Everest Base Camp – Today was the day…

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Today was the day I was to step onto a plane to Kathmandu in Nepal to begin the 80mile Trek to Everest Base Camp at 17,600ft.

Alas, instead I’m at home typing this.

This trip – from the top of the highest mountain in the Wales, Mt. Snowdon (3560ft), to the bottom of the highest mountain in the World – was to mark ten years of Youth for Christ in Llandudno and to launch a brand-new Youth for Christ Centre.

The great news, trip aside, is we have seen ten – now eleven years – of Youth for Christ in Wales, and we are going to launch a second centre in North Wales to see more young people meet with Jesus. Much more on this coming soon!

To be honest though, as a mountain enthusiast, I am a bit gutted. I was very much looking forward to the challenge and the chance to bring you all along with me as a way of marking this great adventure we’ve had together.

However, with the times being what they are, we want to be, first and foremost, responsible and take the greatest possible care of our neighbours. With that in mind, this is clearly not the time to go.

That said, the trip is not ‘cancelled’, it will be rescheduled instead, so do watch this space and remember thst you can continue to give at www.give.net/TimsBigTrek

I put this short video out last week to talk about it – have a watch. In the meantime, keep safe, keep praying, and keep hopeful!

All the best,

Tim

Around the bible in 80 days – by Sophie and Jess

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It’s amazing that two of our former young people have contributed towards a fantastic new devotional! Check out the story in their own words…

 

Around the bible in 80 days.

‘Around the world in 80 days’ is the name of a novel that came out in 1872. It tells the compelling story of two men

racing against time to travel the world in just eighty days. Of course travelling has become so much easier since then, with vast technology improvements, but in a post COVID-19 world travelling around the world in 80 days is probably near impossible. However, we would like to invite you to do something even better that is entirely possible, journeying through the Bible in eighty days, and we’d like to share with you a brilliant devotional that follows this theme.

‘One True God 80 Devotions’ is an eighty day devotional aimed at teenagers. The idea behind the title is taken from the image of a 180 degree turn – a complete change, a new direction, lives turned around for Jesus. Remember what your life was like when you committed to following Jesus – how much you changed? This book has been created to encourage and challenge teenagers to turn their lives around for Jesus.

This book, produced by Girlz 4 Christ Ministry in America, has been written by over 25 people from at least three continents. Each day starts with a verse or two from the Bible, the author shares a story or thought and it closes with a challenge/action point to encourage the reader to respond. Some of the topics throughout book include faith, friendship and leaning on God through all circumstances. We wrote pieces on self-worth, God-given gifts and social media among other things.

We b

elieve this book has the potential to be a great blessing, and we’re really excited to see what God does through it in the lives of, hopefully, many young people.

If this devotional sounds like something a teenager in your life would benefit from, please prayerfully consider gifting them a copy. ‘One True God 80 Devotions’ is available on Amazon in paperback and kindle format.
And please join us in praying as this challenging idea of a 180 degree turn for Jesus is brought to many teenagers all around the world.

Thank you

Sophie Spree and Jessica Edwards

Camp-Not-Camp is over – but what a ride!

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It’s been a great two days – thanks for praying for us. Check out the last two videos. The first to supporters and the second to young people.

 

Camp-not-camp day 1 is over – what a blast!

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It’s 8pm, and the first day of ‘camp-not-camp’ is over. Today was all kinds of fun!

We began with a breakfast for new year 7s and heard from a couple of leaders who have recently left school who shared their best advice for starting as a year 7. It was great to see new faces and to have time to just hang out, share stories, play games, and connect up together.

Fast forward to the afternoon and we had our first ever digital cookery lesson! We made frying pan pizzas (or cheat pizzas!) together. Fresh dough, proper home made sauce, and a whole range of toppings. We had great fun, made lots of mess, and even came up with some tasty food.

This evening, to top the day off, we ended with a weird-and-wonderful ‘hot chocolate quiz night’. Far from the usual style of traditional quizzes, we had rounds like the ‘celebrity forehead’ round, and the ‘will it float’. Great fun, with something for everyone – and of course, hot chocolate!

