inspire spring 11

INSPIRE WINTER 2011

www.covyfc.org

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A FRESH LOOK AT MORALS, CHOICES & ATTITUDES Every so often, the team at CYFC get invited to take Q&A sessions in local secondary schools to offer a Christian perspective on issues like marriage, family and Christian lifestyle.

Just before Christmas, we had such an opportunity to be quizzed on ‘marriage’ by a group of year 10 students in Finham Park Secondary School. Being both thought provoking and insightful, these lessons allowed the GCSE students to gain a better insight into Christian principles and practices around issues relating to marriage. One student in particular engaged with the sessions, which challenged her own personal views. At the end of the session she approached the team, saying that her perspectives had completely changed on what, beforehand, had seemed like an irrelevant topic for her own personal life.

To be a part of this change in a young person - however small it may seem - is what drives the Youth for Christ team to constantly find new innovative ways of communicating God’s love to young people. Stories like this really inspire the Would you like the team to get out there and to see more CYFC team to come & young lives changed for the better as share more inspiring students begin to taste and see that stories like this with God has great plans for their lives. your church? www.covyfc.org/contact

CHRISTMAS EXPLORED

The end of last term was a busy one with Christmas clubs at Caludon Castle, Grace Academy and Tile Hill Wood, Christmas lessons with year 7 at Blue Coat and an extended Christmas assembly at The Westwood School. 2010’s Christmas lessons and assemblies aimed to bring the birth of Christ to life through video, drama and multi-sensory experiences, challenging the young people to put themselves into the story and think about the truth of Jesus. It was great to be able to work with over 500 young people from all across the city during this time, helping them to discover the life giving truth of Jesus underneath the mass of commercialism that they are bombarded with. For further details on this check out the Coventry YFC podcast.

The beginning of the New Year has seen a busy start as well, with assemblies at Grace Academy looking at how young people make positive choices, challenging them to think about the foundations they use to make decisions and what influences them. We have also restarted our 4 lunch time clubs which run around our ‘Hub’ areas of Wyken, (Caludon Castle & Grace Academy), and Canley, (Tile Hill Wood & Westwood School).

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The Coventry YFC Newsletter Your regular update Download the on all www.covnet.org.uk things CYFC. monthly CYFC podcast

JUNCTION 7 [UP]DATE[ED]

Since our last newsletter, there have been some changes to the event we call Junction7 [up]lift[ed] (we call it that because that’s it’s name).

Primarily the change involves moving to new venue - Queens Road Baptist Church, but some of the team that put the event together have changed too. It’s great that an event like J7 can be a catalyst for building stronger partnerships with local churches and youth leaders and as always we’re keen to develop J7 into an event that churches view as part of their monthly youth ministry programme.

If you haven’t been to Junction7, we’d love to encourage you to come and bring the young people in your church along. Our aim is to create an atmosphere where young people can experience God together through worship, social interaction and inspiring stories of God at work in our city.

We’d love to hear your views on how we can make J7 more accessible to the young people in your church. if you have any insights, or if you’d like us to send you a batch of flyers to wave under the noses of your young people, please do let us know.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF... A CYFC VOLUNTEER Hello! I’m Amy Rowe, a new CYFC volunteer. I’m studying towards a youth work degree with the Open University and decided that YFC would be a great place to get some hands-on experience! And wow, what a first few months it’s been! Since starting in October I’ve loved getting involved in all the lessons and lunch clubs in schools, staff conference and particularly Junction 7! I’ve also had the chance to meet some of the amazing youth workers we have around the city and it’s great to hear that so much is happening to support young people in their faith. I’m really excited to see what God has in store for us over the coming year and am sure He will open up some great opportunities for us to be able to share our faith with numerous young people around the city.

If you’re looking for some real excitement and to be challenged to put your faith into action, you should definitely consider joining the team here. You’ll honestly never look back!

INVEST UPDATE

As you may remember from our last newsletter we spent some time giving you an insight in to some of the fundraising activities and ideas that we have been developing and putting into action here at CYFC. Before Christmas 2010 we launched a new initiative that seeks not only to raise money and promote all that Coventry YFC is doing across Coventry but also is a way of you, our supporters, getting involved in being able to spread the word far and wide.

This initiative is called ‘Invest’ and is our very first alternative gifts catalogue! It is packed full of different opportunities and areas to invest in within CYFC and also has a small number of CYFC branded gifts that raise funds while promoting our work.

The great news about this initiative is that it was not just for Christmas! Invest alternative gifts are available all year round, all you need to do is visit the Coventry YFC website (www.covyfc.org/invest) check out what’s on offer, select your gift, then download the order form and follow the instructions - simples! *If you don’t have access to the internet or a printer or would like multiple copies for your church or group and are interested in Invest then get in touch with the CYFC office and we can send some to you.

2011 - THE YEAR OF THE RESIDENTIAL

There is nothing that the team at Coventry YFC value more than an opportunity to engage in quality relationship building with with young people through residential experiences. We’ve been involved in the running of Coventry Youth Camp for several years, and it’s always proved to be an amazing experience for young people and leaders alike.

This year we’ve decided to do things a little differently. We’re going to be running various different youth residentials throughout the year, linked with the ‘J7’ city-wide youth events, that aim to engage with groups of young people at various stages of their spiritual journey.

