Interview with Redefiner, Kelly!

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What was the first LLYFC event you came to?

I came to Reverb after school coming up to 3 years ago.

How did you hear about it?

All of my friends from school had been going to Reverb. So I thought I’d go and see what it was like.

How did it affect you?

Well, I already knew some of the Christians that went to Reverb and talking to them about even everyday things made me realise that I wanted to change things about myself. I started to change almost without noticing and after about a year I didn’t fit in with my old friends anymore. But I had friends that were more like me. I think (and hope others agree!) I have become a better person.

What do you like about the work of LLYFC?

I like that there are different types of events run by LLYFC. There’s Reverb café which is really relaxed and open. I never felt intimidated to be in a room full of Christians, even when I wasn’t a Christian myself. Redefine is amazing, it brings the youth of different churches in the area together. It makes the existing Christians feel like they’re not alone. I love everyone in Redefine, it really is my second family.

How has the ministry of LLYFC helped you in your relationship with God?

Having grown up not sure about God, going to YFC events really helped me inquire into faith in an open way. I’m very grateful for all of the volunteers for answering all of my questions. This among other things led me to Christ.

What would you say to anyone reading this?

I would say, never be afraid to inquire about faith. It’s a big deal and you can’t progress on your own. That’s for both Christians and non-Christians. Thanks!

 

 

Thank You From The Head of RE at Ysgol John Bright

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LLYFC has been working hard with YJB encouraging pupils to Engage with questions about God’s existence and relevance.

In the last 12 months Llandudno Youth for Christ has been working alongside Ysgol John Bright, delivering assemblies, holding lunch-time Christian Union meetings, hosting R.E away day conferences and working with year 9 pupils on a dramatisation of the story of Easter, amongst many other events. It has been a very busy and fruitful time, with many young people being given the opportunity to explore matters of faith and the existence of God.

All of our work in schools is an opportunity for the young people to hear the Gospel in an accessible way. It is also an opportunity to connect them to the other ministries and events we run.

We are so very grateful for our ongoing and building relationship with the schools in the area such as Ysgol John Bright and St David’s College. For us it is so great to see the young people opening up to the reality of God and even for some to enter into a real and living relationship with Him.

We are also so very grateful for everyone that faithfully prays for the work we are doing; people that are praying for lives to be changed forever. Please continue to pray for our work in schools that God will continue to bless the ministry and that we will continue to see young people’s lives impacted and changed by the Good News of Jesus Christ.

 

“I am head of Religious Education at Ysgol John Bright, Llandudno and have been very fortunate to work with Mr. Tim Gough of the Llandudno area YFC movement.” “I would personally like to thank Tim for his hard work, enthusiasm and meticulous planning and also for the quality of lesson provision that he gave our students throughout the school term, which included Biblical research tasks and weekly home works that were formatively marked and assessed to a high standard.””I hope to work again with Mr.Gough in the future and school assemblies have already been arranged!”

 

Mr. G Bellis (Head of Religious Education, Ysgol John Bright)

2014 Ministry Summary

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Wow! What a fantastic year we had in 2014!

We had some great R.E: days (see the next page) with teachers & pupils from Ysgol John Bright really engaging with questions about the existence of God and how that can affect our lives today.

We joined another youth group for our annual Soul Survivor camping trip, and very soon we will be going away again to worship Jesus with thousands of other young people from around the UK and beyond.

Our 3 Christian Union meetings: Recess & LightBites; have been running really well in the local schools and many young people have had opportunities to hear and discover more about God.

Reverb; our after-school drop-in club has seen lots of new faces and our Sunday night Bible Study group Redefine has amassed a dedicated group of young people enthusiastic about their faith.

People in the local community supported us faithfully in prayer, financially and with their time as they helped out at different events; which we are extremely grateful for.

Here’s looking now ahead to the rest of 2015 and all God has in store for us.

At The Carwash! Raising money for the £10 Challenge!

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Last October a group of our young people got together to hold a car wash on the grass verge outside Llandudno Baptist Church on the West Shore.

A lot of fun was had and funds were raised for the work of Llandudno Youth For Christ totaling £70.00.

It’s great to see the young people investing time and effort to support the ministry that supports and encourages them in their Christian walk.

If you’d like to help support the work of LLYFC, then please see the Fundraising ideas on P4 of the newsletter, or you can fill in the support form. Thank you.

Reverb Is Moving!

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After many meetings and much prayer, LLYFC has come to a decision that it is time to move to a new home.