In the meantime, we’ve been getting ready to camp. So some of us have set tents up in the garden (check out the videos below of mine!), and others have made dens in their house. Brilliant fun.

What a great day! It’s a shame that we can’t really be together in the traditional sense at the moment, but doing a innovative camp like this still creates great memories, draws people together, and helps us stay possitive and have fun at this odd time.

Please keep praying for us tonight as we sleep outside (most of us!), and for tomorrow. We kick the day off with breakfast together, and end the day with a movie. Camp-not-camp is being brilliant, do pray that God brings the best from it, and people take another step together towards Jesus.

All the best!

Tim

 

 

Camp-not-camp – Starting today!

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Usually at this time of year we’d be cleaning off the tents, packing the minibus, and heading off to a big field somewhere for a week of smelly camping. Odd enough, that’s not happening this year. That’s a blow for us – but it’s not game over! We love to innovate and try new things out, and that’s exactly what we’re doing, starting today.

Today is the first day of ‘Camp-Not-Camp’. This is a camping trip, without the ‘trip’ bit. Tonight, young people from all over Llandudno and Colwyn Bay will be camping in their gardens, living rooms, dining rooms – wherever they can fit a tent – all at the same time. Mass camping, in our own safe spaces!

Around that we are having five different online events. We have two breakfasts, the first this morning will be just for brand new year 7s. We have a cooking lesson (taught by me!) this afternoon, where we’ll make ‘Frying Pan Pizza’ together – which will either be totally amazing, or a total disaster. Either way it will be a blast. This evening we’re running a ‘Hot Chocolate Quiz’ and tomorrow evening we’ll be watch-partying a movie together.

This presents us a great opportunity to connect with our young people right at the beginning of summer, and give them some really fun memories. It also creates a way for us to provide options for young people who might love the idea of cooking, but really not be up for a quiz. Do you remember those ‘choose your own adventure’ books? This is a little bit like a choose your own camp. They can do as much or as little as they would like.

As usual there will be times to share from our lives, talk about Jesus, answer questions, and share the gospel. What an opportunity right?

So please be praying for us today as we start Camp-Not-Camp, online with our young people. Pray for fun, for good connections, for memories made, for safety, for good weather, for young people to feel safe and loved, and for them to hear and understand the story of Jesus.

Thanks folks!

Tim

 

If you’re a young person or parent – here are all your details. Just remember that meetings are for team and young people only – anyone else will be removed from the meeting. This is just to make sure everyone feels safe and recognise who the registered adults are. The only exception is the year 7’s breakfast this morning, where any new year 7 is welcome to bring a parent or older brother or sister. Thanks! 😀

Wed 5th
10am – Year 7 breakfast – https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82024902979 (Meeting ID: 820 2490 2979)
2pm – Cooking lesson – https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89871097470 (Meeting ID: 898 7109 7470)
6pm – Quiz night – https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81691325961 (Meeting ID: 816 9132 5961)

Overnight camping in gardens in their homes if they want

Thu 6th
10am – Breakfast for everyone – https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86364090822 (Meeting ID: 863 6409 0822)
6pm – Movie night – https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85698363550 (Meeting ID: 856 9836 3550)

 

New Year 7’s Breakfast – This Week!

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Hi folks

If you know someone who is about to go into year 7 then please pass this on to them.

We are running a ‘New Year 7 Breakfast’ as part of our Camp-Not-Camp event this week. This will be a friendly, easy session to get to know them.

They are welcome to bring big brothers or sisters, or parents with them (but obviously the new year 7 needs to be there!).

It will be just 40 minutes, from 10am, this Wednesday 5th Aug on Zoom. Please contact us on facebook (TimGoughYFC), Instagram (@LlandudnoYouthForChrist) or email (llandudnoyfc@gmail.com) for the link.

Please spread the word!

Tim

Where were you this time last year?

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I was just getting on a plane to speak at Vineyard in Sweden, but more interestingly was the week after that.

The beginning of summer for us usually means summer plans and projects. Last year that was five days away at Soul Survivor, the Golden Spoon Awards, Ice Cream Movie Night, Robot Wars Night, Human Cluedo, Refresh Camp, and (if you can imagine it now) an ‘Ultimate Loo Roll Fight.’

