Written by Richard Townend of Urban Saints:
Dear friends,
I don't know about you but I was truly uplifted by the rescue of the 33 miners in Chile this week. In a world where the news is usually so full of tragedy, this story of hope and triumph against all the odds was a reason to praise God - not least because every single one of those miners wore a T-shirt with the words of Psalm 95 v 4, giving the waiting world a glimpse of their true saviour and God.
"He rules over the whole earth, from the deepest caves to the highest hills."
The same God who was with those miners is with all of the young people in our communities. Let's pray together that these young people will know what it is to be saved by their loving Father God.
We are pleased to announce that we WILL be running a ReAct tour in the North East region August 2011. This is a bit of a step of faith as we need six towns to host it. In a nutshell, ReAct is a UK-based mission opportunity for young people, and a chance for churches in a community to work together on a Family Fun Day and Church Outdoors. Does this sound like an exciting opportunity for your town?
Are you on our Facebook Fan Site?
Keep looking at the website and our Facebook Fan Site as you'll hear all news on there first about what we are doing. Feel free to add details of your own events etc to the Facebook Fan Site - we want it to be an interactive resource for those involved in youth work across the North East.
It has been a period of unprecedented growth for Urban Saints in the North East. As well as having a record attendance at our Tees Valley training earlier in the month, we have welcomed SEVEN new groups since the beginning of September! They are in Harrogate St Marks, Grimsby City, Bawtry Evangelical, Bethany at Houghton-le Spring, Bridlington St Marks, Hull St John and Pickering St Paul. It's great to have these new groups involved - I hope you are finding Energize of use to your ministry. There are now more than fifty groups in the North East signed up to Energize and 800 across the UK. Energize also won the award for best Christian Organisation Website at last week's Christian New Media Awards.
URBAN SAINTS activities this term
This Autumn, Urban Saints have been invited to partner with Scripture Union in their ReGenerate programme. We are thrilled to be involved with this programme of training, and hope that by pooling our resources, we can reach out to even more leaders and volunteers. The events take place on Tuesday 2nd November in Middlesbrough; Thursday 4th November in Bradford; and Thursday 25th November in Newcastle. Take a look at the link for more information about the training.
The UNITE Youth Weekend is taking place in Northallerton with Stephen Riley on 20th and 21st November. The theme for the weekend is Lost.
Our ReDefine training academy continues in Sheffield on the weekend of 19th and 20th November.
And the Christian Apprentice is running again this Autumn from 29th to 31st October at Cliff College, Sheffield. The Sophia Network, along with Urban Saints and Scripture Union are involved in this initiative for girls aged 14 and over who want to develop their leadership skills. Let's hope they do better in the boardroom than the girls on the Apprentice on TV last week!
Another thing that we are starting this term - it is our heart and vision as an organisation to empower the local church and bring churches together to work in partnership. With this in mind, we have the second meeting of youth workers as part of our Hull and East Riding Cluster on Tuesday at Costa Coffee on Kingswood Park in Hull. Spread the word if you know of any youth workers in that area.
A new gathering of youth leaders and churches in York has recently been established. They hold regular events, the next one being at the Gateway Centre in York on Sunday 5th December. For more information, check out the UNITE York website.
Phil Togwell from 24/7 prayer will be speaking at Ignite in Beverley on Sunday 31st October. If you are interested in taking your group along, or for more info, please contact Ali Crompton
And if you are on the lookout for a New Year houseparty, why not consider Breakthrough from Scripture Union? This takes place in Scarborough.
Operation Christmas Child
Get your youth group stuck into some practical loving this autumn! Operation Christmas Child, the world’s largest shoebox appeal, is a fantastic opportunity to get your young people serving others who are less fortunate and it’s easy! Here’s how your Urban Saints group can get involved: (1) The next time members of your group buy a pair of shoes, tell them to keep the boxes and bring them in; (2) Then wrap the shoeboxes in fancy wrapping paper; (3) Fill the shoeboxes full of goodies ready to be sent around the world to bring joy into the lives of needy children this Christmas! You could even do a competition to see who can get the most shoeboxes filled between boys and girls. If you would like your Urban Saints group to be part of this exciting campaign, or want ideas and resources, visit their website.
If you are a supporter of Urban Saints and do a lot of shopping online, you can help us out by signing up for Easyfundraising. It doesn't cost you anything, but for every purchase you make, Urban Saints receives a percentage from the retailer.
Finally, just to help with your planning, here is a list of the some of the key dates for 2011. There will be more to follow on our 2011 activity plan in November.
Saturday 12th February: XLS, York
Saturday 21st May: Big Night Out, Lightwater Valley
Friday 8th to Sunday 10th July: SPREE North, Leeds
Friday 5th to Monday 15th August: ReAct
Richard Townend
North East Regional Director
Urban Saints
