Diolch! Gracias! Grazie! Dankie! Obrigado! Mercie!

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At Llandudno Youth for Christ, we want to say a massive and resounding ‘THANK YOU!’ to all of our amazing volunteers, supporters and young people.

You are all simply ‘Aces!’

Last Wednesday 7th of June we held our annual ‘Showcase’ with AGM of all of the events that we do, and it was so wonderfully supported and well attended. The Rev. Neil Kirkham allowed us to hold it in the beautifully renovated Gloddaeth Church in Llandudno (if you haven’t visited the church yet, I would encourage you to do so; they truly have done a wonderful job inside the building), which was the perfect venue for us. Thank you Neil!

During the evening, we had tea, coffee, fruit juices, crisps, cakes, fruit and sweets for all who came. Thank you James & Jessica for so wonderfully serving everyone with a hot drink and a warm smile; and all that despite any nerves you might have had for the talks you were going to do later in the evening. Thank you!

Also, thank you to everyone who helped with decorating and preparing the church for the meeting. Thank you Chloe, Andrew, Katie, Tim, Todd, James, Jessica, Darren, Simon & Noah. Also, thank you Simon for leading the worship at the showcase, and thank you to your amazing band; Chloe on Saxophone and Noah on drums, with your melodious backing vocalists Fu, Mei Mei & Jessica. Thank you!

Thank you to our centre director for supporting and inspiring us so well, and for informing everyone on the night in such a fun and interactive way of all of the different events we hold, from ‘Redefine‘, ‘Recess‘ & ‘Reverb‘ to ‘Afterhours‘, the ‘Convo Board‘, ‘Nerf Wars‘, ‘Spark‘ & the ‘Monthly Meet‘ to name some of our main events and projects that we hold. Thank you.

Thank you to the volunteers and young people that spoke so eloquently and passionately about the work of Llandudno Youth for Christ. Thank you James, Mega, Simon & Jessica.

Thank you to our treasurer Mr Chris Condrup for taking us swiftly through the finances for the past year and giving us a great picture of what we are aiming towards in the coming financial year.

Thank you to our chair of trustees Mr Paul Hadley for speaking such heartfelt words about the necessity of the work of Llandudno Youth for Christ in reaching young lives with the power of the gospel; and for praying so earnestly for God to move through everything that we do. Thank you.

Thank you to everyone that attended the Showcase to support the work of Llanduno Youth for Christ.

Thank you to all of those who faithfully serve and help out at our Reverb Saturday Cafe held in St John’s Church on Mostyn Street. We are so grateful for your amazing dedication to this outreach in the community that not only helps to raise much needed financial funds for the work of LLYFC, but also creates a safe place for people from within Llandudno and its environs as well as those visiting the area, to meet up and have a great time chatting together over a cup of coffee and a cake or toasted sandwich. Thank you.

Thank you to those who tirelessly and faithfully pray for us and all that we are doing. (Our next prayer meeting is on Sunday 25th June at 7pm in Ty Llywelyn Community Centre)

Thank you for those who champion the work of Llandudno Youth for Christ; promoting it within their local church to inspire more people to partner with us in taking the good news of Jesus to so many more young people to see a generation changed by the love of God.

Thank you, thank you thank you!

I’m sure I have missed some people out, sorry for that, but if you have ever in any way, shape or form helped and supported the work of LLYFC; then we want to say yet again…

THANK YOU!

“May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now. And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” – Philippians 1:2-6

Have a great week and Be Blessed!

Afflictions eclipsed by glory.

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For a lot of the young people that attend the many different events we hold at Llandudno Youth for Christ, the next two weeks are going to be one full of exams and revision and potentail stress.

That is on-top of the confusion, anger, fear and disbelief that they might be feeling following the recent attacks in Manchester and London.

We need to be praying for our young people in this time.

Praying that they find God in amongst all that is going on around them.

Praying for His grace, peace and love to reach out to confused and hurting hearts and minds.

Praying for them to find His strength in their weakness.

Praying.

Whilst I was thinking about all of this, I remembered John Mark McMillan’s song ‘How He loves’. This is the full version of the song; not the cut down, cleaned up and sanitised version we might sing together in churches on Sundays.

