We’re all in this together (United in Christ)

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“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” – Ephesians 2:13-22

Throughout this week at YFC National Conference 2017; we have been hearing God speaking so clearly to us as an organisation.

Lives have been touched and transformed.

People have had their vision renewed.

God has encouraged and challenged us.

And we have had many laughs and lots of joy filled times together.

We have heard great messages in our morning and evening sessions; we will be posting some of them up on our blog space; or linking you to the YFC UK media channel for you to benefit from the great teaching we have heard; as and when they become available.

The seminars have been insightful, heartfelt, relevant, challenging, pragmatic, practical, visionary, and exactly what we as a youth work organisation have needed as we head into 2017. Putting tools into our hands to see young people reached with the life transforming message of Jesus in a relevant way.

Our main speaker for the morning sessions has been Stephen Gaukroger; ‘the founder-director of Clarion Trust International, an organisation which exists to equip the worldwide church for leadership, mission & evangelism.’ He has been leading us through the book of Ephesians as we look at the over-arching theme of our unity in Christ.

Unity comes from being one in Jesus and nowhere else. This unity affects us culturally and socially; we are not divided into groupings, tribes, races, ethnicities, or in any other way that the world and culture would like to categories and pigeonholes us as; but we are all ‘One’ in Christ.

Out identity is firmly grounded in Him and Him alone.

The answer to all of the division and segregation that we see in the world around us can only be found in Jesus; and as the church of God, His beloved bride, we need to tear down the fictitious walls that the lies of the enemy have built up around us and between us. Lies that say that our denomination; our background; our worship styles, the versions/translations of the Bible we read; where we live; how we dress, etc. etc. define us and give us our identity.

We need to stop listening to these lies and living out of them; for they create and foster a sense of us and them.

There is no us and them in Jesus; but He has made us one. “For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility” – Ephesians 2:14

Let us live out 2017 united in Christ; all working together to see God’s kingdom come and see lives saved by Jesus.

There is so much more to say about the 2017 National Conference; look for another post from me on Monday.

Have a great week-end everyone and let’s see how we can encourage one another to stand united in Jesus in 2017.

Happy New Year!

YFC One!

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‘My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one – I in them and you in me – so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.’ – John 17:20-23

After travelling across the North Wales coast roads of the A55 & the A494, then onto the M56 & M60, we arrived at our destination; the Britannia Country House hotel in Didsbury, Manchester. Here the team from Llandudno YFC were joining with other centres from around the UK for the National YFC conference. This is a great time of the year for the whole of the YFC family. A time to gather together and celebrate all that God has done through the mission and ministry of YFC in the past year, and also a time to pray for the year ahead of us; asking God to give us vision for the next 12 months.

The theme of this year’s conference is ‘One YFC’.

Not to be confused with our gap year project YFC One.

We will be looking at how we as a ministry organisation that has centres all over the UK; centres that reach into different communities and engage with different cultures and people groups, ranging from our pre-teen ‘Big Ministries‘ to ‘Reflex‘ our work in prisons; can be united in purpose and vision. How we can be and how are we one?

To open up the conference national director Neil O’Boyle focussed on 3 points; 1: us being United in our devotion to Christ; 2: Belonging to a ministry family that is greater than just our local centre; and 3: Single minded in our goal of reaching young people relevantly with the message of Jesus.

Neil shared very honestly from his life-experience working as a missionary working for YFC in the middle-east and Asia.

He also shared some startling statistics about just how important it is for the church to engage more intentionally and relevantly with young people in our country.

So many young people are not interested in enquiring about God or crossing the threshold of a church building nowadays, and we as the people of God have a mandate and responsibility to pass on the message of Jesus to the young people in our local community and beyond. Leaving a legacy of faith.

Passing the baton on to the next generation; for them to run with and pass on in their turn.

The key points that God has kept on highlighting so far during the conference is Unity and Prayer.

Unity that comes from being united to and in Christ, not our denomination, not our culture, not our geographic area; but firmly united by being followers of Jesus and nothing more.

Churches working together to expand the kingdom of God by sharing the good news of Jesus.

Prayer has also been shown to be vital and key to seeing this unity and growth happen.

YFC UK will be launching its Pray365; where we will be having a concerted year of building and establishing a culture of pray across all of ministries in the UK. “[the] power of prayer can never be overrated. They who cannot serve God by preaching need not regret. If a man can but pray he can do anything. He who knows how to overcome with God in prayer has Heaven and earth at his disposal.“- Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Pray changes everything, peoples, nations, generations and most importantly it changes the person praying.