Fort Rocky (13th-15th May) - £105 Fort Rocky is a great weekend for active younger teenagers (especially those involved in Rock Solid clubs) being evangelistic at heart and designed to give young people ‘the best weekend of their year’ through the highest quality outdoor activities, interactive Roadshows and team building games.

This year we would love to able to take a group of young people from Coventry schools & churches along to a Fort Rocky weekend from the 13th-15th May. Do you know young people who could benefit from the experience?

J7 [out]work[ed] - social action project (1st-3rd June - non-residential) - FREE There’s no better way of putting our faith into action than by acts and deeds of service to communicate the heart of the good news. Finding practical ways to reach out to the community that everyone can get into. [out]work[ed] will give team(s) of young people the opportunity to get together and decide to do exactly that (in partnership with the local church)!! This might include litter picking, scrubbing off graffiti or even repainting a wall. It only takes a couple of hours but makes a significant albeit short term impact on the people that live in the area or happen to be out and about, making them raise their eyebrows and quietly take it all in.

Details of this 3 day project are still being finalised, but there are a number of things we can guarantee: 1.

[out]work[ed] will be inclusive - Anyone that can pick up litter, wash a car or scrub a wall gets to take part.

2. [out]work[ed] will be loads of fun - Just get involved with all your mates and have a laugh in the process!

3. There will be visible results. Problems that local residents have been looking at for months, such as an alleyway filled with rotting mattresses, kitchen sinks and other rubbish, can be cleaned up in a couple of afternoons.

4. Finally, [out]work[ed] will be effective - not only for the communities impacted but for all of those involved, gaining hands on experience in sharing God's heart, and ‘walking the talk’.

J7 [in]still[ed] - Young Leader’s Weekend (16th-18th September) - £65 Training and investing in young leaders is vital kingdom work. CYFC have previously worked with young leaders in various ways including working with CU leaders and taking young people to the YFC ‘EQ’ and Youth Alpha conferences. This year we want to offer young people across Coventry a chance to develop leadership skills, be equipped for life ‘outside the youth group’ and develop a heart for operating in godly leadership patterns.

If you are, or know a young person who is exploring leadership in it’s many forms, this weekend is for you!!

For more info on any of these events, or to find out how you could sponsor a young person to get involved, please call the CYFC office or check out our website.

Director’s Note...

Back in October, more than 400 people from across the UK gathered in Coventry to witness the commissioning of all newly appointed YFC staff and volunteers at the annual Youth for Christ Commissioning service.

In the two hours we were given an insight into the resources that YFC use to connect with young people in all areas of life. There was sung worship, videos and testimonies from YFC mission teams and volunteers and stories of how media, football, theatre, music and weekend residentials are being used to help engage with young people and tell them about Jesus in a way they can understand.

Here in Coventry, the team are passionate about using every resource available to communicate God’s love to the young people we serve. It’s great to be reminded that we are one small part of a hugely diverse & effective movement, taking the Good News relevantly to young people throughout the UK. Our desire at the start of this new year is that we become more effective at, not simply ‘doing’ good youth work, but hearing God’s heart for young people in Coventry and carrying that message as we explore fresh ways to see young lives changed throughout our city.

Jon Mills

You can now choose to support CYFC through your own personal

eBay account. Every time you sell your ‘stuff’ on

eBay you can opt to donate anything from 10-100% of

the proceeds to charity - and now that charity can be

CYFC. Check our website for more details.

Introducing a new way to support the work of Coventry Youth for Christ...

GET INVOLVED WITH COVentry YFC...

Fancy a life-changing experience?

The CYFC team have a massive passion for taking the gospel to young people in Coventry and a huge desire to raise our capacity for mission. We are currently looking to grow the CYFC team so that we can do exactly that.

There are loads of ways that people can get involved with our work. Take a look below...

You COULD...

•Volunteer with us...

Do you have a passion for face-to-face work with young people? If so, we’re looking for people like you to join our team. No matter what your availability - whether you’d like to be involved for just one hour per month, gain regular experience alongside other current studies, or even work with the team full-time for a whole year, we’d love to talk with you about getting involved. We’re also keen for people with administration gifts to join us in our work - could that be you?

•Become A Trustee...

Be a part of the journey by joining the current board of trustees. Trustees play a significant and vital role in life of any charity, giving oversight and sharing responsibility for the effective governance of the organisation. If you feel you could play a part in this journey, please do get in touch.

•SUpport us financially...

Could you commit to donating just £2 per week (that’s less than the price of a cup of coffee) to support the ongoing work of Coventry YFC, as we seek to engage with young people through work in schools, churches and detached youth projects around the city?

If you’d like to explore a role with the CYFC team, fill in our online form at www.covyfc.org/join

Be a part of the adventure - you know you want to PRAYER DIARY

How you can help 1

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

Finance CYFC relies heavily on personal donations from people who share our heart for young people. Please pray that we would continue to find new financial partners who will journey with us.

Junction7 We are delighted that we have found a new venue for J7. Please pray that this event would be effective & an integral part of many church youth ministry programmes

Vision & Strategy Please pray for the team & trustees of CYFC as seek God’s guidance in seeking and developing new opportunities to ‘invest in the local’ and ‘resource the city’

through supportive prayer - see our ‘items for prayer’ section

2

sign up for Inspire Online at www.covyfc.org

3

make a gift @ covyfc.org/donate