Sixty Years and counting....Good News worth Celebrating!

Sixty years ago, Swindon Youth for Christ came into being! Billy Graham, as the first full-time worker for the International organisation, led the way and gave a great example to other YFC centres as they popped up all around the world. In 1950 Swindon quickly took on the mandate to ‘reach out to the young people that normal church channels were missing’. The concept of teen-to-teen evangelism was the primary thrust of the YFC ministry and partnering with churches and individuals has always been at the heart of the organisation. Incredibly, there are now more than 60 centres across Britain, with Swindon apparently being the longest continually running centre!

There is a lot to celebrate over the last 60 years. For instance do you remember “Way” Coffee Bar which ran for two weeks in October 1967? Josie Bowd tells the story “It was a significant, ground-breaking achievement for SYFC at the time, being the first evangelistic coffee bar of its type in the area. We all chipped in with decorating - I remember many of us dipping our feet in paint and putting footprints onto a black wall background. It was revolutionary at the time!!

We had Phil Vogel (the National Director) here for a fortnight and Dave Hamshire was the SYFC director at the time. We also had well known bands from BYFC come to perform and testify which drew large crowds of youngsters. We had a “running” prayer meeting going on at the top of the building whilst all the action was happening down below. It was a great time where we saw God move.” Bring back any memories? Thanks to Josie for her memory but do you have any memories of your own of the work of SYFC? Memories of the Soapbox Bus project? The rallies of the 1950’s? The March for Jesus roadshow of the 90’s? We’d love to hear from you if you have.

Over 2010 we are running a number of different events to celebrate all that has happened, culminating with a special celebration event in the Autumn. If you aren’t on our mailing list but would like to find out more about the events then please contact the office with your details or if you would like to help us run an event then again we’d love to hear from you.

The recent 24/7 prayer room set up by SYFC was a real answer to prayer for me.... A few months prior to the event I had read a book about prayer. This reminded me of a 24/7 event that was held in Swindon a few years ago and I found myself wanting to see another similar event here. Initially I was daunted at the prospect of having to set it up myself! But I prayed to God that this event would somehow happen, be it through me or others. So I was ecstatic when I found out that it was actually going to happen – my prayers had been answered!

Although I had put the event into so much focus in my prayer, I was still unsure of what to expect to get out of going there. Once there I began to read the 24/7 Vision which was on one of the walls. I couldn’t read it with a dry eye! I wasn’t sure why it invoked such a reaction from me, but I simply felt the presence of God in it and felt humbled. At the same time I had been praying about wanting to share some of my story in

church but asked God to confirm it. Not minutes after Dave, my youthworker, told me that he felt that God wanted me to speak at a youth service we were going to be leading at our church. Once again I saw my prayers answered!

Whilst leaving the room, we heard a song playing- God of this city by Chris Tomlin. The lyrics, ‘Greater things are yet to come, greater things are still to be done in this

city’, really spoke to me and seemed relevant.

We ended up involving the song in the Youth Service, as well as ‘The vision’.

I have felt really blessed and encouraged in my faith since the event. It has helped me realise that God is listening to my prayer, no matter how desperate or doubtful I may be feeling, and answers it.

Luke, 15

SwindonRegistered Charity no. 274402

Swindon Youth for Christ, P. O. BOX 2352, SWINDON SN2 1WE (01793) 829795 office@syfc.org.uk www.syfc.org.uk

youthforchristnews

Spring 2010

‘I couldn’t read it with a dry eye...once again my prayers were answered!’

May I take this opportunity to wish you all a very joyful celebration to mark this very special year, indeed a great milestone! John Sentamu

Archbishop of York, President of British YFC

Taking Good News to young people in Swindon for 60 years

1950 - 2010

If you know anything about football you will be aware that the World Cup is being held in South Africa this June and July.

To link in with the World Cup and our 60th Anniversary we have the NOMAD sports mission team coming to work with us for three weeks in June. Nomad are a team of FA Qualified Football Coaches. The team travel to different locations in Britain with a Panna-Football Cage and coach young people in various different types of football - Panna-football, street soccer, etc.

