Andy and Joy have been busy collating all of their memories from the week and below are highlights from their blog from each day at Leading Edge, including stories from the young people themselves – it’s always so encouraging to hear from them how God is touching their lives. To read the stories in full and see pictures from the week, click here to head on over to their blog site.

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LEADING EDGE…Here we come:-)

August 7, 2010
So here we are on the road on the way to The Warwick School, for the final Leading Edge, once again anticipating a phenomenal week. Every year we come away, challenged, blessed, inspired and motivated having spent the week with some amazing young people..

Leading Edge…Day One evening!!

August 13, 2010
Well night one was a brilliant start to the week with the young people engaging right from the start. Circus antics for 160 x 11-15s with a unicycle and a bucket of gunk on a zipwire providing entertainment and frivolity, while more subtle themes for the 42 x Innovation 16+ such as ‘Walk the Wire’…

Leading Edge…Day Two

August 16, 2010
Another special moment this morning when I had the opportunity to hear Julz speaking in 16+. Speaking on ‘Blessed are the Pure in Heart’ she was able to share from her own experience as well as her knowledge of a God who has been there right from her early years…

Leading Edge…Day Two (Evening)

August 18, 2010
The past couple of days La Roche had been complaining of a really painful knee but even after prayer and then having headed over to A & E last night the two hour wait had put him off seeing the doctor. However it seems that the delay may have made him worse as the whole morning he appears to have been in a lot of pain. With his preach on the horizon this evening he was in a real dilemma wondering whether or not to go and get it seen to… With such an attack we were looking forward to a really inspirational evening…

Leading Edge…G’s story

August 18, 2010
“Hey Joy, You asked us for some stories of what God did at Leading Edge, so here goes! La Roche’s talk on Tuesday evening brought me to tears! He was talking about his Grandad and how he had died of cancer, which reminded me of my Grandad who died of cancer as well…”

Leading Edge…H’s story

August 18, 2010
“Hey Joy, I really felt God talking to me this year through the talks and I felt that my faith had been slipping away and Leading Edge really gave me a boost to know that I need God with me…”

Leading Edge…Day Three

August 20, 2010
Each day as we prepare for Innovation we meet together for an hour before the programme starts and an hour after it finishes to plan/pray/debrief but we had been challenged by Rich at the beginning of the week to really set aside time to really seek God intentionally and pray over the lives of the kids…

Leading Edge…J’s story

August 21, 2010
“As you know I was considering being a drummer for Taste. I had a really hard decision about my future to make and literally a day to make that decision. I had a lot of prayer throughout the evening I had to decide my future and God really showed himself that night…”

Leading Edge…Day Three (evening)

August 21, 2010
My turn to speak which I always find nerve-racking and this evening was no exception. My first time at speaking in 16+ venue and a PowerPoint that refused to work on any machine apart from the Mac I’d created it on.! Typical!! I always loved listening to my dad preach partly because he always worked hard to create visual aids…

Leading Edge…L’s story

August 23, 2010
“Hi Joy, Some of the leaders from Innovation came up and gave talks that really made me think and realize God’s power and love. Specifically Claire Parry, Ben Read and Jack Harrison. In almost all of the sessions I could feel God’s presence there and His power at work. Many of my friends became emotional…”

Leading Edge…Taste All Stars:-)

August 24, 2010
Well Thursday was our ‘day off’… but having said that Taste have their traditional final gig of the year with this team in place and so it’s only really half a day off really. We don’t mind though it’s all incredibly exciting and what’s more so many x tastys are around…

Don’t forget – read the stories in full and see pictures from the week over at Andy and Joy’s blog, click here.

For more information about More to Life, click here.

The kids were pretty diverse with a whole group of them from Zacs, a youth group where they are pretty much unchurched with little involvement in worship—but having youth leaders who are totally committed to them, loving them, mentoring them and nurturing them.  For this group of young people, when they come to Livit it is their only opportunity to experience sung worship and teaching and so it is always a challenge for the team in helping them to engage in the ‘meetings’. There were also many young people who were growing spiritually and wanted to be challenged and discover more about their faith.

It’s a pretty amazing event and the team were praying for many of those who don’t yet know Jesus to experience Him for themselves. Here are some of the highlights of the week taken from Andy and Joy’s blog:

…Lunchtime follows with a Q & A session afterwards.  A panel is made up of some of our guys, some of the Livit Team and Julz chairing the session.  Heaven & Hell, the God of the Old Testament vs the God of the New, Self Image and Christian vs Secular Music provided very diverse topics for discussion!  These young people were not going to give us an easy time.  The panel answered really well ‘with gentleness and respect’ recognising that these are genuine questions from the young people, many of them really thinking & searching. It was such a good time and many of them went away feeling encouraged and inspired by what they’d heard.

…Ben preached on the fact that God knows us, he was brilliant, we are so proud of him!!  He wanted the young people to understand that their identity is in the one who made them and loves them. So many of these youngsters need to hear this.