So far the conference has encouraged me for what God has in store for us both in Llandudno YFC and also with YFC nationwide.

We will keep you updated as the week goes on.

Happy New Year!

Llongyfarchaidau! – Congratulations!

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Tim Dewi St Davids DayA great cheer of “congratulations!”, or more appropriately for a charity based in Wales “llongyfarchaidau!” to our centre director Mr Tim Gough and one of our mainstay volunteers at Llandudno Youth for Christ, Mr Dewi Thomas.

Both Tim & Dewi recently attended evening award galas in London for their endeavours in Christian youth work. Tim Gough was nominated for the Premier Digital Award’s ‘Most Inspiring Leadership Blog’ for his Blog ‘Youth Work Hacks‘. Dewi was nominated for the award of ‘Volunteer Youth Worker of the Year’.award-winners-including-timBoth attended swanky evenings with food and music preceding the main event of the awards. Tim won the ‘Most Inspiring Leadership Blog’ award and Dewi won an honourable mention for the ‘Volunteer Youth Worker of the Year’ Award.

dewi-volunteer-of-the-year-award-certificateYou can view the information about the Premier Digital Awards here; and the Youthwork awards here (Dewi’s nomination is mentioned from around 45mins in on the video at the top of the webpage).

Congratulations to both of them!

Well done, and its great to see them receiving recognition for the hours they have given praying for and working with young people in Llandudno and beyond to relevantly share the good news of Jesus.

Dewi is currently attending Nexus ICA; “Europe’s leading faith-based music institute”. Where he is working hard to hone and expand his giftings in music and teaching the Bible.

It’s great to see God taking him further along in his journey of faith, and for Dewi to have the opportunities to grow in the amazing gifts given to him; gifts that blessed the work at LLYFC so much.

We pray that he will be as much a blessing at Nexus as he has been here in Llandudno.

It’s also great to see that the work that Tim puts into resourcing other youth workers is being recognised. He is so passionate about seeing the youth workers and church leaders empowered and resourced to take the gospel to the young people in their communities and see lives impacted and changed for eternity.

Not only does Tim regularly put interesting, stimulating and resource-rich blog posts up for people to read, but each month he hosts a youth work training evening that is a real boon to those who attend. The ‘Monthly Meet’ is held (normally) on the third Monday of the month during term time. For more information, please check out the Facebook page.

As well as congratulating them. I want to equally say congratulations to everyone who has faithfully supported this ministry in prayer, with finances and with their time. Tim & Dewi would not have had the opportunities to do what they have done without all of you; so ‘THANK YOU!’

PS: Please continue to pray for both Tim & Dewi, that God would continue to use them and that lives would be changed as a result.

PPS: If you are interested in, like Dewi, being a volunteer at LLYFC, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Touching heaven, changing earth.

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The above blog title is the song title and indeed the album title for Hillsongs 1998 church worship CD.

The lyrics to the song go: “We will seek Your face, Almighty God;
turn and pray for You to heal our land. Father, let revival start in us
Then every heart will know Your Kingdom come. Lifting up the name of the Lord, in power and in unity; we will see the nations turn; touching Heaven, changing earth.”

The whole focus of the song is to prayer.

Prayer and how it changes things.

How in pray we touch heaven and change earth.

If you want to hear the whole song, click here.

I chose this song for the blog post as next week at YFC, both locally & nationally, we are having a week of prayer; running from Monday 14th through to Friday 18th of November.  The prayer is going to be 24hr prayer, with people taking 1hr time slots throughout the period to pray.

This is a mini pre-cursor to 2017’s ‘Year of Prayer’ focus at YFC UK. Check out this video for more information.

Prayer is powerful; it changes not only the circumstances that are being prayed for, but also the person praying.

When Paul & Silas were thrown into prison, this is what happened when they prayed.

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose.” – Acts 16:25-26.

Let’s be bold in faith like Paul & Silas. Let’s pray earnestly to God and see the prison walls in people’s lives and in circumstances come crumbling down.

So, next week, please lift up the work we do at Llandudno Youth for Christ in prayer.

Thank you.

Volunteer Of The Year

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We’re immensely excited and proud to announce that our good friend and team member Dewi has been shortlisted for the 2016 Youthwork Awards, Volunteer Of The Year Award. He is very deserving and a great example to us.

We nominated Dewi earlier this year because of his ability to encourage young people, his enthusiasm and consistency, his teachable nature, and his passion for teaching music. Dewi has been involved in our work for five years, and has always been a good friend and role model.