They will be coming to work with us and local churches in and out of schools taking assemblies, PE & RE lessons but also being out in the playground at break and lunchtimes. After school we are hoping to have the team out doing detached work with various communities and youth centres. They will also be doing some special Friday evening events where young people can come and meet the team and also hear the Gospel.

We are really excited about the opportunities this intensive three weeks present to reach out to young people. With bringing in the team, transport, advertising etc. this mission will cost over £3000. We are looking for churches, businesses and individuals who would be able to generously give towards this great opportunity to share the good news with many young people. If you are able to help then either get in touch with the office or complete the form attached.

We also need accommodation for the team, a crew of people to help set the cage up, volunteers to help - particularly in the evenings and people to pray for the team during their time in Swindon. If you are able to help then please get in touch.

Schools UpdateLunch clubs We are still continuing to see a rise in the number of young people attending lunch clubs across all the schools. This term we have been looking at topics through everyday objects or activities. We have looked at things such as buses, sockets, hearts, and white boards which have explored journeys, love, and fresh starts! It is really exciting to see young people not only coming to lunch clubs to play games, and have fun but also to really seek and ask questions. We are finding that young people are trusting us more each week and opening up to us about what is going on in their world. The lunchclub at Churchfields is growing particularly big - with a lot of year 10 boys!

Early February saw the launch of a new lunchclub at Kingsdown School by Chris Priddy Youth Pastor USBC. Helen (YFCOne) is supporting the lunchclub with Christ, she writes ‘Today was our very first lunch club at Kingsdown school the club is called ‘The Chat Room. We had 8 young people turn up which is fantastic for a first week! We also got to hear the young peoples answers to the questions: Who is God? And If God was here now, what would you ask him?’

We now have over 80 young people come to the lunchclubs each week.

Assemblies

Since the last newsletter we have had assemblies at Commonweal, Nova Hreod, Swindon Academy and Crowdy’s Hill. All have gone really well and there has often been a real sense of God moving as we speak.

Lessons

Sadly with the priorities on students achieving high grades in Maths, English and Science the amount of time available to teach RE is reducing enormously. However we have had an opportunity to go into Nova Hreod to take a 2 hour lesson to year 8 on Christianity which was great and also year 9 at The Academy on Sanctity of Life. We also had our first 6th form lesson for many years with The Academy looking at ‘Sexual Ethics’. Chris Priddy who joined us in the lesson writes ‘Because it was a smaller group it was great to be able to discuss and explore the topic at a greater depth. It was a really great time. ‘

LUSHWe have been really excited at the opportunity to deliver our Sex and Relationship programme – LUSH – in Greendown over the past few months. The sessions explore how to build healthy long term relationships with one another and enable the young people to discuss relevant experiences and issues they may be having themselves. The lessons with year 9 pupils have been a great way to interact and answer some of their questions about their own relationships as well as present perhaps a different view point to what society

says about sex, marriage and love.

We are delivering the LUSH programme up until June in Greendown, so do keep praying for this amazing tool we can take to schools. Simon has also recently written some new lessons on ‘Real relationships for Real men’ which he has piloted in The Academy and we are hoping to be able to develop these further soon.

New opportunities

We are really excited about the amount of new opportunities we are getting in some of the schools. We have recently begun detached work in Nova Hreod, wandering around the canteen and atrium at lunch times, talking to the young people about anything and everything. Already we have had some really deep conversations with young people, which has enabled us to share testimonies and offer support and a listening ear to them. The school is really keen for us to start an after school club with the lower school after Easter. This will be a fantastic opportunity to deepen relationships with those who already attend our lunch clubs as well as meeting new young people.

New building, new opportunities!Just before the Christmas holidays Swindon Academy moved from the old Headlands School to a brand new building - right in the heart of the community. Featuring state of the art recording and dance studios, new sports facilities, a sixth form suite, an auditorium with full sound & lighting system plus interactive technology in all the classrooms.

