker in Arnold

Being that someone

We all probably had someone in our Christian walk or just in our general life someone who has always been their for us. Someone that has encouraged , challenged, inspired you, someone that has not given up on you when your going through a hard time. I know when i was growing up having someone that was all those things helped me through life but most of all in my christian walk. This someone was a youth leader in my youth group. The way that she lived her life that reflected God and the way she never gave up on me even though i was a pain some of the time and tried to push her away she still stood by me.  She showed me that God to was all those things and so much more.

Working with young people i have noticed that encouraging them makes a real difference to them. Helping them reach their potential and not giving up on them when sometimes they feel everything in their lives is going wrong. Sometimes you might not see all the impact that you have on a young person but i know from my experience that the person that encouraged me has helped me get where i am today. 

I hope that in my life I can be that 'someone' who takes the the time to listen, to encourage to challenge and inspire someone and that the way I live will reflect God who is always that someone to everyone .  Can you be that 'Someone' ?

emily@nottinghamyfc.co.uk

Emily is our key worker in Inham Nook 

and is also our church resources worker

young people, the hope of our world?

I was glued to the television, nothing was stopping me from watching this. Yes I was slightly tired, it was about 12:30am now, but I was determined to see the end of the London 2012 Opening Ceremony. I had survived all aspects of the incredible, creative and wonderful ceremony even as others around me gave up and went to bed. All there was left to watch now was the lighting of the Olympic flame signalling the official start of the Olympic games. “Who was going to light it?” I wondered. Suddenly on the television David Beckham is seen driving a speed-boat towards the stadium with a younger athlete holding the torch. I thought “Maybe it is him, no big surprise though and hardly imaginative”. Then the torch is passed to Steve Redgrave and I think, “Ok this is it, this guy has got the most amount of Gold medals for Great Britain in history, no-one has been more successful, so it must be him!”. Steve Redgrave jogs into the stadium and I expect that to be it for the lighting of the torch but…it wasn’t…. Moments later Steve passes the torch to a group of 7 young people, aged between 16-18, who all have great talent and potential to represent Great Britain in the future. These 7 young people then light the Olympic torch signalling the start of the London 2012 Olympic games. Everyone expected ‘the lighting of the torch’  to be carried-out by a successful and experienced athlete who was known to all, instead 7 young people for 10 minutes left the world breathless with the hope that they brought to one of the biggest events around.

Last year at this same time of year, young people due to the riots were deemed “a lost generation”. This year a group of young people positively impacted the world. When young people are given the opportunity; and are empowered, loved and befriended; they can make a  massively positive impact to this world. The question is, are we going to let them? I urge strongly that your answer to this is a resounding “YES!!”. So this year at Nottingham Youth for Christ we strive to continue the positivity surrounding young people that this summer has brought, to empower a generation of young people to show the world what fantastic hope, creativity and love that they can bring. 

Mike Harrison is  NYfC's key worker in Nuthall and Kimberley

He started in September 2012 and   

is getting married in 2013

What is Faith?

Will has just come onto the Nottingham YfC team as key worker in Radcliffe and South Notts. In his first blog he talks about the idea of the Christian faith.

I remember in my first few months as a Christian a few people asked if I had Faith. My rather rushed but honest answer was “Erm…a little bit…maybe?”. I didn’t feel that I could answer with a simple “yes” or “no”, I was hardly a spiritual heavyweight but there was a little something there, enough to taste and want more of.

In life, everyone has faith in something or someone. By that I mean something that a person trusts in, relies upon, hopes in, and holds as the direction of life. Every second, we put our trust in something. Imagine you are sat on a chair, your body relies on the structural integrity of the chair to prevent your body from falling on the floor. Or imagine you run and jump. Wouldn’t it be odd if instead of jumping up and landing, you jumped and kept flying through the air?! It is our past experiences that guide us but it is our trust that empowers us in action. It encompasses everything that we see, do, feel, know and experience - an external authority but an internal compass; Faith guides and influences. Can you see how important it is where we put our trust and hope?

Faith affects its surroundings and can be seen through its effects – much like the wind. We can see the leaves being blown around or find it hard to walk into a strong headwind, but we cannot see the environmental air-pressures that cause it.

