Winter approaches, the weather grows colder, but at least there is a new e-bulletin to keep you informed! In this issue Tim Yau looks back on five years with NYFC as he moves to a new position in Cambridge (and the e-bulletin features a special extended version of his article). Once again Paul has been beavering away to bring us his Thoughts From The Director's Chair, including an update on the ever present financial situation.
Add to this a special Meet The Team section, news of the Youth Leaders Breakfast event and the continuing wonder which is the Virtual Back Page (TM) and you have the best value for money e-Bulletin yet (especially as its free!).
Five years ago I came to Norwich, a place of medieval churches, crumbling city walls and Norwich Youth for Christ (NYFC). Within YFC circles NYFC, which had then been around for 20 years, was known as a 'big' centre. So it was with a strange emotional mix from 'Will I be good enough?' to 'Are they prepared for someone like me?' that I left my two years with National YFC as an 'Operation Gideon' (Op-Gid) student [now known as ETA] and joined the team. Since then I've seen: 7 new members of staff join; 7 old members leave; 28 year-out-students work for us; 7 international students work with us; and innumerable volunteers, doing all kinds of essential stuff, come and go.
So, if I've lasted this long why leave now? Well here's a boiled down version of the events that led me to move on.
During my final year as an Op-Gid I met a young man called Tim Wilkinson, he was coming to the end of his placement so I asked him about his plans for the future. He told me he was thinking about becoming an Anglican priest, at this I laughed out loud, as I thought he was joking, but he wasn't, he seriously meant it. He was confused about the way I'd reacted and didn't understand why I thought the idea of joining the Church of England was laughable. Up to this point I'd only belonged to churches from the evangelical charismatic wing of the church, I arrogantly thought that anything other than my own experience of churchmanship was dead, boring and irrelevant. Although my encounter with Tim was only brief the memory stayed with me and a question lingered, 'Why would someone want to do that?'
A year, or so, later I found myself living in Norwich with a new job, new wife, new house, new friends and a new church, all seemed well, at first.
My wife was looking for a job and she went for a youth worker position at St. Peter Mancroft, in the city centre. We thought we should check out a service so we went along one Sunday morning, I struggled with the service, the choir, the liturgy, the vestments, everything about it made me squirm in my pew. Why couldn't I cope with it, after all we do worship the same God?
Anyway, the job fell through, but thankfully she got a youth worker position with a Pentecostal church in Earlham, there I felt 'comfortable'. Unfortunately, looking back I think I was too comfortable, everything was easy for me, I knew the songs, the prayers and the style so well that I could slip into it without thinking, or sometimes even without really engaging with God.
For various reasons my wife left that position, but conveniently a youth workers post with a local Anglican Church came up and she got it. To be supportive to my wife I went along to the services, albeit reluctantly as my heart was never really in it. I found myself finding excuses for not going along, and the only time that I would go was if I was helping her with Sunday school or if I felt my absence may have been noted.
My work at NYFC was progressing in the schools and my wife's work at the church flourished, but things had to change. I had been christened in an Anglican Church as a child but had not been brought up to attend the local Church, so knew very little about its customs and practices. Therefore I decided I would go forward for 'confirmation' as I thought it would be a good way to find out about the Church of England. It wasn't! But through the experience I did realise how closed minded I'd been, and I learnt that there was a loving community of God's people around me who I'd been ignoring just because they didn't believe exactly what I did. What an idiot!
So I began to throw myself into St. Elizabeth's and started to appreciate it, then my wife left me! It was the worst period of my life so far, but this following piece of scripture saw me through much of the difficulties, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all of your ways acknowledge him, and He will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:6
When something like that happens you question everything. It made me wonder whether I should be in Norwich, or whether I should be working for NYFC and especially whether I should still be at St.Elizabeth's. In the end I came to the conclusion that this was my home, and as much as I wanted to run away, I felt I had to stay.
During this time taking communion at church became a much deeper experience for me, in many ways it was reminiscent of my first steps as a new Christian, it was like I'd discovered God again, but in a new way. I sensed the awesomeness of God and at times it was like I daren't breathe because the 'Ancient of Days' was present. Before this God had been my Dad, Jesus was my friend and the Holy Spirit was my Helper, but this was deeper. I reflected a lot on my conversation with Tim Wilkins and on what I'd been experiencing, and on what God had showed me in the past on what He wanted me to do. I felt drawn towards Anglican priesthood, but I couldn't explain why, so I talked to my vicar.
So that's ultimately where I think I'm heading, but in the mean time God felt it would be a good idea that I got some experience working solely for one church, that was never my plan, but He does know best. In September I take over as the Youth Pastor for an Anglican Church in Cambridge, I'll be responsible for the 11-18 year olds and I hope to have lots of fun there finding out what God wants to do with us.
I'll never forget my time in Norwich; it took me on a voyage of self-discovery. I just hope I've impacted as many young lives as I've been impacted personally. Thanks to my team who has put up with my creative messes and thanks to my employers who gave me the chance to make them. Finally the biggest thanks goes out to God for never giving up on me.
We had a look through our archives and dug out a few photo's of Tim...
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We are presently looking to recruit a new schools worker. For more details look on the website, or contact the office.
I hope you have all had a good summer.
We have recently returned from a team retreat. One of the things we feel God has laid on our hearts is to seek God for an ever increasing passion and compassion for the young people we work with.
