(Started yesterday on site!)

Tonight is a mental party night on the third floor of a multistorey car park. All the technical equipment has been hired in and they’ve been setting up since half 8. We arrived at 11 but not much for us to do yet, just watch. They hired a van simply to drive from the bottom of the car park to the third floor. There’s various areas being set up: graffiti area with car bonnets in it, life size inflatable table football, a course set out for little cars and some crazy bike things, the stage is at a diagonal in the middle with four towers at the back with moving head lights on top and plasma screens mounted on them, there are LED par cans everywhere, strip lights across the pillars and various other T-bars and uplights. A smoke machine will be set up too. The evening starts at 5 where the kids have the opportunity to climb a climbing wall to get into the 3rd floor. Then there will be workshops, presentations, the next installment of the daily drama (which is in German so I don’t have a clue what the storyline is!!), Taste are doing 4 acoustic songs and then at 9pm is the ‘Disco’ with La Roche djing for an hour or so. Keel is very excited to be doing lights, i’ll be running visuals and lights when Keel isn’t around and Joy will be doing sound. They’re just putting the climbing wall in…it’s basically a big sheet with climbing rock things attached to it that they’ve dropped over the edge! Back in the base they’ve been filling a couple of hundred helium balloons on strings to bring over. I’m sat in the tech area writing this on my iPod and then I’ll post it later tonight. It’s so exciting to be part of this, it’s gonna be awesome!

Well add a few barrels of fire, some hot dogs and about 300young people and you might begin to imagine what happened last night! The event was fantastic, the set up looked perfect and people seemed to be having a really good time! It all ended with an hour dj set from La Roche with Keel and Ben doing amazing things with lights and smoke. It was all hands on deck to pack everything down and several loads into the van and out again at The Lighthouse but it was all done in an hour and a half. Means we have resetting to do this afternoon to be ready for tonights session and Taste gig!

We spent a week in Hawkwell Baptist Church running an activities week for age 11-18yr olds. Most of them were young people from the church and their friends. We had about 25 for the week. We spent the mornings split into Songwriting and Drama streams and then the afternoons chilling out playing pool, air hockey, guitar hero and chatting. Taste had 16 people in their Songwriting stream and spent the week writing and recording a track called ‘Face to Face’. Diversion had 7 girls: Becky, Becca, Jessie, Bailie, Grace, Dani and Chloe. I was initially a bit worried about a group of girls (having been at an all girls school, i know the arguments that occur!!) but they were amazing! The brief I gave them was to come up with a piece of Theatre In Education to perform to their friends on the Friday night. So we spent the first 3 days establishing the theme, message, plot, characters and technical stuff. We workshopped ideas and techniques and played games on creating stories and impovisation. The girls worked so well together and were really focussed and enthusiastic. The final piece was brilliant!!! The Drama Team names was ‘Herd Wot?’ (Anagram of ‘The Word’, the name of their youh group), with the tagline ‘The Word In Disguise’. The piece was called ‘Do you know who you are talking to?’ and was on the dangers of social networking – meeting people online. It included a news report with CCTV footage – filmed and edited during the week, and an MSN conversation on the big screen. I was SO impressed with the quality of the piece and the performance gave me goosebumps! On the Friday night we put on an event which including Taste songs, Street Tuff from Diversion and the two performances from the young people. It was a really great night, with lots of people and lots of positive comments!

We have since heard that 2 of the young people, previously not part of the church have expressed interest as a direct result of the activities week which is fantastic. I really hope and pray that the relationships built up and conversations had have a lasting impact on the young people and really enthuse them to get stuck in with God.

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.

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!

Friday 30^th January

Hometime day today. Was very sad leaving the McStay house. Everyone got up early and Morag cooked Egg, Bacon and Sausage which was very nice! And then as I left they gave me a Thornton’s chocolate heart with ‘All The Best’ iced onto it! So lovely! Kirsten had tried to get me a Starbucks mug but they have discontinued them!

So into school for 8.30 and had to put some blue material back up in the common room then the last day went something like this:

 9.10am – THEATRE: Taste did a music lesson for S2
               - C ROOM: Envizage did an RE Prejudice lesson for S4
10.00am – THEATRE: Taste did an RE lesson for S1
             - C ROOM:  Envizage did a Drama Workshop for S3
10.50am – Break
11.05am – THEATRE: Taste did music lesson for S2
             - C ROOM:  No more lessons so Envizage packed down the room and loaded Ivor. I had the hiccups and Rachel and Ollie were laughing at me L
12.00: – THEATRE: Joint RE lesson for S3 where Envizage performed College of Knowledge and Big Ears.
12.55pm: Lunchtime – Sweet Chilli Chicken and Noodles for lunch, mmm was yummy! Then back to the theatre which was packed with people and we were signing autographs and having our photos taken with the kids. La Roche led a mass rendition of I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles! It was very sad when the bell went an we had to say goodbye.
1.50pm: The grand packdown! Once I’d done my bit of taking down black material and ungaffering I became Keel’s skivvy. Un-leccying lights, taking out gels, making tea and digging out boxes from the dusty depths of backstage. I got hiccups again and was being laughed at. We were all done and left about 3.30pm.