We wanted our new abode to be a space that fully met the needs of the ministry; a place where young people can meet and do a wide variety of activities – Drama & Music workshops for example; within walking distance of Ysgol John Bright – with more modular/flexible space; with space for outdoor activities and where the young people can continue to develop and grow in their walk with God; and a place for them to bring friends along to.

We believe we have found just such a space at ‘Ty Llywelyn’ Community Centre in Llandudno.

The facilities include: A large games room, A quirky 50’s style diner, an outdoor games space (equipped with football and basketball nets), a large – modular events hall, an art room, conference rooms, an internet cafe, kitchen/s, storage rooms, and office space.

Other benefits of being based at ‘Ty Llywelyn’ are: Onsite caretaker, manager & included maintenance; our own office space (and keys for access)…..

10 Onsite Parking Spaces – and additional nearby parking, Christian staff (manager has been praying for young people to meet Jesus in this space!) Ideal conference venue, onsite notice boards to develop our local PR presence, two drop in youth groups currently operate there that we would be able to share resources with and make new connections with.

All in all, you’ll agree God has really provided a great place for us to relocate to, and we hope you’ll continue to support us as we transition to our new home.

Meet Our New Administrator, Todd!

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Name: Todd Warden-Owen.

Age: Let’s just say, he remembers VHS Tapes being the new thing in entertainment.

Fave Colour: Either Pink, Blue or Purple.

Fave Food: Chicken Tikka Madras (He likes his food hot and spicy).

Fave Film: Braveheart.

Fave Superhero: Spider-Man.

Hobbies: Collecting Special/First Edition Superhero Comics and telling really rubbish jokes.

Our new centre administrator is a self confessed superhero geek, who is available to answer any queries or requests you have about the work of Llandudno YFC (not superheroes) every Monday & Friday between 9am & 5pm. Contact him on 07517 429 763. Or email him at : llandudnoyfc@gmail.com

Tim’s Update – Summer Term 2014

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It’s been a cracking term for Llandudno YFC!

We’ve stacked up some good memories, welcomed new volunteers, made many messes and settled in well with our new trustee board.

We’ve just had our best term working in Ysgol John Bright. We’ve run 2 regular, well-attended lunchtime clubs and 3 RE days, taught 15 lessons, had teachers and classes using Reverb and shared assemblies with Roughshod Theatre Company.

In no small way linked to this we’ve been privileged to see young people making significant steps in their faith. Many have grown as Christ-followers and some have come into a new relationship with Him.

I’m struck by the responsibilities God has laid on this mission, however to sustain what we do and to go further we really need more people to partner with.

Please, please consider whether you could be part of this mission to see the good news of Jesus Christ taken relevantly to every young person in Llandudno and beyond!

Interview with Redefiner & Helper, Joe

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The Mighty Joe Young! (Joseph Richards actually)

Interview with Joe about his work as the new Bible Study leader at St David’s College

Growing the next generation of leaders

Tim: What is the most interesting thing about Joe?

Joe: Being involved in music. I’ve been a brass band player for 10 years now, and I’ve also been into musical theatre groups in the past, most of them at school. And now I want to get more involved with working with Youth For Christ.

Tim: Cool. One of the key groups you’ve been involved with for years is ‘Redefine’ Do you want to tell people a bit about that?

Joe: Redefine is a Bible Study for young people. It happens on Sunday evenings (at Reverb). I’ve been in it since you started it. It’s grown gradually and now it’s got to the point where we’ve had to separate into two groups. We can really see how God has worked and moved. It’s been amazing really, and I think it’s helped me along the way. It’s really been a big blessing to be here and keep with the group for so long.

Tim: Fantastic. You also have started helping at Lightbites?

Joe: Yeah. Lightbites is at St. David’s College. It’s an interesting group of about 10 – 14 people. Mostly I’m there as an assistant. They have food there and sometimes I’ll help dish that up, or help with Bible Studies. Two weeks ago I led a session there, where we talked about ‘taming the tongue’, which is all about the language that comes out of our mouths. It’s the first time I’ve done anything like that before. I think it was nice for them to see someone else, rather than yourself (Tim). You know.

Tim: It’s nice for me mate. So one final question. If you could say anything to all of the churches here, what would you tell them?

Joe: I’d like to see more young people involved in the church. I’ve had quite a privilege of, since I was young, being involved in the worship team and it’s been a real blessing. I wish more young people were doing it, and more adults were stepping up to the plate to train them. So, I would encourage the churches to get involved with working with the youth.

