Why I like Volunteering for Llandudno Youth for Christ

The following blog post is written by one of our amazing volunteers, telling us what she loves about volunteering at Llandudno Youth for Christ.

“I am that most idiosyncratic of things: a Youth for Christ volunteer! No two sessions are the same, but after each one there are so many reasons to praise God. I volunteer with Llandudno Youth for Christ as part of my student placement: I’m training to become a youth and children’s chaplain. My placement has been at the Redefine community, Llandudno Youth for Christ’s Sunday night discipleship group for young Christians.

Each week is as fresh as the last. I could be doing quirky taskmaster style challenges, setting up a prayer station using M&Ms, donning a Darth Vader mask for a ‘traditional’ nativity or catapulting ammunition in a live action ‘Angry Birds’ setup. I could be giving my testimony to a room full of teenagers or using Harry Potter as an illustration in a Bible study. One night could be spent hiding from the insistent nerf bullets of a horde of hyper teenagers, or in eating unicorn ice cream whilst watching The Greatest Showman. Yep…. each week is as insane (I mean fresh) as the last.

And isn’t that true of our lives with Jesus? If we sell our lives out for Him, He will guarantee that we are always challenged: always moving forward; always nudged gently (or not so gently) outside of our comfort zones. Llandudno Youth for Christ provides an opportunity for me to get alongside young people as we encourage them in this crazy life of discipleship.

An especially beautiful experience for me at Youth for Christ has been the chance to do creative prayer stations as part of Redefine. To watch as young people – deeply stressed about exams – get to push their exam timetables and prayer requests into our chicken wired prayer wall, knowing that we WILL be praying for them, is a special experience. A huge privilege about this, and my future role as a chaplain, is knowing that we get to be an outlet for young people to share their deepest fears in a way that society all too often can’t, or won’t, allow.

Even Redefine planning meetings are fun! They are also designed to make you several stone heavier. At a recent breakfast meeting, after eggy crumpets and crispy bacon, I wondered how I managed to get so lucky – this is considered ‘work’ for me!

Above all, I like volunteering with Llandudno Youth for Christ because its love for young people shines out of every activity, programme and leader. I’m inspired each Sunday to be a little bit quirkier, a little bit braver and a lot more faithful to God’s calling.”-Esther Joanne Andrews

Feeling encouraged and inspired by Esther’s words? Perhaps you’d like to volunteer at Llandudno Youth for Christ, we’d love to hear from you.

Be blessed!