We’re excited that he’s on this national shortlist, and will look forward to hearing about how the ceremony in London goes in November.

If that wasn’t enough, Tim has also been shortlisted for his blog youthworkhacks.com for a 2016 Premier Digital Award for Most Inspirational Leadership Blog.

So why get involved in Llandudno Youth For Christ? Because God does immense work through this ministry, helping young people meet with Jesus and go on with Him. Consider joining our family an being part of of impactful movement that is getting recognition from across the UK.

If you’d like to consider joining our team, why not fill in an application form and start a conversation with us. Or just get in touch and chat!

Pray for Dewi – give thanks for all his work – and pray for even more fruit from his continued ministry.

It’s called ‘Good News’ for a reason.

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Coronation_portrait_of_Queen_Victoria_-_Hayter_1838On the 20th June 1837 Queen Victoria ascended the throne of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until her death on the 22nd January 1901.

This period of times was known as the ‘Victorian Era’.  It was a time of great change, socially, economically, technologically, and spiritually.

During this period of history there were major events that impacted the world; such as the Irish Famine, the abolition of slavery in the UK, the Crimean War, the publication of Charles Darwin’s ‘On the Origins of the Species’, Sir Alexander Graham Bell patented the first telephone.

These are just a very small selection of the events that shook, awed, and transformed the world.

However, during this time of history, whose impact we still feel today, many men and women rose up to make a stand for God and His Kingdom.

Men and women who saw all that was happening around them, and answered God’s call to share the ‘Gospel’; the good news of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus.

One such man was William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army. William Booth, saw the desperate need of those around him to meet with Jesus. He was not satisfied to stay safe and preach to the converted in churches and chapels, but took Jesus’ life changing message to the highways and byways of Britain. Initially he worked in and around the east end of London, but by the beginning of the 20th century, the Salvation Army was becoming international in its scope and impact.

Booth was often criticised and lampooned for the work he was doing, but that never deterred him from sharing Jesus with those around him, whether in word or deed.

NeilOBoyleIn a recent interview with Premier Youthwork magazine, the director of YFC in the UK, Neil O’Boyle has written a great article about the decline of ‘evangelism’ in youthwork in the last 25 years, and gives a great rallying call for its necessity in today’s world. Please read the article here. Neil, like William Booth, sees the need for people to hear about and connect with Jesus. For in a world of upheaval and change, Jesus is the only true constant: Unwavering, unfailing and faithful. Jesus is the solid rock that we all need to be grounded upon. “Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from Him. Truly He is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I shall never be shaken.” Psalm 62:1-2

I love that the motto or tag-line of Llandudno Youth for Christ is ‘taking the Good News relevantly to every young person in Llandudno.’ Amongst so much doom & gloom that permeates the media and life in general, young people, indeed everyone, needs to hear some good news. And God’s transforming, forgiving, and redeeming love, as demonstrated in and through His Son Jesus Christ is not just ‘good news’, I believe it is the best news ever.

So let’s as the Apostle Peter encourages us to do: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behaviour in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.” 1 Peter 3:15-16

New National Director!

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(from the YFC website)

On Saturday October 3rd over 500 people gathered in the centre of Birmingham to attend Youth for Christ’s Commissioning event and get a glimpse of what God is doing among young people in Britain today.

Over two exhilarating hours, YFC teams including new touring band, The Sense, showcased the variety of talents they use to connect with young people. Guests heard stories of changed lives, new creative arts initiatives for young people involved in and affected by crime and great work being done by local Youth for Christ Centres nationwide.

New National Director, Neil O’Boyle was among almost 100 people commissioned and YFC’s President, the Most Rev and Rt Hon Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu brought an inspiring message about overcoming from John 17. The Archbishop reminded commissionees that they are the Father’s gift to Christ, have been given power for holy living and can go out together in unity, truth and love to share the good news of Jesus.

At his inaugural public event Neil shared how, as a broken teenage boy, he “walked into the back of a Youth for Christ building and gave my life to Jesus.” After setting up a YFC Centre in Greenwich, Neil went on to work in the Middle East and Asia Pacific and pioneered Youth for Christ ministries in sensitive nations. Now that God has called him back to the UK, Neil maintains that, “If we do the possible, then God will do the impossible.”

As for the future, Neil said “I want to see Youth for Christ go back to being a movement again” and stressed the importance of remaining committed to reaching young people with the gospel of Jesus because “that is what excites me about this ministry.”