Zoom around the room!

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Well we’re over a week into our self-isolation and I must say we have had really good weather here in North Wales. It’s stayed dry and sunny on most of the days. Which we are grateful to God for.

We are also very grateful for all of the wonderful technology that we have today. Technology that help us to stay connected with the young people that come to Llandudno Youth for Christ’s projects.

The title of the blog post is a nod to the software app that we use to keep connected. It’s called Zoom and it is a video conferencing software. It means that although we are self isolating at the moment, we can still hold ‘Redefine‘, our Sunday evening Bible Study, albeit joining each other via video conferencing from the comforts of our own homes.

This has really been a Godsend.

Last Sunday night we continued to study the book of Mark with the young people. It was really good, and because we were all connecting online, it meant that some former volunteers and young people that are now living in different parts of the world were able to connect with us.

This was simply great. It’s good to know that in this time of self isolation and social distancing that we are still able to share the gospel relevantly with the young people in Llandudno and well beyond.

We are also connecting with young people via Social Media such as Facebook and Instagram. Putting up content and live video feeds that help to encourage them at this time of potential anxiety and uncertainty.

It puts me in mind of the apostle Paul whilst he was under house arrest. He didn’t let it get in the way of him encouraging the churches he’d planted. He wrote to them some brilliant letters full of encouragement and instruction for walking out their faith in the world.

So at this time, let us continue to pray for the work of Llandudno Youth for Christ. Let’s pray that God would continue to guide and support us and that we’d be able via modern technology, to connect with young people in Llandudno and beyond and continue to share the good news of Jesus.

Be blessed!

 

Grace amidst lamentations

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We are living in unprecedented times, with the outbreak of the Corona virus affecting all nations around the world. In the UK we have seen all large & small social gatherings being cancelled, and now places like hotels, cafes, bars & sports centres are also closed.

We are now practicing social isolation and distancing to try and slow down the infection rate of Covid-19.

This has had an effect on the work we do at Llandudno Youth for Christ in the way that we share the good news of Jesus with young people, but it has in no ways stopped us from continuing with our mandate to reach out to young people with God’s love.

For example, last night, where we would normally have our Sunday evening Bible Study for young people in the Ty Llywelyn Community Centre, we instead held and online meeting using a multi-user video conferencing software called Zoom. The meeting went really well and there were no major technical teething problems.

We are going to continue to find more and more creative ways to meet up with and input into the lives of young people in an online format, and of course we will continue to pray for the young people and for our nation during this time of so much social change.

Thinking of the ways in which the outbreak has forced people to stay at home, makes me think of the book of Lamentations, where the writer, Jeremiah laments the dire situation the nation of Israel has fallen into.

“How deserted lies the city, once so full of people! How like a widow is she, who once was great among the nations! She who was queen among the provinces has now become a slave.” – Lamentations 1:1.

The streets are quite deserted now, with people in self-isolation, but in this time of upheaval and change, just like Jeremiah, let us not forget that God is the God of redemption, restoration, mercy & love.

“Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” – Lamentations 3:19-23

So like the write of Lamentations, we will continue to pray and wait for the Lord, for our hope is in Him. Our young people’s hope is in Him too. Let’s continue to trust in the goodness of God at this time. Let’s continue to be salt & light in our communities.

Thank you and be blessed!

God is great

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Here at Llandudno Youth for Christ we are currently stopping running our regular projects due to the Covid-19 outbreak. This is not to say that we will stop sharing the good news of Jesus relevantly with young people in Llandudno and beyond.

Thank God for the internet and online presence. We are going to be working hard a producing good online content to connect with the young people that normally come to our projects.

Please be praying for us and the young people at this time.

Please pray that the young people would be strengthened in faith at a time when it seems many people are living in a lot of fear and uncertainty. Pray that the young people turn to God at this time. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” – Philippians 4:6 & “I lift up my eyes to the mountains – where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” – Psalm 121.

Pray for us as we navigate this unprecedented time in the history of our nation and indeed the world. Pray that we would be guided by God’s wisdom and that we would continue to relevantly and effectively communicate the gospel in word and deed.

God is great and we look forward to seeing the amazing ways that he is going to be meeting people’s needs at this time.

“Lord God of our ancestor Jacob, may you be praised forever and ever! You are great and powerful, glorious, splendid, and majestic. Everything in heaven and earth is yours, and you are king, supreme ruler over all. All riches and wealth come from you; you rule everything by your strength and power; and you are able to make anyone great and strong.” – 1 Chron 29:10-12

Be blessed and remember that it is in the dark times that the light shines brighter!

The beginning of knowledge is…?

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“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” – Proverbs 1:7.

