Back now after a fantastic week at Plockton High School. We met some awesome kids with challenging stories to tell and who were actively sharing their faith in the school. Plockton High has around 300 pupils, from a catchment area of 400 square miles. Dave Mockett is the SU worker there and worked us hard! It was quite a unique situation for us in that Dave knew most of the young people, the majority of them had some Church contact and many of them attended youth groups. The school was very supportive of what we were doing, including the RE teacher who is a strong Christian. The community had been praying for us and for the week for a long time and it really felt like we were part of the long-term picture.

We were staying in a holiday house belonging to the Harvey’s (everyone knew the Harvey’s when we mentioned it!) in Glenelg which is over an hour from the school through the most amazing mountain scenery.

This is a viewpoint on the way to school (although we didn’t see it very often as we mostly travelled in the dark!) of the snow topped mountains The Five Sisters.

We did a lot of travelling and were out every night so were on the go from 7am til 10.30pm which was exhausting but great at the same time. We saw each age group at the school more than once – taking RME, PSE and Music lessons. I got the opportunity to share my story several times and we performed All About Abi 3 times. The young people were really friendly and welcoming and we got to know some of them quite well, especially as we were visiting youth groups in the evenings too. The evening sessions were led by Dave and were looking at 1 Peter 3:15 ‘Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.’ Dave gave a short talk, 1 or 2 of our team shared their story and then the young people were encouraged to think what their story is and chat to one of us about it. We ended with a 60 second prayer time (which they do on a Wednesday breaktime at the school and regularly get around 20 pupils) where you sit in a circle and pass around a ‘holy item’ (e.g. Bible, mousemat, holepunch…!) and then each person can either pray for upto 60secs or pass the item along. It’s brilliant!!!

At the gig on Thursday night about 80 young people came, 23 of which responded that they would be interested in finding out more through a ‘Check It Out’ course that Dave is going to set up. For me, it was one of the best weeks we have done and that was largely due to the support from the community, and Dave’s passion for helping the young people reach a better understanding of God. On Wednesday we went to a prayer meeting with members from local churches which was well supported and great to see people passionate about praying for the young people in their community. Dave had also put a quick video edit of lessons we had done so far – songs, links, All About Abi and my story. Great, but embarrassing to see me up on the screen!

As a team we all get on really well, despite the fact we have quickly learnt who the most gullible member of the team is and exploit that at every opportunity!! Joy did well stepping in to sing, Andrew was a hit with all the girls, and Jonny did really well learning tech and performing in All About Abi. It was a really long journey back and we had a welcome few days off – but it was definitely all so worth it!

I’m now back at base catching up with everything I’ve missed and getting stuck into preparations for the upcoming Christmas events. This Sunday Keel is being baptised at Sawyers Church, Brentwood which is very exciting. Please pray for him this week, especially as he’s not feeling too well at the moment.

Thank you for all your support, please keep in touch!

Tags: 1 Peter 3:15, 60 second prayer, All About Abi, Baptism, Check It Out, My Story, Plockton, sawyers church, Taste

Liv’It

Liv’It is an annual camp held at Hollybush Farm near Thirsk, North Yorkshire. Around about 80 young people from various youth groups in and around the Manchester Area. Ran from Sat night-Thurs Morning. Main co-ordinator is John Rothwell.

Camping

So my first true camping experience. I had a 4man tent, two bedrooms and a central area that was standing height. We were pitched on a slight hill and it was quite windy. I got a bit frustrated with the whole tent putting up process, wasn’t entirely sure what I was doing so in the end the boys took over for me! Apart from one day of heavy which ran into the central section of the tent and i got a puddle outside my bedroom door, it remained dry. None of my stuff got wet, I didn’t get wet so that kept me happy. A large number of spiders congragated in the roof of the central section and made those wispy webs from floor to ceiling. Not nice walking in at midnight to a faceful of web. Got the boys to clear it out a couple of times. Showers were ok, forgot my flip flops one day which was a major mistake. About 6 hours sleep a night…up at 6.20am. Slightly deflated airbed and a few mystery bruises appeared on my legs and arms but other than that survived pretty well I thought!

Mealtimes

Breakfast, lunch and dinner (well up north they call it tea…sillyness) were all together in the canteen. I made sure I got matching cup, bowl, plate and cutlery every day. One day SammyJ’s combination matched my dress…was a good day! We sang grace together, either ‘God Is Great’ or ‘O Fill My Cup’, the later becoming a tune to get well and truly stuck in your head late at night and incredibly annoying when trying to sleep! The food was good, especially porridge in the morning!

Morning Sessions

The morning sessions were at 9.30am for approx 1 1/2 hours. They consisted of The Mix Dance, GMLC (Good Morning Liv’It Camp, a largely improvised slot myself and Andrew as Jenny and Jerry. We did items of news (provided by the young people, for example James Benson does an amazing impression of a pig, It’s Andrew Cox’s Birthday and Josh sat on the Electric Fence), the weather (told by Matt’s hair), Today In History and Who’s Been a Naughty Leader. It was generally a bit of fun, and in the last session Jenny declared her undying love for Jerry who whisked her off the stage in his arms.), sung worship and a talk with group work. Myself and Keel had a small group called Millionaires (all the small groups were lion themed). We had some good conversations and times of prayer with the group and it was good getting to know them. Talks were on prayer, worship, and friendship.