John Mark McMillan wrote the song as a response to hearing the news that a friend of his had died tragically in a car accident. It was his way of dialoguing with God about this event that filled him with so much anger, confusion and frustration. You can watch a great video here where he explains more about the background to the song.

As John Mark McMillan says “This song isn’t a celebration of weakness and anger. It’s a celebration of a God who would want to hang with us through those things, who would want to be a part of our lives through those things, and, despite who we are, He would want to be a part of us, our community, and our family.”

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to feel sympathy for our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” – Hebrews 4:15-16

In Jesus, God entered our world in a very real and physical way. He took on our humanity and became just like one of us. He was and still is our Emmanuel – God with us.

As not only the young people wrestle with their exams and with questions and doubts that will naturally arise in the wake of the past couple of weeks, but also as we all wrestle with questions of justice and mercy, faith and doubt, and other emotions that will be rising up within us; let us never forget that the God we love and serve, loves us so much more than we can ever imagine; and is with us every step of the way.

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.’” – Deuteronomy 31:6

I chose afflictions eclipsed by glory as the title of this post; as we see so much affliction around us today, yet, with eyes of faith as we look to God we see so much of His glory; that it eclipses all of the trouble and strife. His love is the answer to our very great needs within us and in the world around us.

Read the full lyrics to John Mark McMillan’s ‘How He loves’ here, and listen to the full song here.

Also, This coming Wednesday 7th June at 7pm we will be holding our annual Showcase. Come and find out what Llandudno Youth For Christ has been up to this year, and what the plans are for next year too. They’ll be times of worship – led by young people – interviews and testimonies, and a Q&A panel of team and young people. There will also be much needed time to pray together as a community of Jesus’ followers.

It would be great to have your support if you’re able to make it!

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Have a great week, and remember that He love us!

Volunteers’ Week

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June 1st to Junes 7th 2017 is Volunteers’ Week – an annual UK festival of volunteering. The main aims of the Week are to recognise, reward and recruit volunteers. It’s a great opportunity to say thank you to all of the wonderful volunteers we have a Llandudno Youth for Christ.

From those who faithfully help out at our Reverb Saturday Cafe @ St John’s on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of the month; to those who commit to praying for the work of Llandudno Youth for Christ. We are so very grateful for everyone who volunteers at one of the many projects and events we run.

We would not be able to do this without you.

When thinking about ‘Volunteers’ Week‘ I thought of the account in the Bible where Joshua is fighting against the Amalekite army; and Moses stood on a hill overlooking the battle field, holding up the staff of God. Whenever Moses held up the staff, the Israelite army was winning, and whenever his arms dropped; the Amalekites would be winning; so two of Moses’ friends; his brother Aaron and another friend called Hur held up Moses arms until the Israelites had won the decisive victory. You can read the account in Exodus 17:8-16.

Just like Aaron & Hur, all of our volunteers help us lift up our arms to God to see a generation of young people changed and saved by the good news of Jesus Christ.

We are so grateful and want to say a big ‘THANK YOU!‘

Thank you for giving of your time, you creativity, your finances. Thank you for praying. Thank you for volunteering with Llandudno Youth for Christ.

If after reading this post, you think that you would like to volunteer with Llandudno Youth for Christ; then please do not hesitate to contact us.

Also, if you want to learn more about all that we do at Llandudno Youth for Christ; then please come along to our Showcase – Wednesday 7th June at 7pm in Gloddaeth Church, Llandudno, LL30 2SY.

Be blessed.

A Great Meeting! – Not to be missed!

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It has finally arrived!

Our annual meeting where we come together to talk about everything that has been going on in the life of Llandudno Youth for Christ.

We will be showcasing all of the different events that we hold. Hearing testimonies and stories from volunteers and young people who attend the various projects that we run.

There will be time to pray together as a community of Christians who want to see young people in North Wales impacted and changed by the good news of Jesus.

We will have worship led by some of the young people that come to our events.

There will be videos, talks and some reports (financial etc).

Also, not there will be cake, biscuits & coffee & tea!