This was the text that we looked at last Sunday at Redefine. We were continuing working our way through the book of proverbs with the young people.

We asked them what words came to mind when they thought about the word ‘fear’ and they said words such as ‘terrifying’, ‘the unknown’, ‘frightened’ and ‘afraid’.

Now is the writer of the book of proverbs wanting us to be scared of God?

No, emphatically no. If we feared him in the negative sense of the word fear, then we wouldn’t want to spend time with Him. After talking about this with the young people, we asked them in what other ways does God reveal himself to us. One of the young people said as ‘Father’. We then went round the group asking for words they would associate with a perfect father. They came up with words such as ‘caring’, ‘kind’, ‘loving’.

If God is all of the above, how are we meant to fear Him? The answer was given that we are meant to be in awe of God. Not frightened of Him, but wowed and awestruck by His magnificence.

This awe and wonder at God is the beginning of knowledge because as we enter into relationship with God, we are on a journey of discovery, learning more and more about God’s majesty and love. After all God wants us to have relationship with Him and grow in our understanding of Him.

Please do continue to pray fro the young people that come to Redefine and all of the other projects that we run. May they be in awe and wonder that the God of the Universe loves them dearly. And may they grow in a relationship with Him.

Be blessed!

 

The way of wisdom

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Last Sunday night at ‘Redefine‘ we started a new theme that we will be looking at over the next several weeks. We started looking at the book of Proverbs. We are doing this because we want to input wisdom into the hearts & minds of the young people that attend our Sunday evening Bible Study.

We started at the beginning and looked at Proverbs chapter one verses one to seven. “The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:

for gaining wisdom and instruction;
for understanding words of insight;
for receiving instruction in prudent behaviour,
doing what is right and just and fair;
for giving prudence to those who are simple,
knowledge and discretion to the young –
let the wise listen and add to their learning,
and let the discerning get guidance –
for understanding proverbs and parables,
the sayings and riddles of the wise.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” – Proverbs 1:1-7

We discussed what the difference was between knowledge and wisdom. How nowledge was just the accumulation of information, but wisdom was the right use and aplication of the knoweldge. The following example was cited ‘Knowledge’ is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, ‘wisdom’ is not putting it into a fruit salad.

We looked at how the Bible, the Word of God gives us wisdom and how important it is to daily spend time reading God’s word. For it gives us knowledge and discretion , discernment, and guidance. Ultimately it points us to wisdom incarnate; Jesus. He is the wisdom of God in the flesh.

It was a really good evening and we look forward to the next couple of weeks as we dive into the book of proverbs.

Please be praying for us as we study the book of Proverbs. Pray that the young people would receive wisdom from God that will support and grow them throughout their lives.

Be blessed!

Word Alive!

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Over the past couple of weeks we’ve been going through the follow up material from the Higher tour. In these past few weeks we’ve looked at Jesus and prayer. This last Sunday night we looked at the Bible.

Did you know that the Bible is historically the best selling book of all time! Its sales figures are in the billions!! It’s been translated into more languages than any other book, and the first ever printed book was the Gutenberg Bible!

These are some amazing statements, but what does the Bible say about itself?

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” – 2 Timothy 3:16-17

The Bible is inspired by God, it’s God breathed. Wow!

It’s useful for teaching us, directing us, correcting us when we get things wrong. It empowers us and equips us for the work God has for us. Double wow!

“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” – Hebrews 4:12

The Bible is not some dry & dusty tome of ancient literature, but it is alive. Vibrant and active, cutting to the heart of the matter and showing us the truth. It is at work in the lives of believers, bringing life and transformation.

It is God’s word to us, His love letter to humanity.

If it is so wonderful, powerful & life transforming, why do we sometimes struggle to read it? What gets in the way?

We discussed this with the young people at ‘Redefine’ and they said that sometimes it seemed boring, or difficult to understand. They also found it difficult to get into a regular reading habit.

We spoke of this with the young people and gave them some practical advice on how to get into their Bibles and make it a habit that is part and parcel of their relationship with God. It was a really good discussion time and the young people went away with plenty to think about.

Please do be praying for the young people that attend our projects, that they would see the worth and value found in the Bible, for as one young person said last Sunday, the Bible is all about Jesus.

Pray that they would be able to develop a lifelong habit of spending time in God’s word and that in doing so their lives would be transformed. Thank you and be blessed!

Take it to the Lord in prayer

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Last Sunday night at ‘Redefine‘ we looked at the topic of prayer. This was as part of the follow up course we are doing from the brilliant Higher tour North Wales. It was an excellent night.