Academies

11.30ish-1ish were the Academies. Options included Craft, Music, Sports, Technical and Drama. So three 1.5 hour sessions to create something wonderful. Myself and Andrew Dimon headed up the Drama Academy. We did some games and character related exercises then gave the group of 6 the task of creating a piece of Theatre In Education. The end result, performed in the Wednesday evening session was a piece on Peer Pressure and looked at the consequences of actions. Was very good!

Q&A

Each afternoon we split into younger/older groups for a Q&A session. Sunday’s was theological questions, Monday’s was Boy/Girl questions (split up into same sex groups) and Wednesday’s was general questions on being a Christian. There was a whole range of stuff including Why is the Bible so big, why do boys have big heads, do all Christians read the Bible and how old is God. Was a really good oppurtunity to chat and hear their opinions as well as share our views.

Evening Sessions

Evening sessions were from 7.30pm til 9.30pm ish. These included sung worship, small group games, Jammin’ (awesome games of throwing inflatables through hoops), a talk, response time and an episode of the Story of Daniel performed by myself, Andrew and various volunteers! (A fairly relaxed performance with the catchphrase ‘But you’re a girl’. Many a hilarious rehearsal and generally good fun to perform. A highlight would have to be slapping Andrew on the last one! Also managed to get in lots of bad jokes!) The evening sessions were fantastic, awesome times of worship, had the priviledge of praying with some girls and seeing one guy become a Christian. The themes we looked at were making a stand, miraculous intervention, rescue from difficult situations, humility and influence.

Liv’It Up L8

Liv’It Up L8 happened from around 10ish til 11ish…very flexible timing! First night was a Taste gig and then the next 3 nights a combination of silly games, Liv’It’s Got Talent, Lady Starburst and Dim’ll Fix It. Dim’ll Fix It is basically where the young people write in their wishes and Dim (Andrew), with his sidekick Miss Nabraincel (Me) tries to make their dreams come true. So we helped Jonny English fulfil his dream of catching a criminal by rescuing Miss Nabraincel from Him’ll Break It (La Roche) who had kidnapped her. Claire provided the special agent, and a stuffed toy the informant. We also helped Elliott achieve his dreams of being a ghost busting bunny rabbit by dressing him up and providing him with a voice activated hoover to get rid of the ghosts (voiced by Keel – La Roche, the phantom of the opera; SammyJ, the ghost of the car park and Claire, the headless ghost). Was all much fun! Then after Liv’It Up L8 we headed over to the Halo Bar for non alcoholic cocktails and chill and chat until midnight before bed!

Light Water Valley

Tuesday was Light Water Valley Theme Park Day. Claimed to be Yorkshire’s finest theme park, with Europe’s Longest Rollercoaster. It was a great day…though mainly for the company, not the quality of theme park! We were there from 11-4, spent most of the day wandering round, dodging the rain. My back was sore so decided not to go on any of the bigger rides. Did go on the dodgems however…never getting in a car with Keel driving! I got held hostage for 10seconds by a pirate, scary experience. The funniest thing was probably the conservation area which boasted over 20 bird boxes, 2 butterfly boxes and a hedgehog box. We saw one butterfly. And they had screwed speakers to the trees and were playing 80s music…to the plants!

Highlights

It was such a good week at Liv’It, i pretty much loved every minute! There were lots of laughs and fun times, bust most of all it was great to see the young people engaging with God. To watch them change over the week and to hear their questions and pray with them was such an honour. We won’t fully know the extent of God’s work in people’s lives but we have heard one story of a guy who God really spoke to and is planning to get baptised. Just so rewarding! In one word…Brilliant!!

Tags: Academies, Baptism, Brilliant, Camping, Christians, Dim'll Fix It, Dodgems, GMLC, Halo Bar, Hollybush Farm, Jammin, Lady Starbust, Light Water Valley, Liv'It, Millionaires, Mix Dance, Peer Pressure, Porridge, Rain, Spiders, Story of Daniel, Theology

Last sunday at church this morning which was a bit weird. People were coming up and saying nice things which was nice. Felt a bit sad but really looking forward to the next chapter in my life!

Had nice sunday roast with Mum, Dad, Sarah, Matt, Maddie, Emi and Lewis. Mmmm raspberry pavalova! Finished off my packing and had time for a cuppa before saying goodbye to Sarah and Co. Matt made me mum and sarah cry by saying ‘So then Laura…’

45min journey to Billericay and arrived at the Powneys. moved my stuff into my room and had a cuppa and (probably) the best brownie in the world! Said goodbye to Mum Dad and Lewis (was a big brave girl and didn’t cry).

Then sorted out my room….

….then at 7pm went to a baptism service at Billericay Baptist Church which was really good. Some powerful testimonies which make you really grateful for what you have and how fortunate you are.

Then the most random thing…saw Mrs Woods, my chemistry teacher from CCHS in the service. Got chatting to her which was really nice. Crazy small world! Met a few people who I will be seeing more of (names escape me as yet!) which was cool.

Witnessed some awesome musicians courtesy of guitar hero on wii!

Now it’s bedtime as I’m being picked up at 8.20am for my first day. I can’t wait!

*Saviour He can move a mountain. My God is mighty to save, He is mighty to save*

Tags: Baptism, Guitar Hero, Moving Day, Raspberry Pavalova, Wii