Shaped in the outline of a paper clip the school has junior and infant pupils at one end of the school through to secondary students finishing with the sixth form at the other end. It is truly a spectacular building.

The team were in the school on the first day to meet the students as they arrived and got to see the amazed look on their faces. Since the opening it has had a really positive effect on the students who so often suffer from the stigma of coming from areas of deprivation and a school in challenging circumstances. It is good to celebrate that it is a Christian Trust (ULT) who have been key in making it happen.

While it has taken a while for us not to get lost, the new building has been great to work in. It has given a fresh emphasis to the work we do particularly the ‘detached work’ in the school at lunchtime and breaktime. The main entrance is right by the canteen area and often the team don’t move more than 2 metres from the front door as a continual stream of students come to talk!

One interesting addition is the inclusion of a ‘faith room’. Set right in the heart of the school the faith room is a space for students to explore issues of life and faith. The school has asked us to work with students and the RE department to develop work in the room. Some weeks will be looking at issues about poverty or life or love but other weeks will have more of a ‘faith focus’ . So leading up to Easter there has been a range of interactive stations giving students the opportunity to engage with and think about the Easter story - a great opportunity!

Please pray!

An article from 1954

New Treasurer needed....Can you help? The role involves a range of possible responsibilities - from basic book-keeping through to the management of the bank account, paying salaries and setting of the budget. Experience would be preferable however training will be given. We might be able to split the role to make it more manageable and share it between two people.

This is a fantastic opportunity for someone who might not otherwise feel they can be actively involved in youth work to play a crucial part in the task of taking the good news of Jesus to every young person in Swindon. If you, or someone you know, would like to take up this opportunity, please contact the SYFC office.

TEAM NEWS...In our last news letter we introduced one of the new Gap year team, Helen.... Now to introduce the other two Matt Lawes and Amy Cox.

Tell us a bit about yourselves...Matt: Hi I’m Matt. I’m 19 and come from Lymington in Hampshire. I love music and play the drums!

Amy: Hello, I’m Amy. I’m 17, I have lived in Swindon all my life, I go to Florence Street Mission Hall, and before starting with SYFC I had only been on 4 buses in my life!

How did you come to work with SYFC this year?Matt: I got involved in doing loads of things in my school like setting up a CU which I really enjoyed and gained a lot of valuable experience from. I chose to do the gap year programme with National YFC because of all the ‘hands on experience’ I knew I would get in youth work. I didn’t want to spend a year just learning about youth work and learning about my faith, but learning how to live it out in the real world where ‘the rubber hits the road’, and I knew YFC would give me exactly that opportunity.

Amy: SYFC used to come into my old school – Nova Hreod – and I went along to the lunch club every week and to the after school Rock Solid club. As soon as I left school I went back to help SYFC and have been going back every week since! I am currently doing a course called ‘Engage’ and plan on starting a degree in Youthwork in September.

What have been the highlights so far?Matt: I have enjoyed the challenge of relating to and building up meaningful relationships with many young people I wouldn’t normally cross paths with. I have found myself outside my comfort zone many times in schools and events and that’s why I have learnt and grown so much. Every Monday I support music lessons and XL lessons and this continues to be the highlight of every week.

Amy: Being able to interact with the young people has just been amazing. When I first started with SYFC the young people would talk to the youth workers that they knew and had seen before and it was quite hard to start or hold a conversation with the them. Now they know me they will come and chat to me and it’s just been great getting to know them and just being able to build these important relationships with them.

What are you looking forward to?Matt: I am looking forward to building on all the experience I have gained and continuing to be a positive role model in schools and making a difference. One up and coming event I am looking forward to in particular is the Noise social action project, it will be a great opportunity to show the community that we care and want to make a difference.

Amy: I’m really excited about working with the young people and am particularly excited to be involved in detached work. I hope to learn a lot from this year and to grow spiritually and in confidence.

Please pray for Amy & Matt for God’s provision & protection over the year.