It’ll be an AGM unlike any that you have ever been to before!

It won’t be Abysmal.Gloomy.Mediocre. Our A.G.M will be Amazing.Great.Mind-Blowing!

Please do come along and spread the word.

LLYFC Showcase (with AGM), Gloddaeth Church, Llandudno, 7pm start.

We hope you can make it!

A great time that you can bank on!

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This coming Saturday 27th May; Llandudno Youth for Christ will be holding the second of our ‘Reverb Cafe @ St John’s‘ of the month of May.

We hold our cafe’s normally on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month, sometimes the fifth Saturday, if there is one.

The Reverb Cafe @ St John’s is open from 10:30am to 2:30pm on the respective Saturdays.

Having a meal at the cafe is a great way to support the work of Llandudno Youth for Christ, as money raised by the cafe goes towards the financing of the various events and projects we run for the young people in Llandudno and beyond.

So, you can enjoy a tasty cake and a warming cup of tea or coffee, whilst meeting up with friends or taking a break from shopping and in doing so you are helping support the work of Llandudno Youth for Christ.

This Saturday’s cafe is going to be running during a bank holiday week-end, so it’ll be all hands on deck.

We are so thankful that we have such a great, dedicated team of volunteers that serve in our ‘Reverb Cafe @ St John’s‘. They truly are amazing and we wouldn’t be able to run the cafe without them.

If you do pop into the cafe this Saturday you can have a freshly prepared sandwich, toastie, cake, hot & cold drink, all served with a smile. It’s a little haven of rest and repose on the Llandudno high street, where you can have a good chat with friends. A place to sit-down and collect yourself amidst a busy bank holiday week-end, full of people going here and there. It will be well worth dropping by, and on this ‘Bank holiday week-end’; you can definitely ‘bank‘ on a good time there.

Also, to note, if you, yourself, would like to help out & volunteer your time at the Reverb Cafe @ St John’s; then please do drop us a line.

We are always grateful to have more amazing volunteers to help us with the work of Llandudno Youth for Christ.

Back to this coming bank holiday week-end. Whatever you do, we pray that it will be a blessed time.

Be blessed!

 

 

A design for life…

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The title, as with a lot of my titles, is a sort of pun. It’s actually a Manic Street Preachers (a Welsh Indie Rock band) song title. I chose this, as last Monday night we held our penultimate Monthly Meet training evening before the Summer holidays, and during the evening, we looked at the whole issue of design; specifically graphic design.

It was a brilliant session; with loads of interesting and informative theory about design; advertising & the styles that have historically been used to reach each generational group.

we also had plenty of practical opportunities to create our own designs following a design brief. This was good fun and also eye opening to see how our design ethos changed following the training. It was great to see the before and after designs we made.

Unfortunately it was not as well attended as normal; perhaps due to people thinking that learning about good design work within Christian spheres is not high on the priorities list? However, I believe that as Christians we should be the most creative and design conscious people on the planet; after all we are made in the image of the great Creator and are in daily relationship with Him.

“Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.” – Galatians‬ ‭6:4-5‬

God wants us to be creative people who demonstrate aspects of His creativity to those around us. God can give us new, creative ways to look at things, to solve problems, to share His love with others.

Our next Monthly Meet training night will be on Monday 19th June at Ty Llywelyn Community Centre. This will also be out last before the Summer break; so it’s definitely one not to be missed.

We hope you can do your creative best to be able to make it for what is sure to be an amazing night.

Be blessed

 

Above all else get wisdom!

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Above all and before all, do this: Get Wisdom!
    Write this at the top of your list: Get Understanding! – Proverbs 4:7

Last night at ‘Redefine‘, our Sunday evening Bible study, we looked at the whole idea of ‘self-education’. It was a great evening, with a fun game that tied in with the whole education theme.

Mr James Edwards, one of our great volunteer leaders at Llandudno Youth for Christ, spoke passionately about  self-education. He encouraged the young people to get into reading books. To seek out wisdom and knowledge. To listen to good speakers and watch informative documentaries. To broaden their horizons. To ask questions and develop their critical thinking skills.

It was really encouraging and challenging all at the same time.

