summer 2014

During June, we had a mission week when we

were supported by YFC’s street dance team

Stance. During the week, we took more lessons

than normal across three schools and a variety of

clubs working with over 600 young people.

Stance are a street dance mission team that travel

the country working with local YFC centres and

churches sharing their passion

for street dance and the Gospel.

The team of five consists of the

team leader and four young

people taking a gap year with

YFC. They joined us for the

week in order to build on our

existing work and to support us

in working with the students in a

variety of schools and clubs. At

the end of the week, we were also joined by rapper

Guvna B, who joined us a few years ago, and

fellow musician Happi. After a week focused in

schools we finished the week with a gig at Elim to

which the young people we had worked with and

the local churches were invited to.

Mission weeks are always busy times and this

week was no exception. During we week we took

a day of lessons themed around self-confidence,

discipline and healthy living with the whole of Year

7 at Pittville School, a day of dance workshops with

students at Tewkesbury School, dance and rap

workshops with all the students at St. Mark’s Junior,

clubs at All Saints, St. Aidan’s after school club and

Tewkesbury Baptist.

A mission week gives time to focus on working with

students and providing a high quality week of

events whilst also having the opportunity to share

about our motivation, the gospel. We were able to

share how our confidence and lifestyle is motivated

and based on our decision to

follow Jesus and live a lifestyle

worth of Him. It is also a week

when we can bring something

different to the schools through

the YFC teams such as Stance.

The times we spend in schools

are different and always make

learning fun whilst sharing the

Good News relevantly. On

Facebook, after we had been in school that day,

Debbie Mobley, the RE co-ordinator at St. Mark’s

wrote, “Love my job. Had Guv B, Happi and Stance

dance crew into school today. Great to see kids so

happy. JLM!” (JLM is a line from a Guvna B song

called Jesus Loves Me). Other teachers talked

about the difference they saw in the students during

the days in school. One deputy head commented

that the students always “love the days CYFC do

special events”.

This week was a great opportunity share our faith

with so many students.

Mission Week

Update Summer 2014

A dance session with Stance at All Saints Rock Solid group

Inside this edition

Mission Week

Page 2

Pittville

National Star College

Page 3

Farewell to Joe and Emily

Prayer and Praise

Page 4

Farewell to Francis

Francis’ sponsored head shave

Page 5

Mission Week: Pittville and St.

Mark’s

Page 6

Mission Week: Tewkesbury

School and end of week gig. The

gospel according to a Rubik’s

Cube

Page 7

Farewell to our gap years.

Page 8

Volunteers needed

New book keeper

YFC Gloucestershire update

Diary dates

Paul’s thoughts

The end of the school year always

arrives with a mixture of relief and

sadness. It is a relief that we have

got to the end and can look

forward to six quieter weeks when

we can take leave and catch up on

jobs that have been waiting to be

done. It is also a time when we

look back over the year and thank

God for all that He has done. It is

also a time of goodbyes; to

students who have come to the

end of their school days, to our

gap year volunteers and

placement students who have

completed their studies. This year

we have over half of the staff team

moving on; James, Megan and

Rukaya having completed their

gap years and Joe and Francis as

they complete their studies.

Throughout their time with us we

have seen them all grow so much,

in character and confidence as

well as in their ministries and in

their relationship with God. They

have all given so much over the

last year, or two in Joe’s case, and

made a real impact on the young

people we work with. Whilst it is

always sad to see people leave it

is exciting to see them move on to

the next thing that God has

planned for them. Developing

young people and giving them

opportunities to discover God’s

plan for themselves is a key part of

our work. Young people who have

been on a gap years with us can

be found all over the country in a

wide variety of roles. We look

forward to hearing how this year’s

leavers get on in the future and

thank them for all they have

brought to the team.

Journeying together

We have had a very positive year

in Pittville. Besides finishing the

year on a high with Stance going

into the school we have also

provide lunchtime detached

sessions and two Rock Solid after

school clubs.

Jon, Flik, Joe, Francis, and

Rukaya go into Pittville on two

afternoons a week spending time

with the young people. It is

sometimes in the unexpected

situations that God does the most.

