In This Edition: Matt & Mark on life at NYFC Phil Heald writes about Fridays Reality II and Hope 08 Danny in Schools Updates on New Faces and Express Resources for Your Work with Young People Fliss on Finance, Supporters and Food! Virtual Back Page

Matt & Mark

They say time flies when you're having fun, and here we are a year on from the first time we wrote a piece as then Acting Joint Directors! A more accurate phrase might be along the lines of, "Time flies, fun or not, when God's called you!" It's been a very busy year, and one that's had its share of challenges, but we can't help but look back in gratitude at what God has done for, in and through us. It's been a fruitful year - on top of the excitement of a regular stream of young people discovering more about God, events like Reality & Express have been high points. It's been a focussed year as God spoke to us about who we are and what NYFC is here for. It's been a blessed year, as He's provided the things we needed, in the physical and spiritual senses.

Once again we have just returned from our national YFC conference in Colwyn Bay. North Wales is a long way to go, but when God speaks it's usually worth it! We were privileged to have Winkie Pratney speaking to us, sharing his heart for YFC, and bringing his thoughts on what was important to us as an organisation. One of the first things he talked about was the word 'remember.' He encouraged us to remember who and what YFC is and what it was built on. Now, at this point we had a slightly smug smile as we thought, 'God said that last year, and we've been doing it, so we're already there Winkie!' Needless to say God went a little further than before though, reminding us not just about Norwich YFC, but about the very start of Youth For Christ the international movement back in the 1940's! YFC was founded in response to a move of God stirring the same vision and mission in people who were thousands of miles apart. Realising again that this is a God-founded, God-called and God-commissioned movement has been an inspiration.

Speaking of being commissioned, we were all very encouraged by the attendance at our recent commissioning service for the two of us and for our newest staff member, Johny (who introduces himself later in this Bulletin). Around ninety people gave up a precious Saturday evening to join us for the service, including not one but three previous directors! Grantley Watkins spoke, and challenged everybody to live out God's commission on them, not just us three. More importantly than any of this though was God's presence at the service, and we were definitely aware of that through the worship, prayer, preaching and the commissioning parts. The words we use for the commissioning place some weighty demands on us, but also carry the reassurance of God with us in all that He's called us to. Knowing that, we want to continue to serve the mission God has placed on this organisation, taking the gospel in every place in whatever new and creative ways we can. YFC, wherever it is, has always been an organisation pioneering new ways of ministry, and we want to continue that innovative spirit.

We mentioned challenges in the first paragraph, and one of those has been around some of our recent recruitments not working out as we had hoped. In the last couple of months Emily Strange and Hannah Farmer have both moved on for health and personal reasons, and Phil Strange has decided that he needs to be focussed on supporting Emily so he too will be leaving us about the time you read this. It's been difficult partly because we always want to see as many young people influenced for the Gospel as possible, and any time our plans don't work out is a disappointment. More than that though is the fact that when people join us they become our friends and not just our colleagues, and it's tough to see our friends struggling with their health like this. We're looking forward to see what God calls Emily, Phil & Hannah to next, and we're thankful for the time they've each spent with us.

Now we're looking forward to what God will do this year. It's already shaping up to be another busy one, with Reality II, Express, our Summer Rock Solid weekend, Fridays, more Fusion projects, preparations of Hope 08 and more! Thanks for reading, and thanks for your support.

Matt & Mark

Fridays - A Drummer's View

In December we were joined by a guest drummer at Fridays, Phil Heald. After the evening Phil posted the following entry on his blog (a sort of online diary, for the uninitiated):

Tonight I played drums for the Fridays band. I'm left thinking of history, and disco!

Just to explain, I used to be the Fridays drummer, many years ago, and though there have been others since, I am privileged enough to get to go back and play every now and then.

It usually involves playing songs that I have never heard before, let alone played, especially when, like this time, I am not able to make the practice. This, for me, is half the fun. I find it a test; to see if I can still do it!