This year? Well we still don’t know.

With the dust around the new social distancing rules still settling, and the continued uncertainty, it’s very hard to plan for summer. For me this will be the first year in 14 that I haven’t taken a group away on camp. I’m not sure what Summer even looks like without camp!

This year the plans will evolve along with the social climate. That said, one thing is absolutely for certain, we will still be telling young people about Jesus.

Whether that’s online through Zoom meetings, or on YouTube, or in very careful gatherings, or just standing on top of Town Hall and yelling. Whatever it takes our job is to tell young people about Jesus as frequently and fully as possible.

The mission doesn’t stop, even if it changes shape.

Please keep praying for us as we discuss options for the summer and do all that we can do to safely serve young people while tell faithfully telling them about Jesus.

All the best!

Tim

 

Photo by Simon Rae on Unsplash

I have so many monkeys! Working with high achievers.

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Yesterday’s ‘live Reverb thought’ began with me sharing some of my collection of stuffed monkeys. One of them in particular, Damien, was given to me by my youth worker (also called Damien!) back when I was a teenager.

It was about then as a young person that I realised I really wanted to go into ministry. This was quite a big deal for me because, as an academically high achiever, everyone wanted me to pursue something big and crazy. My English teacher wanted me to go into politics, my science teacher suggested research, my psychology teacher pushed psychiatry, and my geography teacher wanted me to pursue geology. All of these sounded fun and interesting but none of them brought my teenage heart alive like telling people about Jesus did. It came as a big shock to everyone then, when I withdrew from studying ‘PPE’ at Oxford and went instead to what my dad colourfully called ‘Vicar Factory.’

I sometimes wonder if a lot of youth work oddly sidesteps the ‘high achievers’, letting them just get on with it and work things out for themselves. I think if we do this then we will really let a lot of our young people down. They don’t need ‘leaving to it’, they need feeding, stimulating and challenging. They need to be held accountable to God’s calling on their lives so that they don’t just put all their confidence in their brain power or rely too much on their grades.

Being a high achiever doesn’t make you immune to anxiety, poor self-esteem, or immense amounts of stress (ask any university professor!). It can sometimes, however, make you incredibly lonely. Even saying ‘I’m a high achiever’ is enough for a teenager to draw bullying and resentment from both peers and adults alike. It’s also really difficult for a high achiever to distinguish between what they can do (in terms of their high ability) and what they should do (God’s calling on their lives). Because they get high grades, it’s too easy for leaders and parents to push them towards the former without much thought towards the latter. That’s called being trapped by achievement.

It’s so important that we engage a wide range of very different young people. At Youth for Christ we provide this through our growing variety of projects. However, as someone who was a high achiever myself when back at High School, I try hard to make sure that I’m keenly aware of those particular young people in our groups today.

Through one-to-ones, in depth studies, prayer times, Q&As, guidance counselling, and just through providing lots of opportunities to share, we have been able to offer real support to those young people who have the added stress and loneliness of doing well at school.

Youth for Christ is about reaching every young person. It’s strange how often we unknowingly leave some out because we think that they don’t need us. There are so many types of young people that need our attention and the high achievers are just one group who are often overlooked in youth groups.

So, what’s your area? Do you have experience with high achievement? What about sports, arts, additional needs? Are you naturally louder or quieter, loquacious or introspective? Do you love knitting, writing, cooking, reading, making videos, or playing the kazoo?

Not only is there room for all, we need a wide variety of volunteers to reach the enormous variety of young people who exist. Young people, after all, are just people – and they come in all the shapes and sizes that the rest of us do. Can you bring something unique to share with our young people? Get in touch and start a conversation with us about what you could add to those under our care today.

Can you help us out with YouTube?

Related to this, we have just started a YouTube channel for young people. This is being brilliant, but it’s very limited at the moment. We need 100 subscribers before we can advertise our own link to young people – which will make it far easier for them to see it and share it with their friends.