The book of Hebrews in the New Testament describes faith as “…confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1). See how the writer of Ephesians is exploring how faith in God affects our daily lives? God is in everything that we long for, and everything that we don’t understand. He is our reassurance and promise of love and grace.

Back when I was young, everyone seemed to be using the phrase “Faith Grows”. In my early years following Jesus, I had experienced faith growing but didn’t really understand it until I had to start explaining Jesus to people. Faith grows by footsteps and conversations. It’s is a series of personal decisions that we make, to put our lives in the hands of our Father in heaven. Some decisions are bigger and more influential than others, but God loves it when we put our trust and hope in Him, however big or small the decision may appear to be. To Him, every faithful decision is beautiful. I

Faith is a relationship, flowing from one to the other; Jesus offers an eternal hope, joy, forgiveness, peace and love…it is our choice to accept and trust in His amazing love.

Will Lee

  

The Olympics: an opportunity for mission

Junior arrived in the UK in February to be part of The Nottingham YfC team. As part of his year he went down to London during the olympics to be part of the mission team in Newham. Here are his thoughts of the whole experience:

The project idea came from the local YFC team and from the National YFC willing to explore the unique Olympics time opportunity to spread the gospel to people from all parts of the world. Love E7 was a ten days evangelistic program in Newham running from the 24^th of July until the 2^nd of August during the Olympics time aiming to bless the community. Just to explain quickly the clever idea of the project’s name, E7 is the post code for place that we’d be join in, so the name Love E7 came from the idea of loving Newham and blessing that community.

I’ve heard about this opportunity from National YFC and I got really interested in serving God and help making a difference in Newham. Because I was at holidays and I hadn’t got anything planned for that time, I thought being part of it would be a great experience and a time to grow up in my faith. So I accepted the invite!

To help in Love E7 we’d got around sixty people, mainly youth, from the local community, from different parts of England and from other countries as well. Including myself, I think the Brazilian group was about 21 people, most of them couldn’t speak English at all! We’d got around 10 people from France and about the same quantity from Holland, but the Dutch people arrived just on Saturday the 28^th. One funny story that happened was that the staff team asked me if I could pick the Brazilians up and the French group using the underground trains. I thought would be easier to pick the Brazilians up from Heathrow than the French from a nearer station because of my issue with English language but I got a bigger issue with the Brazilian baggage. Each one of them was carrying 2 big suitcases and the journey from Heathrow to Forest Gate in Newham was 2 hours long, so it was really difficult! I lost them once on the underground, everybody got in the train and I couldn’t because I was helping to put the baggage in the train, so funny! But it ended up well, everyone got safe to Forest Gate station.

Talking about how we were acting, the staff team allocated all those people into teams of 7-8 people, so we’ve got 8 teams there, each one of them responsible for doing different activities in Newham that were; gardening, painting a bridge, street evangelism, litter picking, youth and kids clubs, sports day, dancing and drama on the streets. During the days, in every morning we were gathering together in one of the churches for a time of worship, prayer and training and then we were starting our activities in the community after lunch time. Thinking specifically about my own team, we were responsible for help running a kids club at one of the churches in Newham, and an Asian Youth Centre.

The experience helping in the kids club for 2-8 aged kids was amazing! The theme was the Olympics and every child was considered as an athlete. Everyone in the team had a responsibility and because I was a leader assistant on my team my responsibility was support the other four Brazilians in my team because of the language issue, doing the warm up at the beginning and giving out points for children who were behaving well or that did something really good during the activities. I was the first aider in our team as well, so I was responsible for safe and security as well. Through the days that we helped there we could enjoy our time doing dancing songs, face painting, bible verse’s games, bouncy castle, drawing, telling bible stories and more. At the end we summed the team’s points and we gave rewards for the winner team. I really enjoyed spending time with the children, I think it’s because I love playing with kids, they always make me laugh and it’s always fun. I would say that our impact in there was really positive, everyone was doing their best to make it good and I’m sure that the kids there could see how we can enjoy the life with God.

At the Asian Youth Centre, the aim was more about advertising than helping with the activities, so we were trying to take people’s attention to what was going on the place. Because the Brazilians on our team were part of a dance group, we thought would be good to use this skills to bring people’s attention. So we basically had the Brazilians dancing outside while the others were trying to talk with people and invite them to come along and enjoy the time in the Centre. It was a really good time, lots of people were stopping to watch the dancing and we had the opportunity to talk with those people and share our faith with them, even knowing that could be difficult because they were mainly Muslims.