While we were praying before Fridays, I was really aware of 'generations'. I've seen lots of generations at Fridays, including the 'new' current one. To look back at those different times, and see where people are now, is to see how God works. You see, Fridays is not very good at chewing people up and spitting them out. It is very good at being a place where God meets with people. This leads to people growing, being released, healed and all the other things that God can do.

That is not to say that everyone, or anyone, who's been through Fridays is perfect. I just find it easy to see God in and through Fridays.

I think that we all find places like this. I also think that we should spend time in these places, I know that I certainly find it encouraging.

In conclusion, I think I'm saying, "Go where God is".

As for the disco, the incredibly good looking worship leader [Dom Ward] finished the night with Matt Redman's 'Dancing Generation' which fitted in nicely and included a spontaneous disco break using the bass riff from 'Carwash'!! Go Keef!!!!!!! (I'd love to know if that's ever happened before!)

Our thanks to Phil for permission to reproduce this piece.

Reality

Progress continues as we work towards Reality II this Summer and Hope 08 next year, but as well as the effort of pulling it all together we've had some fun too. Just before Christmas we held the RII Snowball with Holy Trinity's CYFA group. Around 140 young people joined us for this year's ball, and enjoyed an evening of eating, conversation, dancing and live music. Everyone had a great time, and we were pleased not just by the attendance, but by using the opportunity to preach the gospel to those who had been brought by friends (and there were some first time attendees at Holy Trinity the next day as a result).

We have more of these social and fundraising events planned, and the next one is a barn dance on 21st April. This is an all age evening, so whether you are young or old please do come and join us! Tickets are £10 and available from the office.

At least as important as the funding though is prayer for Reality II, and again we would love for you to join us to pray for the event over the next few months. Our next prayer meeting is 27th February at New Hope in Lakenham in the evening, but details of all the dates are on the Reality II website at www.reality-norwich.com

We continue to be encouraged by the long-term fruit from the first Reality event, and we're praying that RII would help more churches to engage their community in love with the Gospel, and prepare for a year of going further with Hope 08. We would still love to have more people and churches involved this year, so please think and pray about how your church could be part of RII and bring hope.

Fusion Goes Beyond The Church

Danny Doran-Smith is a Fusion worker in Heartsease with Witard Road Baptist Church and St. Francis, the parish church. As well as his direct work with young people Danny has become increasingly involved with local schools, to the extent where he's now involved with the governorship of the newly forming Heartsease Primary School.

Danny said, "I'm vice chair of the 'shadow' governing body for the new combined school, and chair of the personnel committee, which is the group that makes all the appointments from the head downwards! We've been responsible for things like planning the staff structure, deciding how many teachers and teaching assistants, and even deciding on uniforms and logos for the new school."

All this work can take up anything from five to twenty hours of his week, but as Danny says, "It's a privilege to be in the school, and so even the heavy weeks are worth having because it gives me the chance to be a Godly influence there, building relationships to earn the right to be more direct with our message."

It was Danny's existing relationships with the schools and the community that brought this opportunity in the first place. He was initially approached by Woodside First School and then later asked to be part of the new structure, and now he's one of five Christians from four churches working together on the board of governors.

Danny explained, "I've been doing things in the school from the beginning. I do a mentoring scheme for 8-12 year olds with behavioural problems. I work with parents, particularly when there are issues around drugs or alcohol. I do assemblies, and sometimes I just hang around in the school, being part of the life of the thing. The newest thing is we're starting a basketball club in the next few weeks. All of this means that the churches benefit, as our relationships with the schools open doors for us, and as we see young people linking in with faith - getting involved with events like Express and with Sunday activities at the churches, discovering God and go on to be the young leaders doing evangelism in the high school!"

Updates

Express TV Goes Live

Our third Express event was an evening of Christmas Telly as Express TV took to the airwaves for one night only! Once again we were joined by 11-14 year olds from the Rock Solid groups we support around the county who enjoyed an evening looking at the true meaning of Christmas.

