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.

Tags: Gig, Grantham, Street Tuff, Taste, What does God think of climate change?, Who made God?, Why doesn't God come to Earth?

So…here we go! 4 weeks of rehearsals and preparations and now we hit the road. Heading to Grantham for 2 School’s Weeks.

I’m quite excited…also a little scared! I’m desperately trying to think if there is anything I have forgotten, or should have done that I didn’t even realise I should have done. Hmmm! Have done my packing and somehow the mountain of clothes on my bed has gone into my case with room to spare…It’s a bit worrying!

I shall try and keep you updated with whats happening as and when I can. Just pray for us! My prayer is that we all gel together as a team and can be the best shining lights possible and that we won’t waste any opportunities to chat with the young people. We are going to be busy so the temptation will be to retreat to quiet during breaktimes and lunchtimes but actually these are the most valuable times to really get to know the young people!

Have a look at a few photos from our photoshoot on the CIO Team page.

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It’s 9.15pm and all of us except Keel and La Roche are staying in the same place. Me and Becca are sharing a room. We’re just unpacking and sorting ourselves out. This week we are in Ambergate Sports College (for pupils with moderate learning difficulties and complex needs), in at 8am tomorrow to set up. We are only seeing 61 pupils all week but have a full timetable so we get to see everyone lots which is good! Tomorrow we are seeing Year 8 and 9 for a Values Lesson, some speed dating (don’t worry…!), a music lesson and a lesson on Friendship. Must get an early night!

Tags: Grantham, Packing, Schools Week

The idea was that I was arranging a team trip to the cinema to see Fame. One of those occasions where you mention it and everyone’s like ‘Yeah!!’ and then the excuses come in when it actually comes to it. (I’m totally usually one of those people!) So Saturday Me and Keel went to Chelmsford. It was crazy!! I forgot how much I hate town centres on a Saturday anyway, but there were loads of weird and wonderful things going on. Photos here: Street Diversions show a little bit of some of the things. There were some builders performing outside the old Woolworths which was quite good fun. So we wandered round a bit, I went to O2 to try and get my phone sorted, got a coffee from Costa (poor girl wasn’t having a good day!) and spent much of the afternoon in the park watching a sculpture which breathed fire and water! Went to see Fame at the cinema in the evening…hmmm. I was so excited, but actually left disappointed. I really enjoyed the film while it was happening…but when it finished I realised that nothing had actually happened, and they didn’t even do the song!

Sunday I went to LWCC again with Tricia, and really enjoyed it. They have custard creams at the end of the service…always a good thing! We had roast dinner and plum crumble…can’t remember the last time I had a roast and crumble, good times! By this point I had spent much of my time texting round people to try and organise some sort of gathering. So i headed off to Lake Meadows in Billericay, met Keel, Becca and Ben and we spent a couple of hours in the park. Ben climbed a tree…that was about the height of excitement. Then he went home and the three of us went for cranberry juice/J2O/Orange and Lemonade/Chips/Chocolate Fudge Cake/Pepsi/Coffee at Wetherspoons!

So overall I enjoyed my weekend. Now for rehearsals and preparations for Grantham. And we’re off bowling on Tuesday night.

www.85design.co.uk is now up and running. Very exciting!

Tags: Becca, Ben, Bowling, Chelmsford, Chocolate Fudge Cake, Costa, Custard Creams, Fame, Grantham, Keel, Lake Meadows, LWCC, Plum Crumble, Roast Dinner, Street Diversions, Woolworths