First leg of the journey I was in the front of Ivor with Keel where I made the mistake of drinking half a can of Irn Bru. Got hiccups again and apparently the Tasty Boy rule is that everytime you hiccup you get punched. I got punched lots. We stopped at Rosies for Fahitas and Cornettos then second leg I was in the back of Ivor with Sammy J and La Roche. Service Station stop (bought a starbar for Lewis’s birthday). Then third leg was in the front of Ivor with Sammy J where the Irn Bru started to kick in. We sang loudly, looked out for Whoosh lorries, pretended to all be dead when we overtook Tess, just general hilarity. Then another stop and final leg of the journey was in the back of Ivor with Keel and Ollie. This is where the Irn Bru really took effect. Just general talking rubbish, having fits of giggles, attacks of hiccups and tiredness. Got back to the office at 1am, unloaded Ivor while Taste unloaded Tess into Linford. Lots of stuff went into Rachel’s car so when we left I was squashed in the back cross legged.
Got home just after 2 and collapsed into bed!

Thursday 29^th January

Happy Gordon Day everybody!!!! Today was the day Gordon (the SU man/clown we worked with in November) came to visit – very exciting! And he brought us grapes and muffins and a bottle of lemon juice because he thought we would have run out by now! (Rachel likes drinking hot water and lemon) Very sweet of him!

9.10am – THEATRE: Taste did an RE Lesson for S3
               - C ROOM: Envizage didn’t have a lesson so we sat and drank coffee and chatted!
10.00am – THEATRE: Taste did a music lesson for S1
             - C ROOM:  Envizage did an RE Prejudices lesson for S4
10.50am – Break
11.05am – THEATRE: Envizage doing Abi for S2
             - C ROOM:  Taste doing a music lesson for S2
12.00: – THEATRE: Joint RE lesson for S1 where Envizage performed College of Knowledge and Customs – lots of fun although I got stuck trying to get backstage with George the giant inflatable whale! I was on the panel for Q & A at the end and got to share why I wanted to be in Envizage – love answering that question!
12.55pm: Lunchtime – Chicken and Sweetcorn soup and Salad for lunch and chatted to a few young people then back to the theatre.
1.50pm: – THEATRE: Taste doing a music lesson for S2
               - C ROOM:  Envizage doing an RE prejudice lesson for S2
2.40pm onwards: Setting up for the gig. Wasn’t too much we could do before the end of school as we had to put the tuck shop and Check It Out stands out in the hallway. So a fairly relaxed set up, dinner was Battered Sausage and Chips. Taste rehearsed the James Bond Intro and then us girls went and changed, did our hair and makeup.
6.30pm: Prayer meeting then doors opened! There were a few people who started queuing before 5pm! It filled up pretty quickly, had about 230 people there which was brilliant! Was able to watch the beginning from by the tech desk then headed backstage. All went well, including the dreaded ‘Street Tuff’ and Lady Starburst made a welcome return in Harrybow – hurrah! Was quite a noisy gig all the way through which made it a bit difficult during the sketches and Martin’s little speaky bit!

By the time we packed up and got home it was about 10.30pm!

Wednesday 28^th January

9am: Assembly where David and I did ‘Amazing But True’ and Taste did a song
9.20am – THEATRE: Taste did an RE Lesson for S3
               - C ROOM:  Envizage doing an Abi Follow Up Drama lesson for S4
10.10am – THEATRE: Taste did a music lesson for S2
             - C ROOM:  Envizage doing an Abi Follow Up Drama lesson for S3
11.00am – Break – I ate 3 custard creams.
11.15am – THEATRE: Taste doing a music lesson for S2
             - C ROOM:  Envizage doing an RE lesson on Prejudices for S1
12.05: –  THEATRE: Joint RE lesson for S4 where Rachel and I got to perform The Watch! We also did College of Knowledge and I was on the panel for Q & A at the end.
12.55pm: Lunchtime – Pasta for lunch and then when we got back to the hall, loads of people came in to chat and play on the drums and generally see what was going on.
1.50pm: – THEATRE: Envizage doing ‘Abi’ for S1 
2.40pm: – THEATRE: Envizage doing ‘Abi’ for S1
               - C ROOM:  Taste doing an acoustic music lesson for S2

After school we went to the Nazarene church for debrief and they fed us amazingly with steak and sausage pie with peas and mash, apple pie and ice cream, cream horns and chocolate biscuits! Had to continue the meeting after dinner – planning the gig tomorrow. Got home just before 8 and have been catching up on my blog and emails and facebook while everyone has been out. Showered and its now 10pm and I’m going to bed because I’m tired and have got a long day tomorrow!