Tim: Thank you Joe.

2014 Ministry & Project Updates

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Updates!

What’s been going on at LLandudno YFC in 2014……

Recess…..

(School’s Out for Summer)

Great news coming from Recess this year! The group has grown so much, that it has now become two groups. The new Christian Union meeting has 10 new pupils in attendance, with 30 pupils going to the already well established C.U.

98% of those in attendance are completely unchurched! That’s brilliant!

YFC is unique amongst youth work organisations in that it does not merely seek to retain and disciple those already within the walls of the church, but is constantly looking to reach out to young people who have never before hear the good news of God’s salvation through His Son Jesus.

Redefine…..

Redefine is another success story at Llandudno YFC. We regularly have over 20 young people coming to this Sunday evening Bible Study.

In fact, since its inception, Redefine has grown from 5 to 30 young people attending. They come along for the fun, fellowship and of course to grow in their understanding of and relationship with God.

Tim and his excellent team of volunteers lead Bible studies with the groups, and currently they have been working through the book of Galatians. There is also a time to worship God together, and everyone is encouraged to bring along a guitar or any other instrument that they play to join in; fostering a great sense of involvement in the worship.

God really is blessing this work. So much so, that the group is large enough for them to split up into 3 Bible study sets, however this is currently unfeasible, due to a lack of volunteers. Please pray that God would provide more workers.

Reverb….

Blooming Marvelous

It seems, that just like the summer sun is making everything grow horticulturally; the ministries of YFC Llandudno are growing too. God really is blessing the work.

The Reverb meeting on Wednesday nights has started to grow, with plenty of new faces. The Student nights are also growing. On average, we are seeing over 30 people come to Reverb meetings.

To meet the need for new volunteers to help serve and support the work at Reverb, young Volunteers and going to start being trained this coming Autumn.

YFC National Resourcing:

The National Team have recently launched a new youth work resource section on their website: https://yfcresources.co.uk/

This is a fantastic tool for local churches. With it you can get some great resources that you can customise for your church’s specific needs as regards youth work.

Also, if you order any resource through Llandudno YFC, then you can get a discount on your subscription. Check the webpage out today!

Focus Day

On the 6th of June Tim and the new centre administrator, Todd visited YFC head office in Halesowen for a Focus Day (A time to meet with the national leadership team, and other workers from YFC Centres throughout the UK). This was a great opportunity to network with other YFC centres and also hear about the plans and vision of the national leadership team for the future: how they feel God is directing them in enabling every church to reach every young person in their community.

Interview with LLYFC Chairman, Paul Hadley

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Tim: Hello Paul, as Chair of Llandudno YFC, what do you do?

Paul: As the chair of the trustee committee, I feel that my main role is to hold people to time and try to move tasks forward; to help move the vision forward: taking the gospel relevantly to young people in North Wales, in particular, Llandudno.

Tim: Why did you get involved with Youth For Christ in particular.

Paul: Because I heard about what the vision was, and what the idea of YFC is and I thought, this is exactly what we should be doing, as churches, as Christians; supporting this work.

Tim: You have some previous experience working with young people?

Paul: Yeah, I’ve done a lot of youth work. In my professional role, I’m a trained, qualified teacher; though I no-longer do that. I do a lot of work in the special needs area of education. That’s the place where I have a real heart to work in.

Tim: When you’re not being a ‘shepherd’ and looking after me and the other trustees, what sort of things do you enjoy doing?

Paul: Mostly spending time with my family, playing with my kids. We have just recently come back form a trip to France, going climbing. It’s one of the things we enjoy doing as a family: going out and enjoying the mountains, enjoying God’s creation.

Tim: What are the key areas where people can get involved and help with the work at Llandudno YFC?

Paul: There are an awful lot of opportunities where people can help here at YFC. I think one of the biggest areas is prayer. We constantly need prayer, to ensure we are staying in line with God’s will. To ensure that the vision of YFC keeps moving forward. We need prayer for the right people to come forward. Prayer particularly for people who have face to face contact with the youth. Prayer for the young people that come here; for protection, for safety, that the Holy Spirit would open their hearts to know more about Jesus. We also need financial support.

Tim: Bottom line, what for you would be success; a few years into your role as a trustee? What would be a success story?

Paul: That 1 soul would be saved. Yes, I think for me, I think all this is worth it for 1. The more people we can reach, the more joy, the more success we will see; but we do lift this all up to God. We ask Him for His support. It’s His work, we’re just being servants of it, custodians of this great youth work.