With many of our young people facing exams, it was a great evening to encourage them to do their best in the exams, but also for them to be reassured that their exams results do not dictate who they are or what their future will be.

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” – Anon.

God has given different gifts and abilities to all of us, but not everyone is ‘academically’ gifted in a way that conforms to our current education system, where the exams call for the regurgitation of facts and figures, and so they can feel like failures and as the above quote states, they can feel like failures, but “Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.” – Albert Einstein.

God encourages us to grow in wisdom and knowledge. Indeed, we should always be learning and growing. The best way to do that is to go to the source of all wisdom, God himself. The best way to engage with God and learn from Him is through prayer and reading your Bible, and there are so many resources out there to help you with that too nowadays.

Another way we were encouraged last night to grow in our wisdom and knowledge was through mentoring (named after a classic greek character from Homer’s Odyssey). This is where you get people who are not your peers, but are further on in the journey of life than you are, to speak wisdom into your life and situation; or to pass on their knowledge and expertise to you. They help you to grow from where you are, to where they are by giving you insights and opportunities to grow and develop. A Russian educational psychologist Lev Vygotsky called this the ZPD (Zone of Proximal Development – read up about it here).

This was a challenge to me, to get into reading more books and also to start listening to sermons that will help me grow in my walk with God.

At Llandudno Youth for Christ we also hold another great way for people to grow and develop.

Each month we hold a free training event called our ‘Monthly Meet‘ and we cover a vast array of topics and training nights delivered by people with expertise in their respective fields.

Last month we had some excellent training in conflict resolution from the Rev Tim Hall. Our next ‘Monthly Meet‘ is tonight; Monday 15th May, 7pm at Ty Llywelyn Community Centre, and we will be looking at the whole aspect of graphic design.

Come along if it’s a topic you’d like to grow and develop in.

However, whatever you do to grow and develop in wisdom and knowledge; above all else spend time with God, “For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” – Proverbs 2:6

Also, please continue to pray for all the young people that are taking exams in the coming weeks. Pray for God’s wisdom on their lives and for God’s peace to guide them.

Be blessed!

The Slam

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A week today, on Thursday 18th May at our ‘Reverb Youth Space‘ after-school drop-in club, we will be having a combo-event; with ‘Karaoke‘ and a ‘Poetry-Slam‘.

Now, I’m sure most people know what ‘Karaoke‘ is. It is a form of entertainment/hobby that comes from Japan. The name Karaoke カラオケ, is a clipped compound of the Japanese kara 空 “empty” and ōkesutora オーケストラ “orchestra”, and is now popular around the world. They even as of 2003 have a ‘Karaoke World Championship‘

Now, what exactly is a ‘poetry slam‘? Is it where people get together to critique poets and poetry? Do they ‘slam’ poetry?!

No.

A ‘poetry slam‘ is a competition at which performance artists read or recite original works of poetry. The first poetry slam took place in Chicago in 1984. American poet Marc Smith designed the first competition to help popularise poetry recitals, and move them from the dusty halls of academia to a more popular setting; such as cafe’s and bars. So it, like Karaoke, is a way in which people can have fun and express themselves in music and rhyme. Being creative and enjoying some time with friends.

When I came up with the title of this post, I couldn’t help but think of Toby Mac’s song ‘The Slam‘; where he calls Jesus Christ ‘The Slam’. This is not a negative connotation, despite the fact that to slam can mean to hit hard. However, in this context, the Slam is from urban slang meaning ‘something awesome’ and ‘something that should catch our attention’. So he is saying that Jesus is awesome and He should catch our attention. You can read the lyrics here. I love the way that Toby Mac is so creative with his lyrics, and that within everything that he does as a songwriter and a performer, he is always pointing back to God.

Jesus is his focus.

Just like the apostle Paul – “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.” – Colossians 1:15-18

Back to next Thursday. Come along on Thursday 18th of May @ 3:15pm & have some fun. Sing a song or two. We have over 80 songs to choose from on our Karaoke playlist. Write a poem and share it; or share a poem that has impacted you.

It should be a lot of fun.

 

“Pie in ear?!”…no I said ‘Pioneer!’