If I would like to define what Love E7 was for me, I’d say that the program’s name really made sense, that I loved that community and I loved to be part of this amazing initiative and it definitely influenced my life and relationship with God. I feel more capable to share my faith with other people than I was before and I’m sure that it will influence positively in my youth work in Nottingham. If I have the opportunity to do this again, I wouldn’t think twice, I strongly recommend this kind of activity to anyone who wants to serve God and to spend time being used by Him.

If you would like to know more about the feedback that we’ve got from all the places that we helped with, there’s a video of Love E7 on youtube where you can hear more about it, just type in ‘Love E7’ on youtube and you’ll be able to see God’s action through us in Newham.

Junior Bittencourt

Work experience with Nottingham YfC

My week at Nottingham Youth for Christ has been a very fun week , I have had a great time and I have met a lot of nice people. In my week of being here I have done all sorts from doing lunch time clubs with the year 8 students at Chillwell School , to setting up and helping manage the football cage at Beeston. All of the workers here are very nice people and are very good to talk to. At the start when I picked to be here for work experience I was a bit unsure that I was going to like it, however I have enjoyed it so much and I am very happy I picked Nottingham Youth for Christ. Working here has changed my views of where I would like to work when I leave school because I have had such a great time. In my week of being here there has always been something to do but the main thing is everything I have done I have enjoyed.

I have met some really decent people whilst being here that I really hope that I will get to see again in the future. The most fun part of my week here must be the football cage, we managed to get a lot of different aged young people from Beeston and we had a great time playing football, I met a lot of people my age whilst playing at the football cage and we all had a fun time. Another great experience I had was interviewing  people who had applied to work with Nottingham Youth for Christ, this was fun because it gave me an opportunity to come up with some questions to ask these people but fortunately I had help from two other boys around the same age as me who helped come up with questions and also asked the questions. All together I have had a such a great time whilst being here and I would love to do something like this in the future. So I am very grateful that Nottingham Youth for Christ let me do my work experience here because its definitely gave me a new experience that I have enjoyed a lot. 

Zack Baskill

Year 10 Work Experience

Long Eaton School

Who is control?

In life, it’s a given, everyone at some point is going to struggle with something.  Recently i’ve been looking at how Jesus calmed the storm in Matthew 8:23-27.  In the early church the storm and the waves were often interpreted as being the storms and winds of trials and persecutions and the boat as the church.  Sometimes, life can get pretty stormy; in fact Matthew uses the Greek word for earthquake when describing the wind, so life can even get as bad as a natural disaster!  We know that the storm that Matthew describes was very bad in that the people on the boat were all experienced fishermen and yet the storm is so bad that they cry out to Jesus for help.  “Lord, save us!  We’re going to drown!”  Every so often, each of us feels as though we’re in this position and we want to cry out for help.  What’s interesting is Jesus reply to the disciple’s.  He gets up (from where he’s sleeping) and rebukes the wind and the waves and suddenly, everything becomes completely calm.  Jesus is in total control.  It’s nice to look back to this story for encouragement knowing that Jesus is in total control.  Even more so, those that have decided to follow him can rest in this security.

                I work for NYFC in Chilwell school and I don’t know how often you go into school but young people can be quite intimidating.  But I know that Jesus is standing there with me and is there and in control.  Initially I found my work in Chilwell quite difficult, but with Jesus i have seen how much easier trusting in him can make things.  What’s interesting about the final aspect of the calming of the storm is that the disciples respond to Jesus with amazement.  Why? Not only is this because they have witnessed the power of Jesus, but this is the first time in Matthew that he’s demonstrated control over nature.  In the Old Testament God performs many miracles, the parting of the Red sea for example.  Jesus is showing how much authority he truly has.  He has the authority of God.  In our struggles, we know that Jesus is ultimately in control and when he does something incredible, or works through our lives every day we see his authority and power for ourselves in new and incredible ways.  I look forward to seeing him work further in Chilwell and in NYFC.

Tim Stanyon is on placement with Nottingham YfC

He is currently studying theology at St. John's Nottingham

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.