The Express team pushed the limits once again, this time creating a huge television set to frame the action in, and combining live presenters and activities with video playback. It's a lot of work, but it's well worth it to give these young people a chance to hear about Jesus in such a creative way!

Here's Johny!

Johny Grimwood joined us in October as a Fusion worker. Here's a quick introduction:

What have you done before?

Lots of things part time: farm work, thatching, illustration, factory work, UEA, primary school stuff and working as a security guard in The 'House of Frankenstein' wax museum in New York!

Favourite Food?

At the moment it's thin crust spicy pizza.

What brought you to NYFC?

The chance to get stuck in to youth ministry full time. Something I care about and enjoy. I met up in the office and it felt right straight away.

What are you most looking forward to in the next few years?

Seeing what God does and letting Him use me. Ipswich winning promotion again (cough).

What has God said to you recently?

Proverbs 14:4

Introducing Matt Williamson

He's known as Matty or MT to us in the office (to differentiate him from Mr Gooch), but he may not be known to you at all yet! MT is a local lad, well Dereham/Swaffham at least, who is spending a year out with NYFC and Norwich Central Baptist Church. MT's great, and we're enjoying having him here, although we're not sure whether he's enjoying always being the one who has to wear a blue wig and silver trousers in Andy's assemblies!

Rock Solid Shows its Mettle!

Many of you will have heard of Rock Solid, the great resource from Youth For Christ for 11-14 year olds. It's been available for more than ten years now, but it's constantly updated to make sure it's as fresh as it was in the very first edition. Rock solid gives a pre-planned resource for every session, making running an exciting club for non-Christian young people a lot easier. On top of the programmes Rock Solid also includes training and support from YFC, so even if you've never done any youthwork before we can help you get going. Today more than two hundred clubs use Rock Solid around the country, and here at NYFC we directly support twenty of those.

There's more than just Rock Solid though - in the last couple of years YFC have launched RS2 and Mettle, both aimed at discipling young people who have made Christian commitments. RS2 leads on from Rock Solid with the 11-14's, while Mettle is for 14-18 year olds and includes session resources, study notes and more. Both of these newer packages have had a warm reception from those using them, so if they fit a need in your church please get in touch. We're also local co-ordinators for Youth Alpha, and we'll soon be able to bring you news of a regional Youth Alpha Holy Spirit day in the Autumn. For more information on any of these packages please contact Ang through the office.

Fliss on Finance, Supporters and Food!

When I wrote the last finance piece I was still Miss Scofield - I am now Mrs Jones! Anyway, I must regain my focus on this article, but I couldn't resist putting in a picture of me in my wedding dress!

God keeps on using YOU to amaze me. He continues to provide for our needs. He is so faithful. 'You can't out give God' is a phrase I've heard several times before...and its true! I know it personally in my life that when I give, even when its hard, God sees and knows my need and fulfills that need. We also see it happen at Norwich Youth for Christ, when we give sacrificially, whether by spending ourselves on behalf of the Gospel when we're just plain tired, or financially supporting a project or a young person in fulfilling their calling, God always sees and meets our needs.

Our Annual Report is available from the website (just look in the archive section), it gives a flavour of what your support has enabled us to do this year. Most months we pray for an additional £2000.00 income to cover all our bills and salaries. Our aim is for all salaries and bills to be covered by predictable income. Please continue to pray for us in this area.

Christmas Open Office

Thank you to all those who braved the elements and popped in to our 'Open Office' just before Christmas. It was lovely to see some familiar faces and some new faces. We hope you enjoyed meeting the team and eating the mince pies! I'm sure 'Open Office' will be back this year! Watch out for the date in the next bulletin.

2007 Supporters BBQ

Following the success of our supporters BBQ last year, we have decided to have another this year, weather permitting. Put Friday 10th August in your diary. The evening will be very informal with a chance to chill out with friends and the NYFC staff and eat lots of delicious food. There is no charge for this - it's another way for us to meet and say thank you to our valuable supporters. More details in the next bulletin.

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