We travelled down to Hawick on the Saturday, via Braehead Shopping Centre in Glasgow. We stopped in Newcastleton at Esther’s house (The SU worker responsible for our trip) for dinner and then on to Hawick to our hosts. Myself and Becca stayed with Stephen and Liz, Salvation Army officers. On Sunday we were at Burnfoot Parish Church in the morning, spent the afternoon at Andy/Joy/Jack/Ben’s hosts in Denholm and then were at the launch service at Hawick Baptist in the evening. It was a united service which Joy spoke at and we spent time praying for the upcoming week.

The week at Hawick was different to a ‘normal’ schools week we would do. It was called Peace Week and we were going in to take RE, Music and PSE Lessons for S1. Other outside organisations and youthworkers were taking other lessons – people from Whitaugh Park took PE and Business Studies Lessons. Also the newly appointed Chaplaincy Team were around all week helping out. We didn’t have a totally full timetable so had 2 or 3 lessons free a day which was in some ways helpful to do bits and pieces but also a shame that we didn’t get to spend as much time getting to know the students. We set up in the hall on their stage (I was very excited that we had proper wings so we didn’t have to invent changing rooms with black material!) and took assemblies, lessons and lunchtime activities all week. The week was a challenge as La Roche was off ill on Monday, and then Keel was off ill on Thursday (with the gig planned Thursday night). Thursday was the day it poured with rain, roads to surrounding villages were cut off so students were being sent home; the river swelled almost to bursting point and the decision was made to cancel the gig. We were all very disappointed but were given the opportunity to perform a sort of gig on the Friday morning to S1 which was good. I guess we may not have had many on the Thursday night anyway so it was good to be able to perform to all of them and Andy shared a gospel message with them. The headteacher of the school, although not a Christian, had come to the service on the Sunday night and was very encouraging of all that we were doing which was fantastic.  

We packed down and left the school at lunchtime, heading to Beanscene to organise Secret Santa and to relax for the afternoon! Me and Keel went for an explore of the town and ended up at the top of the hill, overlooking Hawick, it was really beautiful. In the evening we went to Whitaugh Park and the rest of the team went Wall Climbing and Abseiling while I watched and shivered!

From the very first meeting in Hawick back in March there was the sense of a real spiritual battle and the week was tough. However there were so many positive comments from teachers and Esther was really pleased with how it went. A Check It Out group was started off the back of the week and we pray that amazing things happen!!

Our week in Oban was brilliant. We spent the week taking RE and music lessons across the years. We had an opportunity to spend an afternoon with a group of special needs students. We did a mixture of drama performance, drama workshop and music for the 6 students and had a really good time. The teacher was really encourage how well the pupils engaged and worked together for the hour and a half we were with them. On the Friday we were involved in an S3 conference on Conflict Resolution (organised by H2O and involving many outside speakers) which involved us performing Abi 6 times! We only had half an hour for each session so didn’t get much of an opportunity to expand on the play but I was really encouraged by some of the comments that the students had written in their evaluation. One said ‘It made me realise how one decision can have such a big effect on people’ and another was about focusing on the decisions that they had to make. Its brilliant to hear such positive comments, when I felt that what we did had had very little impact! The gig on Thursday night was great, about 130 kids came and we had at least 17 responses from young people who wanted to find out more. The week was made extra special by visits from SU Workers Martin (worked with him in Port Glasgow in January 09) and Gordon (the clown(!!!!) we worked with at Hamilton College and Stonehaven in November 08).

On the Tuesday evening we hung out with the youth group at The Well – GFG (Games, Food, God). We all shared our stories, chatted with the kids and had an awesome competition – getting the entire team through a loop of material in under 10secs! The team I was in also had Andy and Joy in it…so the other team had no hope!! We won by a good few seconds! On the Wednesday we headed over to a hostel that many of the young people live in, just hanging out with them and then Andy got out the guitar and we had a sing (Wonderwall being my favourite) and then Ewen taught us the three blind jellyfish song…hilarious first time round, after that it just gets stuck in your head and very annoying!

The guys at H2O are incredible, their endless energy and dedication to the young people is truly inspiring. After a ridiculously busy week they were then off on a weekend away with some of the young people!! Take a second to pray for Ewen and Rachel as they give so much of themselves to building relationships with the kids and sharing Jesus’ love with them.

Some feedback from teachers at Oban High School…

Support Department Teacher:

Hi Ewen, 

Just a few words regarding the team’s Wed. afternoon work with the students from the Support Dept. I feel that they adapted their programme to suit the needs of that group and gave them an excellent mix of music, drama and team building. I appreciate that they were probably not used to working with such a small group, nor with such wide ranging abilities, but felt they overcame the challenge perfectly. The fact that we agreed to leave the session open ended, but used all the time available is an indication of how well the group were kept active, engaged and interested. From my point of view, much of the benefit came from having the group work with other people that they are not familiar with, so all in all, a great success – and a thanks for devoting an afternoon to such a small group. 