We’d set the room we were using up like an indoor campfire; with fairy lights in the place of an actual fire; and had comfy pillows and bean bags set in a circle around the fairy lights ‘campfire‘.

After a fun start playing some group games, we watched the Higher tour video about prayer and had a great teaching time looking at prayer.

It was really great seeing the young people discuss and think about prayer; how they can talk with God whenever and wherever knowing that He listens to them. “You will answer me, God; I know you always will,
like you always do as you listen with love to my every prayer.” – Psalm 17:6

It was also great that at the same time the young people were learning about prayer, we were holding our monthly ‘Prayer Gathering‘ in another room. This was well attended and we shared about the Higher Tour and some of the needs that we are facing at Llandudno Youth for Christ. We also sang some songs of worship to God and prayed for the young people in our area.

We are so grateful for the amazing group of people that regularly come to our prayer gatherings and support us in prayer. Thank you for lifting us and our needs up to God in prayer.

Talking of needs, one of the areas where we have a need is that of volunteers at some of our projects and also at our Saturday Cafe that runs on the second and fourth Saturday of each month. We need people to help out in the kitchen with the cooking and also with other areas of the Reverb Saturday Cafe, such as waiting on and making drinks. We also are looking for more volunteers for ‘Recess‘ our Thursday Christian Union meetings in Ysgol John Bright and Ysgol Aberconwy and our new project, ‘Shuffle & Shake‘ on Friday nights in Colwyn Bay.

If you feel that you want to help us in one of these areas, then please do not hesitate to email us on llandudnoyfc@gmail.com or telephone the office on 07517 429 763 (office opening hours are 9am to 5pm on Mondays and Wednesdays and 9am to 12pm on Fridays)

Thank you and keep on praying.

 

Call on me!

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At Llandudno Youth for Christ, we are always on the look out for more people to join us in this amazing work of sharing the gospel relevantly to young people in Llandudno and beyond.

It is a fantastic privilege to be able to be part of something wonderful that God is doing through LLYFC in North Wales. And we have so many different ways in which people can help.

We have our ‘Reverb Saturday Cafe‘ that runs on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month. This is a brilliant social endeavour that not only provides a wonderful haven for people in Llandudno to rest and have a delicious meal and refreshing drink, but also raises much needed funds for the work that we do at Llandudno Youth for Christ. We are always on the look-out for people to work with us here, whether it is waiting-on, serving at the till, cooking in the kitchen or helping with the washing up, more people to help are always welcomed and sought after.

Then we have the various different youth-work projects that we run. ‘Reverb‘ our Thursday after school youth drop in that runs from 3:15-5:15pm, ‘Redefine‘ our Sunday night Bible Study group that is held from 6-8pm, ‘Recess‘ our two Lunch-time Christian Unions in Ysgol Aberconwy and Ysgol John Bright and our latest project ‘Shuffle & Shake‘ held on Friday evenings in Colwyn Bay. In all of these projects we’d love to have more volunteers to work with the young people and be living, breathing examples of God’s love.

If you feel that you’d like to help and volunteer in any of the projects mentioned above, then please don’t hesitate to contact us on 07517 429 763 or via email – llandudnoyfc@gmail.com

“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” – Galatians 6:2

Tim’s Big Trek

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Hey – Tim here – can you spread the word?

This autumn 2020, I’m doing the craziest thing I’ve ever done (other than marry an American) – I’m climbing 17,600ft up to Everest Base Camp in Nepal to raise money, not only for Llandudno Youth for Christ, but for a brand – new – centre in Wales!

Below is the video announcement I made in December 2019 about this exciting fund-raiser.

If you want to donate to support ‘Tim’s Big Trek’ click here.

Praying for more fruit

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Last Friday night in Llandudno’s Venue Cymru a fantastic Christian outreach event for young people was held. The Higher tour, an evangelistic event run by the Message Trust.

The Higher tour had been holding assemblies and R.E. lessons in schools throughout North Wales, from Holyhead to Prestatyn to Mold. It was brilliant. There was also a group that visited schools in the Llandudno area.

To cap off the week of outreach a large evangelistic music concert was held at Venue Cymru, here the bands that had been going into the schools performed their music much to the delight to the young people that attended.

The night was a great success with over 1,000 young people in attendance.

At the end of the event an appeal was made to the young people and over 400 responded indicating that they wanted to ask Jesus into their lives.

It was simply brilliant and amazing.

The tour had born much fruit and we pray that as Llandudno Youth for Christ, and other youth groups and churches in the area do follow-up work with the young people that there would be even more fruit and fruit that will last and have an impact upon the whole of North Wales.

Please do be praying with us for this and also thanking God for the great harvest we saw on Friday night.

Be blessed!