THE GREAT ESCAPE!8am Saturday 27th Feb... Your mission should you choose to accept it....to get as far away from Swindon as possible in just 12 hours!

Fitting in with the theme of Philippians 3 of running the race Matt Lawes (Gap year volunteer) and Simba Mugomezi (Impact team) took on the challenge to try and get as far away from the venue for that evenings IMPACT as possible, armed with only £20.

Matt was prepared for sunnier climes and was wearing shorts underneath his trousers as they hitched a ride to Bristol Airport. At 11am after a frustrating hour of getting no joy on any flights within their budget they headed to the south. After a short detour to Bath (they were getting closer to Swindon rather than further away!) they managed to hitch another ride to Southampton airport. Arriving only minutes after the last flight of the day they were told had they come there first then they would have been able to get a flight!

Meanwhile back in Swindon the team were getting ready for that evenings IMPACT. As the event began and people began to worship, Matt and Simba’s final destination was still unknown. As the hoped for video link failed and we managed a garbled mobile phone call.... we finally held our breath as just before 8.30pm their destination was revealed..... Ventnor on the Isle of Wight!

Matt writes ‘While we didn’t make it anywhere as far as we had set out to, the verses of Philippians 3 rang very true on our adventure. Lots didn’t go to plan - we experienced many frustrations - but we kept ‘pressing’ on towards our goal! We had a great time though and it really help emphasise the message to the young people at IMPACT.’

The rest of IMPACT went really well. The special guest speaker, the Bishop of Swindon, Lee Rayfield was really good as he spoke about the challenges and thrills of following Jesus and the worship was really powerful.

Dates for the next IMPACT worship events are: 24th April and 19th June. Doors open at 7.00pm for 7.30pm start. Age group School yr 7+ Finish by 9.15pm or 10pm for those 15+.

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BUS PROJECTThe bus project in Pinehurst continues going from strength to strength. We have regularly had over 50 young people each week - which can get a little bit crowded! Often before the bus arrives there can be up to 20 young people standing around waiting for it to come.

This term we’ve done all kinds of things from music quizzes to helping young people learn how to cook alongside discussions about issues that are affecting them. It has also been the main place agencies from around the area to come to consult young people and we have been able to help those not in education or employment (NEET) to get access to services which can help - which has been really good.

The project continues to be held in high regard by the Police and local community. Please continue to pray for the project as we have had a number of problems with alcohol and drugs and often have people attempting to deal drugs nearby to the project. The project continues

every Wednesday evening until May. If you would like to come and see the bus in action then please get in touch.

THE PLEASURE & THE PAINMany of the young people we work with come from really challenging backgrounds. Often they never get away from home and get really tangled up in many of the negative things of where they live. In the middle of November in partnership with the youth service we took 15 young people from Penhill and Pinehurst away to an outdoor pursuits centre in North Devon. It was one of the most challenging and difficult weekends we have known. Sadly really early on we had to send over half of the group home due to breaking the centres rules and then call the Police for another young man who lost control.

Luella writes ‘It was so heartbreaking. For many of these young people it was their first time away from home and they had been really looking forward to it. Sadly their behaviour just meant they couldn’t stay. They would have had such a good time and may be able to confront some of the issues they face.’

So frustrating seeing some incredible young people drawn down because of their background. But at the same time it was great seeing others overcoming this and achieving things they never thought they would.’ Fortunately those young people who were

left had a really great time - even going surfing in the middle of November!

Despite the challenges of that weekend we know that residential’s can have an incredible impact on young peoples lives. Research also shows that many people come to faith while at a bible week, or youth camp or church weekend. One of the things as an organisation we would like to do is increase the number of residential’s we take young people on particularly to give them opportunity to hear and experience the Good News.

We would therefore like to set up a bursary fund to help those who would struggle to find enough money to afford the cost of going on a residential or to an event like Soul Survivor. Would you be able to help? Did you come to faith through a youth weekend or camp? Perhaps you could consider giving another young person the same opportunity?