…With La Roche speaking this morning we knew that the young people would enjoy his style and we knew he had some amazing things to share about God’s gifts that He gives so generously to His precious family, the greatest gift being that gift of love.

… I think you need to understand the nature of the young people we have here…  One of the most heart rending stories is that of ‘A’.  It’s a complete miracle that he is here this year. The first time he came to camp he was 11 years old and was a real rebel but it wasn’t surprising as his dad used to take him down to the pub and show him how to be a real man by picking fights with people that he didn’t like.  ‘A’ had grown up in this environment but had started dropping into the church where he had discovered love and acceptance.  So 5 years ago when we came away to Livit camp he was here and began by being completely disengaged with the worship or teaching.  Over the week he had made a commitment.  It’s clearly been a struggle since then and he’s been involved off and on probably more off than on getting involved in the drug scene, in trouble with the police.  Following La Roche’s talk he responded immediately and was first in the prayer area, Ben & one of the local leaders sat with him for a while and chatted things through with him and he was able to pray a prayer of commitment, wanting to receive God’s forgiveness and take away all his addictions. Over the week it’s been amazing to see God at work in this young man’s life.

…After lunch we had the whole camp in together offering them some ‘surgery’ time.  This is a new session we were trying out where they get to spend time with individual leaders, sharing about things that they would be struggling with when they got back home and having time to pray those things through.  Some of the things the team had to listen to were tragic and it is always a struggle to pray / advise / help these young people through their situation, from drugs to rape, from bullying to parents with terminal diseases—every extreme.  Others just enjoyed the opportunity to chat their questions through with leaders while they continue to explore this faith.

…The worship session again was brilliant.  Becca shared her testimony.  Again it was so moving, you really could have heard a pin drop with many of the youngsters clearly challenged by this story of real changing faith. Another reminder that ‘changed lives authenticate the message of Jesus.’

Read more about the continuing story of God changing ‘A’s’ life and the challenges that other young people faced as they encountered God at Andy and Joy’s blog, click here.

The Check it Out team are now back in the office preparing for the final Leading Edge Baptist holiday week.  It’s also their final event as this lineup of Check it Out…  It’s been a totally amazing year with lots of awesome and exciting things happening.  It will be very sad to see members of the team move on but we know that God has new adventures for them and that we will continue to see Him working through them and us.

Please pray for health and strength for the team.  Keel is currently off sick and La Roche just called up this morning to say he was ill last night so wouldn’t be coming in.  These guys have key roles at Leading Edge this year and we want them to be able to deliver all that they have prepared, I know they would value your prayers.

Click here: www.vizaviz.org/prayerdiary.htm

Please join with us in prayer as we seek to proclaim the Gospel and help you to do the same.

Thank you – the Viz-A-Viz Ministries Team.

Click here for more information about this great new resource that will help your church to reach out to children in your community this Christmas.

Arise Ministries

Fresh off the press is the brand new resource, ‘Journey to the Centre of the Christmas Pudding‘!

This Teaching Guide is a an event guide designed to enable you to communicate the Christmas story in an engaging and exciting way to children aged 7-11.  Its aim is to raise questions about the relevance of the Christian Christmas story to their lives today and to take children on a journey to the centre of Christmas and the central event of Christmas, the birth of Jesus.

At just £5 this is a great new resource that will help your church to reach out to children in your community this Christmas.

Click here for more information

Check it Out

Since returning from Germany the Check it Out team have been able to take a well earned break before heading off to Clacton—no, not to continue their holiday but to work with Pier Avenue Baptist Church for a weekend of youth outreach.  Here’s a brief excerpt from the events of the weekend:

“And so at 7pm we turned up the volume and hit them with a concert that was full of energy and passion as the guys performed songs and sketches that entertained and challenged the kids to consider the way Jesus can change and affect the way they live. We had asked Ben to speak and he made the most of his opportunity sharing clearly about the sacrifice that God has made because He loves each one of us. He challenged the young people to make their move recognising that God has made the first move. Many of these young people took Check it Out Flyers to discover more about what it means to follow Jesus.” Click here to read more on Andy and Joy’s blog.

Currently the team are in Torquay for what will be this team’s final schools week.  A busy summer still lies ahead for the team however with the Livit festival and Leading Edge Baptist holiday week just around the corner before a new group of volunteers join the team later this year.  Here’s the latest from Torquay:

“Again it’s been a brilliant day with the students extremely enthusiastic. The deputy head popped in to say that he’d heard nothing but praise from the staff throughout the week. He is a committed Christian and excited at the prospect that his students would be receiving some input from some genuine young Christians.  One of the lessons today produced loads of great questions, putting the team squarely on the spot…  ‘Do you believe in Creation or Evolution?’, ‘How do you feel about other religions?’, ‘Why are you a Christian?’