One week in Rock Solid at Pittville

a young person was waiting to see

a teacher in the room where we

meet. As he waited he watched

what was going on. Over the

following weeks he turned up and

sat at the back of the room

watching and listening. We would

Tears and laughter

Since October we have been

running a group at the National Star

College for students who are

Christians or who want to find out

more. The group has been led by

Flik, Joe and Francis.

There is no doubt that starting this

group has been a real challenge for

us. We were stepping into an area

of work we had never experienced

before. The National Star College

do an excellent work proving

education for young people with

disabilities. Many of their students

have experienced some form of

brain injury and this often leads to

communication challenges. We

had a clear sense that God was

leading us to develop some work

with these young people and knew

we would be dependent upon God

and we would almost certainly learn

more than the young people! Our

journey with this group has been

incredible. It has been such a

privilege to get to know the young

people who attend and share life

and faith together. We have had to

learn to explain things in different

ways and it has real encouraged us

to think about taking good news in

a relevant way to these young

people. We have not been able to

find suitable resources with which

to work with these young people

and it has sometimes felt like

finding our way in the dark. The

young people have been incredibly

gracious as we have sought to

understand and support their

needs. We have not dodged

difficult questions around suffering

and healing but have explored them

as a group and all come out

stronger. We have got to know a

wonderful group of young people

whom the church often struggle to

include. We have laughed lots

together as we got to know each

other over the year. As the year

came to an end it was very sad to

see some people come to the end

of their courses and move on.

They will be missed next year but

we look forward to continuing the

journey with them and meeting a

whole group of new students.

speak to him at the end of

sessions and one week he

explained that he had a job

interview coming up. We prayed

with him about it and afterwards he

said that it was the nicest thing

anyone had ever done for him.

The last week of the year is always

a laid back week and this time was

no exception. In our last Rock

Solid session at Pittville we had

some party food and played some

team building games with tyres,

which caused a lot of laughter as

young people tried to balance

whilst holding on to each other!

Towards the end of the session we

gave the young people an

opportunity to encourage each

other by writing five positive words

about everyone who attends Rock

Solid. It was wonderful to watch

young people’s faces light up as

they read the words their peers

had written about them. To finish

the year, Francis showed a music

video of the song He Loves Us by

John Mark Macmillan, cut together

with messages from preachers

who encouraged the young people

that nothing can separate them

from God’s love.

We were surprised by the

response from the young people -

most joined in singing, dancing or

drumming on the table and one

young person was left in tears. It

has been a privilege to journey

with these young people over the

year and we look forward to seeing

them again soon!

Praise

for a wonderful year where we

have seen God moving in our

lives and the lives of the young

people we work with.

for a great mission week with

Stance, Guvna B and Happi.

for the many opportunities this

year to share Jesus’ love and

truth with young people.

Prayer

for Megan, Rukaya and James

as the move into what God has

next for them.

for the team as they spend time

at festivals with their church

youth groups.

for the process of becoming

YFC Gloucestershire.

for Francis and Joe as they

search for jobs.

for the new gap years to arrive

safely and settle in quickly.

After two years Joe’s time with us is

coming to an end. It is a time of

great change for him as he is also

getting married.

Two years ago Joe joined us on

placement as part of the second

year of his youth work degree. He

very quickly settled into the team

and choose to stay for the rest of

his degree. Joe has been a great

asset to the team since his arrival

and has built up excellent

relationships with young people.

He has been a dependable

member of the team who simply

gets along with everyone. Over the

two years Joe has grown and

developed in his work and it has

been great to be part of that

process.

Joe is currently looking for work

and will continue to be involved with

CYFC as

long as he is

able,

although

hopefully for

his sake he

will find work

quickly. We

are very grateful to Joe for all that

he has brought to the team and our

work. The last two years with Joe

has been full of great memories

from our schools work, church

weekends away and time in the

office. We know that wherever he

ends up working he will make a real

difference in the lives of young

people.

In the meantime he is busy getting

ready for his wedding to Kat on

26th July at St. Paul’s Church.

After the last few years it wouldn’t

Latest News: Come to the auction on 9th November for a great night of fun. Free entry.

seem right not to have a CYFC

wedding. We have already seen

Flik, Trev and Jon get married and

once again it is time to get the suits

and dresses out of the wardrobe.