Can you subscribe to our new channel here and help us get there? You can find it here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz295XuUp4GFgb-0qOYUU_w

 

Photo by Jared Rice on Unsplash

A schools-driven ministry without schools

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Earlier this week I was cleaning up my old computer files and I found the plan for my first ever Recess lunchtime club. It was the 5th of May 2011, just three days after starting work for Youth for Christ.

The plan included some hang out time with doughnuts, a game, and a set of ‘get to know each other’ questions. These included ice-breaker questions like ‘would you rather live with a polar bear cub or a baby elephant’, school questions ‘who is your favourite teacher’, and Recess questions ‘what’s your best Recess memory?’ This was the first time Ysgol John Bright and I really got to know each other.

That was over nine years ago!

Ever since then Recess has gone through a few changes, but the format and the numbers have stayed roughly stayed the same. We’ve also added RE Conferences, regular assemblies, Easter drama projects, and lots of teaching. It’s been amazing to be a significant part of that school.

One of the most important changes Youth for Christ has been through over the last decade is moving away from the café model to a schools’ model. When I first began, we were a drop-in youth club style café with some schools’ work, now we’re almost the reverse; a schools-driven youth work with some youth clubs. This has been brilliant and really worked for this area.

School is where the action is, and it’s where the young people are. We love our other projects, but we wouldn’t give up our connection to schools for anything. It’s there where we get to build long-lasting and genuinely helpful relationships with young people. It’s there where we get to be a real support to teachers and staff. It would be so weird now if we weren’t there.

Wait – let me rephrase that: It is so weird now that we’re not there!

Most of our regular connection with young people has happened in school. It’s so sad not to be able to walk through those double doors each week, say ‘hi’ to the reception staff, and connect with young people on their own turf.

We want everyone to stay safe, but we also can’t wait to get back to school!

Over the next few weeks we’re going to be contacting the schools that we work with to see if there are any ways that we can be helpful as they start to contemplate slowly coming back to some kind of normal.

So do please pray for us as we send these emails. Pray for the teachers as they start looking again at their lesson plans. Pray for the administrative staff as they figure out all the complicated ‘hows’ and ‘whens’. Pray mostly though, for the young people as they eventually reconnect with such an important part of their lives.

Thanks folks!

 

Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash

Prayer crosses social distancing like nothing else can.

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Usually at this time on a Monday morning the trustee board of Llandudno Youth for Christ meet at the office to pray. For thirty minutes, we begin each week by handing it over to God. That’s amazing right?

Do you know when else we pray?

Every Wednesday as an office team, every Thursday before and after Reverb and Recess, every Friday before and after Shuffle and Shake, and every Sunday before and after Redefine. We also have monthly prayer meetings, bi-annual prayer gatherings, and special prayer events. We include prayer in all of our projects and encourage all of our team members to ‘intercede’ as they walk around during sessions.

We love to pray!

The apostle Paul loved to pray too. His prayers always trusted that God was powerful enough to answer them (Phil. 1:19), were always saturated in thanksgiving and gratitude (Col. 3:15-17), and always pointed towards sharing the gospel of Jesus (Eph. 6:19-20).

Paul also saw prayer as a way of teaming up with other people to unite for one mission (Rom. 15:30). Prayer unites us under on goal – to see the world know God through Jesus.

One of the things that I’m missing most at the moment as the Centre Director is meeting with team and supporters to pray together. Knowing that nothing relies on my strength but on on God’s, petitioned through the help, support, and united prayers of so many faithful Christians is simply amazing.

I miss meeting with you all to pray – but that doesn’t mean our prayers don’t work the same way. When we pray, we are still united in one mission to see young people meet with Jesus. We still are seeking Jesus together to see Him known – so we are still doing this together.

This is a very long-winded way of saying just one thing:

Please keep praying!

We need your prayers right now, and the young people really do. Your prayers never fall on death ears, they always reach the creator of the universe, and He cares immensely for what we ask of Him.

So please keep praying for us. Not only will it bring us together in unity at this very separate time, it will keep the gospel flowing out and reaching young people.

All the best!

Tim

 

Photo by Jack Sharp on Unsplash