The guys answered well, with conviction and clarity, leaving the kids in no doubt that each member of the team has a real and living faith in Jesus.” Click here to read more

More to Life

Seemingly not wanting to be outdone by how busy Check it Out has been this year, Dennis is back out in the US for a mammoth six week tour packed full with teaching and preaching opportunities as well as many meetings and promotional opportunities to promote the More to Life ‘Engaging Through Story’ resource.  The second ‘Rooftop’ cluster will also begin in Richmond in July, where Dennis will be equipping and inspiring church leaders in evangelism.  This trip takes Den to Missouri, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, New York, Texas and finally Hawaii for the Baptist World Congress.  Please be praying for Den—he’ll need a huge amount of God’s strength to fulfil the busy schedule ahead of him.  Pray too for his wife, Lynne, as they will be apart for a long time.

The latest exciting development from our partnership with LifeWay is that Hispanic versions of the More to Life resources are being produced.  Filming commences on Monday 5th July and the potential to reach people around the globe with these resources is massive.

Quick update from Den:

“Had a great time speaking at LifeWay’s International Distributors Conference in St Louis, followed by speaking at the ICRS luncheon at the St Louis convention centre.  Interest in More to Life is growing around the US and around the world.” (30th June)

“Great day with the Mississippi Baptist Convention. More to Life is to be a key part of the Conventions outreach over the next two years.” (1st July)

Here in the UK, momentum is gathering for the ‘Unlock the Power of the Church’ conference on September 18th –  a day conference that will ‘envision and equip believers in faith sharing’.  Click here for more information and to book your place now!

Keep up to date with More to Life on Facebook.

Please pray…

As you can see, so much is going on and we really need to your prayer support to be able to move forward and fulfil all that God is calling us to do.  Our latest prayer diary is now available, click here to view it, download it, stick it on your fridge and partner with us in prayer!

Thanks for your support!

For more information check out Andy and Joy’s blog page: www.andyjoy.wordpress.com

On Saturday May 15th, I was in Guildford, taking part in the Diocese of Guildford’s Annual Training Day for Children’s workers, entitled ‘Creating Sparks’!  We were based in a Church of England Primary School for the day, which consisted of an opening talk and then workshops throughout the day.  My role was in leading a workshop I’d entitled ‘Catching the Vision’.  There were 160 attending the day and 60 had chosen my workshop.

The workshop initially sought to look again at the opportunity that those working with children in the church have to share Jesus.  Recognising the privilege this is and also the responsibility it puts upon us, the main thrust of the workshop was unpacking how a church could start developing a mission strategy for their children’s ministry.  So often churches run activities on a Sunday or midweek for children which is excellent, but these events or activities can stand alone both from the rest of the church and lack a cohesive sense of what they’re building to or seeking to achieve long term.

The real challenge I believe is how a church as a whole views its children’s ministry and children in themselves.  Are activities for children a means to an end (so the adults can meet) or simply a chance to tell some nice stories in the hope the children will grow up to be nice?  However over the top those suggestions may sound I did speak to someone who run an ‘all-age church’ every so often, but where no regular work actually takes place because it’s not important!

Running the workshop three times provided varying groups of people to work with and interesting answers to the different questions posed. I had many good conversations on varying levels about where churches were coming from and how Arise Ministries could support them in their work with children.

Then on Sunday May I6th, I headed to Bessel’s Green, just outside of Sevenoaks and to Bessel’s Green Baptist Church.  Supported by the band, Big Fish Little Fish, and Emma Stone, a local children’s worker from Essex (both of whom have worked with Arise Ministries before at events) we went to lead the mornings work for the children at the church.  We were invited by the minister and team leader, who was the Associate Minister at Beulah Baptist church prior to me – so it was great to be with him and his church.

We had a great morning, with about 30 children, the majority aged between 5 and 8 years old.  Looking at the Parable of the Sower (which Emma told through throwing loads of rice all over the place – great fun), we were introduced to Detective Dagwood, who set us a case to solve, the Case of the Missing Spark.  Over the course of the morning we looked at what it means to follow Jesus and the difference following him should make.  The band were great and again engaged with the children, bringing with them loads of drums, shakers, flags and once again ‘Recognising that worship is for all – everyone can get involved and have fun while giving God his due’!

Above all another great fun filled weekend, busy, but great to be engaging both with those working with children and then children themselves.  It’s a real privilege to be able to serve God is in this way!

Please do contact me if you would like any help or advice on how you can share Jesus with the children around you.  Click here to email me or call me on 01268 530531.

Ed Jones, Director of Arise Ministries

www.ariseministries.org.uk
(Arise Ministries is an exciting initiative of Viz-A-Viz Ministries and The Girls’ Brigade England & Wales that will help you to pioneer new outreach to children in your community.)

Click here for more info about what Check it Out are up to at the Baptist Assembly.

Click here for more info about what Arise Ministries are up to at the Baptist Assembly.

Don’t forget to check back next week for news of how it all went!