Tuesday 27^th January

Picked up at 7.50am, in by 8.20 to soundcheck and get ready for the day which went like this…

9am: Assembly where David and I did ‘Amazing But True’ and Taste did a song
9.20am – THEATRE: Joint RE Lesson for S4 where David and Rachel did Big Ears
10.10am – THEATRE: Envizage doing ‘Abi’ for S2
             - C ROOM:  Taste doing an acoustic music lesson for S1
11.00am – Break
11.15am – THEATRE: Taste doing a music lesson for S1
             - C ROOM:  Envizage doing an RE lesson on Prejudices for S2
12.05: – No lessons so we had an early lunch (tandoori chicken Panini – yum!) because of the lunchtime concert.
12.55pm: Lunchtime – the Theatre was packed (holds about 250 people) which was great! Taste did a couple of songs and Envizage performed Customs – lots of fun!
1.50pm: – THEATRE: A joint lesson for a group of P7s that came up from the local primary school – Rachel and David did Amazing But True and we also did ‘What’s It Worth’.           
2.40pm: – THEATRE: Envizage doing ‘Abi’ for S3

Was shattered by the end of today! We went to the Baptist church for debrief and then to the Manse, where Andy and Joy are staying, for dinner. We had soup (the nicest butternut squash soup I’ve ever had!) and bread for starters, roast beef, potatoes, veg and Yorkshire puds for main and big chocolately creamy gateaux for pudding, followed by coffee and jaffa cakes and birthday cake! It was James’ (the minister) birthday so we had a mini party…although he wasn’t there, he was at a meeting! We played pass the parcel which his wife Irene had organised. She had had a sort out of old books she didn’t want or had duplicates of and every layer was a question and a book! I got a book called ‘Evening by Evening’ by C.H. Spurgeon  - daily meditations. The music was Saturday Night so Claire was dancing! We also played Black Magic and various other similar games for ages! We were supposed to be going out to a pub quiz with the youthworkers but it was a bit late and we were all tired so went home and I went to bed!

Monday 26^th January

So alarm went off at 5.10. That’s like the middle of the night! Rolled out of bed 10mins later and downstairs for some toast. Can’t stomach much at that time of the morning! Was outside waiting for Dave just after 6am, wearing Sarah’s hat which is made of Alpaka. Itchy but warm! At Port Glasgow High by 6.30am and had 2 and a half hours to set up. Our main venue is the theatre which is basically stage space and tiered seating so some setting up challenges! Also we set up a PA system and flats in the 5^th year common room across the other side of school for Envizage to do some RE lessons and Taste to do acoustic lessons.  No major issues apart from the end of a speaker lead coming off (actually nothing to do with me believe it or not!) and Keel coming to the rescue and fixing it!

The day then went something like this:

9.10am – THEATRE: Taste doing a music lesson for S1
             - C ROOM:  Envizage doing a drama workshop for S2
10am – THEATRE: Taste doing a music lesson for S2
             - C ROOM:  Envizage doing a drama workshop for S2
10.50am – Break: Soundchecks
11.05am – THEATRE: Taste doing a music lesson for S3
             - C ROOM:  Envizage doing an RE lesson on Prejudices for S2 – with the best version of The Good Samaritan I’ve ever seen!
12.00: – THEATRE: Taste and Envizage doing a joint RE lesson for S1/S2
12.55pm: Lunchtime – last minute adjustments and eating soup and sandwiches
1.45pm: – THEATRE: Envizage doing ‘Abi’ for S4
             - C ROOM:  Taste doing an RE lesson for S1
2.40pm: – THEATRE: Envizage doing ‘Abi’ for S1
             - C ROOM:  Taste doing an RE lesson for S3

Its quite strange doing lessons in the theatre because you are looking up at everyone! Had a good response from the students, most seem very friendly and enthusiastic which is great! Also there are 3 youthworkers  - Jeni, Peter and Simon – who are coming along to lessons which will be a great link and follow up for the students once we’ve gone.

After school we went to the Baptist church for debrief and dinner – lasagne, cottage pie, salad, cauliflower cheese and lots of cheesecake! Went back to our hosts for the evening – I had a nice early shower and sat in my PJs chatting to Kirsten, Shona and Morag which was really nice. Also had a cup of tea in a BIG genuine Starbucks mug which was incredibly exciting! And my first crème egg of the year!! Bit of a late night…didn’t get to bed til about 11.30pm!