To give to the residential’s fund then either send a cheque payable to SYFC marked accordingly or contact the office for more details.

Introducing our new patron...Recently the Bishop of Swindon, Lee Rayfield, has kindly agreed to become our patron. Lee has been really supportive of our work and has already helped provide opportunities to network with other agencies and organisations. We thought we’d ask him three quick questions....

What do you think the challenges are for the church to reach out to young people?

I believe that the Church has a lot to offer young people in our town but we have to recognise that the gap between the Church and young people’s lives has never been so big. We need churches and organisations that will meet young people where they are, not expect them to come to us.

What do you think are the challenges for young people growing up in Swindon?

Becoming an adult has enough challenges of its own but we know that many of the young people in our town have many other pressures. Pressures to do well in school, pressure to fit in and the desire to be accepted and loved, and the pressure of risk-taking

activities like drugs and alcohol. Even the pressure of having something to eat and somewhere to live can be very real issues for young people in Swindon.

What excites you about the work of SYFC?

It great to see how SYFC are connecting the good news with young people in our schools. I know they are highly regarded and respected for their work. It is also great to see their desire to inspire and encourage Christian young people in their faith, reaching out to their friends and

communities. They are doing a great job in building and revealing the Kingdom of God.

We are really grateful for Bishop Lee’s involvement and support and privileged to welcome him as our patron.

Bishop Lee speaking at Impact

Response formYes I would like to help impact the young people of Swindon by giving a monthly gift of: £6 £12 £20 Other amount £________ Please send me a standing order form and details of how I can claim my free gift.

Yes I would like to make a ‘one-off’ payment to help the work of SYFC. I enclose a cheque for £________ (please make all cheques payable to ‘Swindon Youth for Christ’)

GIFT AID DECLARATION Please treat this gift and all gifts I make/have made to Swindon Youth for Christ since 6th April 2000 as Gift aid donations.

Signature__________________________________________ Date_______________ (Please note you must have paid sufficient UK Income Tax of Capital Gains Tax for us to reclaim the tax on your gifts. If your tax situation should change, you must contact us accordingly).

Name:_____________________________________________ Address __________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________ Postcode_______________________PLEASE SEND YOUR COMPLETED FORM TO: SYFC, FREEPOST SCE 15917, SWINDON SN2 1BR. THANKYOU.

Thank you....Sadly we say goodbye to two long serving members of the Exec.

We are very grateful to Heather Blandford who, after many years of dedicated service to the Exec has had to give up her responsibilities because of work commitments. Heather, who is a teacher at Nova Hreod has been involved in supporting the work for many years.

Simon Kemp got involved in SYFC first as a young person and then on a Gap year with us. After going off on various adventures Simon moved back to Swindon and joined the Exec. It was through his involvement with SYFC that he then began to ‘date’ one of the Gap year team, Laura Perry. The great news is that three years later Simon and Laura are due to get married in April and so Simon will be moving up to The Midlands and will sadly be leaving his involvement with SYFC.

Both Simon and Heather have been a real blessing to us as an organisation and our thanks and prayers go with them as they move on to new things.

If you would be interested in helping reach out to the young people of Swindon and would be interested in joining the Exec / Trustees then contact Simon (Director) or Nick (Chair of Exec).

The work of SYFC is only made possible by the amazing generosity of individuals and churches like yourselves. Could you consider investing in the future ministry of SYFC?

Perhaps you could consider sending a special one-off gift now, to help us develop the work over the coming months or possibly could you consider becoming a monthly financial partner with Swindon Youth for Christ, by giving £10, £20, £30 per month or even more?

All you need to do is complete the form below or on the insert (if you receive the email by post) and return it to the freepost address below and if you are a tax payer we can claim 20% of the sum donated back which further helps the work.

For anyone that becomes a ‘SYFC partner’ and commits to giving regularly at least £6 a month to the work or an existing partner that increases their current standing order we will send you a choice of book as a free gift. Complete the form at the bottom (or included) to receive your free copy!B

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