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What is a ‘Pioneer?’ What does ‘Pioneer’ mean?

According to the dictionary, a pioneer is…1. a person who is among those who first enter or settle a region, thus opening it for occupation and development by others. 2. one who is first or among the earliest in any field of inquiry, enterprise, or progress: e.g. pioneers in cancer research. 3. one of a group of foot soldiers detailed to make roads, dig entrenchments, etc., in advance of the main body. 4. an organism that successfully establishes itself in a barren area, thus starting an ecological cycle of life.
Sorry about the pun in the title. It’s what I always think of when I hear the word ‘Pioneer.’
I’m writing about the word pioneer because last night at ‘Redefine‘, our Sunday evening youth Bible study, our centre director spoke about ‘Fresh Expressions of Church‘; and how they are pioneering new work and new ways to reach out into communities with the good news of Jesus.
There are some interesting articles here and here. for those who want to read more about ‘FXC’ (Fresh Expressions of Church) as it is commonly abbreviated to. In-fact there is an organisation called Fresh Expressions that is set-up to ‘champion and support the fresh expressions movement, working with Christians from a variety of denominations and traditions.’ You can check them out here.
Tim walked everyone present through some of the research that has been done regarding ‘FXC‘ and it was most interesting. He then got everyone broken into groups and asked them to brainstorm areas where they could ‘pioneer’ a fresh expression of the life of the church as an exercise in creativity, to help us understand how these pioneering movements of God’s body work. It was a very interesting and eye-opening evening.
It makes me think of all of the ‘Pioneers’ in the Bible. People who dared to believe God when He called them to do something new. Something that no-one had done before. People like Noah – building a boat on dry land despite the ridicule of his neighbours. Abraham – leaving his family to travel to a land that God had called him to. In fact the whole of Hebrews 11 is full of pioneers who listened to God and by faith obeyed.
It was really exciting to see the young people responding to this message about where God is at work pioneering new ways of bringing the life of the church into the community in the UK. To see them come up with creative ideas that are outside of the box that we have for so-long labelled as ‘church’.
What ways can you reach out into your community with the love of God?
Maybe you can come along to our ‘Reverb Saturday Cafe @ St John’s‘ and minister to those that come in by serving them a tea or coffee and nice slice of cake? Maybe you can join us at our monthly prayer meetings as we pray for the young people in our area? It might be something completely different, but I’m sure that if you seek God and ask Him how you can share His love and light in new ways with your friends and neighbours, He will give you new and creative ways to share His amazing love.
Be blessed!

May the 4th be with you!

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This thursday 4th of May at our Reverb Youth Space drop-in we are having a ‘Star Wars’ themed event due to the fact that it is ‘International Star Wars Day’ on May 4th. This is a play on words to the phrased used in this sci-fi franchise; ‘May the force be with you’.

We will have a costume competition, where those that come in a star wars themed costume will each get a free drink at the event; and the 3 best costumes will get a prize. We will plaster the walls with Star Wars posters, be playing Star Wars films on the various screens around the place; and for those who are wanting a little more peace & quite to revise and prepare for their exams; we will be providing a quiet revision room for studying in! It’s going to be a lot of fun….and quiet for those who need it.

Going back to the quote ‘May the 4th’ linking in to ‘May the force be with you’ from the films. The force is a power in the Star Wars universe that binds all living things together and suffuses all living things. It is also what gives both Jedi knights (good guys) and Sith lords (bad guys) their powers and supernatural abilities.

As Christians, unlike the characters in the Star Wars universe, we do not believe in or rely upon an impersonal force; but we have a relationship with a personal God; the Creator of everything. “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” – Colossians 1:15-20. Who revealed himself to us in many ways, “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” – Hebrews 1:1-3.

I am glad that I do not rely upon the Force, but upon Jesus. God made flesh. God revealed. Emmanuel – God with us.

Real, tangible, personal.

Jesus is my light, my life, my way, my path, my source, my sustainer, my friend, my saviour, my Lord & my God.

So on this Star Wars day, let me say to you, not ‘May the Force be with you”, but rather ‘May God be with you’.

Be blessed!