~

Head of Performing Arts:

Hi Ewen 

This was on my things to do list for this week!  All of our guys had a really good time last week.  It was great how the check-it-out team were able to work across the year groups and adapt their delivery to suit whatever age/ability was with them at that time.   

I really enjoyed the junior workshops and they were able to involve so much into the 50 minute workshop from drama to music to literacy to RE whilst delivering a powerful message.  As we all embrace curriculum for excellence it was an excellent example of sharing and experiencing the 4 capacities and it certainly hit them all. 

Thanks again for a wonderful week 

The Performing Arts Gang

~

Department of RME and Philosophy:

Hi Ewen

 In a word I thought they were excellent in their presentation and professionalism. Before each lesson I spoke to them and told them what we were covering in class and they pitched it well and at the right level – very impressive. I also thought the message was clear and to the point. Interestingly, at the start of the week the pupils seemed to be suspicious of the group but by Wednesday all of my classes wanted to go see them – even the ones that had already done so. One point I would make is that the lyrics were not too clear – I realize this was down to the venue rather than the performance but I think in future it may be worth projecting the lyrics for the kids to follow them – otherwise they may just be singing baa baa black sheep as no-one has any clear idea of what is being sung.

Would have them back in an instant though!

~

The gig was awesome!!!

We had about 150 young people, which meant the church was packed out, so the atmosphere was brilliant…as well as very hot! Taste were fantastic, you could just see how much they loved performing, and their fans certainly enjoyed it! We performed Street Tuff which went well (always get so nervous about that one!). Andy gave a message which is always a challenge as the audience is so hyped up and noisy! The response seemed very positive though and we gave away a lot of Check It Out tracts. Sales of CDs were good and we had lots of requests to sign things and have photos taken!

Pack down was good and Keel did an awesome job of a rather difficult load! He went straight back to Selby and Jack to Sheringham, leaving us with more space in the van! Back to Essex…I was in bed just before 2am!

I have loved the past 2 weeks, its so much fun and so rewarding. Answering questions such as ‘Who made God?’, ‘What does God think of climate change?’, ‘Why doesn’t God come to Earth?’ and to be able to share the amazing difference Jesus has made in our lives…there is no better feeling. It’s so easy though to get caught up in the planning, the busyness, the fact you are exhausted, the ‘celebrity’ status (autographing flyers, having your photo taken), the buzz of a gig, the manic-ness of packing down…but why actually do we do it? We say the measure of a successful week is if just one person slightly alters their perception of a Christian in a positive way. We really want to make a difference in these kids lives. We don’t want to be the hype of the week and then they forget about us, well it’s not about us it’s about God. I really believe that God will have made an impact on these young people’s lives and I just hope and pray that they act on it.

Because that’s what all this is about.

This week we are in St Hughs C of E which is pretty much next to Ambergate.

We arrived at 6.40am, unloaded and have set up in their hall. We were just about ready on time although could have done with a bit more of a soundcheck. We had Year 10s first of all for a Soaps lesson, then Year 7s for a Values lesson. After break was Year 8s for an Abi Lesson and a Year 10 Assembly. Ate with the students at lunchtime, my best compliment was from one girl who said I didn’t look or sound anything like Abi! After lunch we had a Year 7/8 Assembly where myself and Ben ran the Adverts Quiz which was so much fun! After school we had a bit of sorting out to do, then our daily trip to Asda (stock up on Wispas) and back to Dave and Les’s to watch a recording of Abi from last week, debrief and plan tomorrow.

After dinner we spent some time praying as a team. We seem to be under quite a lot of stress so your prayers would be greatly appreciated. Personally, I’m quite tired and in danger of getting grumpy and snapping at people so pray that I don’t! Also been having stomach pains (am on medication for it) which I could really do with not having!

Tomorrow is a full day seeing Years 7,8 and 11.

Ambergate was brilliant!! The kids were just amazing, so friendly and just wanted to do anything to help you. They absolutely loved having us there and wanted to spend time talking to us. We saw everyone for at least 4 lessons so got to know them quite well. They all saw Abi, the year 10s and 11s being particularly vocal during the play! We did a gig for them today before lunch, about 40 of them squashed into the room, got pretty hot in there! They got involved and had a really good time and a lot of them gave us letters after which was really sweet, I’ll put up some highlights from them later.

We had lunch (the dinner lady was the best ever because each day she saved me a small bowl of salad without onion in!) with the kids and then packed down all of our gear, finally sweeping up and leaving just after 3. Then for our daily visit to Asda (I bought some new boots yesterday) and a Vanilla Latte in Costa.

Tonight we were at the youth group in Grantham Baptist, playing some games and doing a condensed version of our Values Lesson. Tomorrow we are running a Check It Out group in the morning and then heading to Nottingham for a chill out!