We were challenged by how much our heart measures against God's heart for those who do not know him. We know from scripture that God's heart longs for people to know Him. Pray for us and for each other that God's spirit softens our heart to be more Christlike in our actions and outlook.
Finance
In the last bulletin we shared how the start to the summer had been particularly challenging. Praise God that things have recently begun to improve. Thank you for your continued support. Without you we would not have the amazing opportunities we do to change lives.
We have had some people ask us recently to clarify how we get our income so this time we'll use this space to do that!
We are an independent charity in our own right which means we are responsible for raising all our income. We do not receive any income from National Youth for Christ, in fact the reverse is true.
Our main source of income is individuals. We also receive money from grant making trusts. 10 churches support us on a monthly basis and 5 churches support us either for work we are doing with them or on a termly or annual basis.
Our key need, as you know, is to increase our regular predictable income as this eases cashflow and therefore helps in planning and looking forward.
Over the last two years we have increased our anticipated regular monthly giving by over £2,000. A significant achievement but still a long way short of where we need to be.
Our ultimate aim is to get to the stage where we have at least three months of salary costs in reserve. Obviously we are far from that, instead our current cashflow means the organisations is always vulnerable in short to medium term.
If you would like to help our financial aim, please write to us at the NYFC Office, 3 Brigg Street, NORWICH NR2 1QN, or ring either Paul or Karen, the Office Manager, on 01603-620678.
Paul Cracknell
One of our Core Values says that everything we do and seek to do needs to involve prayer. As a team we meet regularly to pray for all areas of our work including you our volunteers and supporters. We are grateful that many of you pray regularly for us. Some of you have asked us to include photos of us so that you know who we are and also to aid you in praying for us. So this edition instead of introducing you to volunteers, at the start of this new academic year, here's the staff team of Norwich Youth for Christ!
 Tracey Tracey's our team nightowl, she is our clubworker and supports Leicester – BOO! |
 Karen Karen's our Office Manager. The Engine Room of NYFC. Finances, organisation, if it's worth knowing Karen does! |
 Paul Paul is NYFC's Director. His role is to lead the team, build networks etc, do hands on work and take the organisation forward. |
 Holly She's getting married in November. Works with Karen and tries to organise Paul! |
 Dave Dave is our Praxis student. Pray that he has a good year |
 Mark Mark is responsible for Fridays, praxis and all things technical e.g. The Forum |
 Matt Matt is responsible for all things church resource like! |
Things You can Pray for: Pray for the protection and health of the team. Pray for wisdom and guidance. Pray for opportunities to share faith and wisdom to spot Gods opportunities. Pray that as a team we remain close to God and that he remains the source and end point of all we do. Pray that God will bring the right person along as the new schools worker. Thank God for all that he has done over the last 25 years. His faithfulness, generosity and provision. Thank God for the many supporters and volunteers who make our work possible. |
Fancy Breakfast?
In partnership with the YMCA, the Diocesan Youth Service and Crusaders we are organising a series of breakfasts for anyone involved in leading any type of youthwork – especially volunteers.
They will be on Saturday mornings (8:30-10:00) at Trowse YMCA.
The aim is to meet other youth leaders, network, share ideas, pray and leave feeling better equipped and less isolated. The first 3 dates and themes are:
9th Nov On Youth Culture
11th Jan On Vision
For more information/directions and for an indication of numbers please contact Nick Jeffery at the YMCA on 01603 630049 or nick-ymca@lineone.net
Gift AidIf you give to NYFC, either regularly or occasionally, and you pay income tax, then you could make your donation go further by filling out a Gift Aid form. You only have to complete the form once for us, and then on every donation you make we can claim around 28% extra from the government! You can find a Gift Aid form in PDF format here. If you haven't already got it, you will need to install Abode Acrobat Reader on your computer to print the form, Acrobat Reader is available for free download at www.adode.comIf you have already completed a Gift Aid form for us, thankyou very much, and you don't need to do it again! Pray For Us!If you are interested in praying for specific requests and/or would like more regular prayer updates please contact the office.
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DatesOct 20th Deputation November 23rd is our Annual Thanksgiving. It will be at the Salvation Army Citadel at 7:30. Bishop Gavin Reid, current YFC president and former bishop of Maidstone will be speaking. Put it in your diaries now! Everyone Welcome! Volunteer Opportunities - Get Involved!We are looking for:
For more info on any of these opportunities contact the office. Contacting UsIf you want to e mail us our addresses are: office@norwichyfc.co.uk If you prefer the more traditional approach, then our postal address is: Norwich Youth For Christ, 3 Brigg Street, Norwich, NR2 1QN Our telephone number is 01603 620678 |
Any Questions?Q. Who are
you people? Q. Why have
you sent me this? Q. This is
a great piece of communication, but why do I get this as well as a paper
copy? Q. I don't
want anymore of these sent to me? Q. Actually
I've changed my mind, I don't want to stop receiving this, in fact I
want all my friends to get it! How do I do this? If you prefer the more traditional approach, then our postal address is: Norwich Youth For Christ, 3 Brigg Street, Norwich, NR2 1QN Our telephone number is 01603 620678 Check out our website – www.norwichyfc.co.uk, including our brand new feature, the forum, your chance to interact with NYFC staff and volunteers. |
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