Youth Open House

On Tuesday Night ENERGY ran their own 'Open House'. With nearly 50 people in attendance (including 20 'Guests'), it was a resounding success. Throughout the course of the evening, lots of the young people were involved and their contributions ranged from setting up, doing the talky bit, helping out with the cafe, talking to guests, welcoming people as they arrived, running a quiz, hosting the event and so much more.

One of the best parts of my job is seeing these young people 'ACTIVATE THEIR GIFTS'. When they take hold of something themselves and run with it, their whole attitude and approach changes; they own it so they are committed to it. It is so important that we do not become an insular group of christian teens, simply meeting together for a good time. God is birthing in them a heart for the Lost and I heard of numerous stories of the youth praying and then inviting their friends to come along. They really took this seriously and in some ways can set the example for us as a Church.

Do you remember Ben's word from last Sunday's meeting? Put simply, it was a prophetic push for us to be bold and reach out to the lost. This young man practiced what he preached and, on Tuesday evening, brought along a friend from school who really enjoyed himself. There were also some challenges too: one of the young people thought about 12 of her friends were coming but at the lats minute they withdrew after someone else had made some rather unfair comments about the Open House evenings. One of them still came and had a good time.

All of these experiences give the young people opportunities to find God and grow in their faith whether things are running "smoothly" or not! It is also a big learning curve for the Team (me especially) as we are so used to leading from the front that to make space for them to 'do the stuff' requires a very different way of working. However, the young people never cease to amaze me and they deliver on what they say they're going to do.

Please keep praying for them and encourage them especially as we begin to build up towards Christmas (they will be running a special evangelistic event called 'Star of Wonder' during the evening of Sunday 20 December - invites will be available from next Sunday).