We pray for God’s blessing on their

life together and look forward to

hearing stories of how they will

impact other people in their new life

together. Maybe we should look at

setting up a wedding planning

ministry!

Since January we have been

running the CU at Winchcombe

School. The groups is made up of

six students who have come to

explore faith.

One of these students was in his

final year at the school and had

faithfully led the CU for a long time

but with rapidly approaching

GCSEs wanted some additional

support. Throughout the two terms

we have looked at why God loves

us, and what it means to be a

Christian. We have had lots of fun

together as well as exploring and

asking some big questions.

One of the CYFC leaders involved

at Winchcombe’s CU has been

Emily Stone. She first came across

CYFC on a church weekend away

when she was in Year 7. In the

ensuing years she has been

involved in Underground, helped at

our events and came on the

mission to Annecy. After such a

long involvement it was really good

to have Emily as part of the face to

face youth work team. With many

of the CU members being girls she

played an invaluable part in working

with them. In September Emily will

head off to train to be a midwife.

Whilst we will be sorry to see her

go it has been wonderful to be part

of her spiritual journey from shy and

quiet Year 7 student to a much less

quiet member of our team. After

that first weekend away she

emailed us to say thank you with a

postscript that read “Do you

remember who I am?” After

knowing her for so long and all that

she has done it would be

impossible to forget her. Thank you

Emily for all you have done and we

pray that God will bless you at

university.

Goodbye Joe

From young person to volunteer

Photo courtesy of Jenny Hannah Photography

Save the Date

22nd November 2015

Please save the evening of

Saturday 22nd November to

come and join us at our annual

auction. It is certain to a fun

night with something for all the

family. We are working on

confirming the venue and will

announce it in September along

with full details of the evening.

Ongoing fruit

Hair raising

We don’t often work in primary

schools but St. Mark’s Junior

School is one school who always

give us an incredible welcome.

After the success of Guvna B a

few years before they were keen to

see him back.

Throughout the day we worked

with all of the school’s 240

students. Each student had a

session with Stance who were

taking dance workshops and

another session with rapper Guvna

B and fellow musician Happi

running rap workshops. The day

was built around the school’s

values of friendship, achievement,

communication, commitment and

enjoyment. In the rap workshops

the students had to work together

writing a rap about the school’s

values. The students threw their

all into the task and in a short time

came up with some fantastic lyrics.

By the end of term we had

recorded them performing all their

raps so they all had a copy. It took

a while to record 45 raps but the

results highlighted the effort the

students had put into the task and

quite how much they had enjoyed

it. At the same time as the rap

workshops Stance were taking a

year group at a time through dance

workshops. These sessions were

also built around the school values

with each member of the team

sharing a testimony that related to

those values. The whole school

came together for a special

assembly when we were also

joined by the Year 2 students from

Benhall Infants who will be joining

St. Mark’s in September. The next

hour was the liveliest assembly of

the year featuring performances

from Stance, Guvna B and Happi.

All shared their testimony and

reinforced the school’s values.

The school is very proud of its

Christian ethos and we were able

to share the gospel message with

the students.

Top: Stance teach the Pittville students the Flash mob dance

moves before they get to perform it (bottom).

Persevering at Pittville

Our week with Stance started with

Pittville School working with the

whole of Year 7.

Once we had settled in, Stance’s

team leader, Grace, shared with

the year group about their passion

for dance and for God. The day

was built around the theme of

perseverance and self-discipline

and throughout the day the team

explained how their faith made a

difference in these areas. Hanna,

another member of Stance shared

her testimony about how she had

grown in confidence as she had

placed her identity in God.

Teachers kept on commenting

about how well the students had

responded to the day. To their

surprise every young person was

engaged and involved throughout

the day. Some teachers even

asked what we had done with their

classes as they couldn’t believe

how well behaved they were!

Throughout the day the students

were learning a “flash mob” dance

which they all joined in together

and performed as a finale. The

school’s sports hall was full of

students dancing and enjoying

themselves after an incredibly

successful day.

School of Rap

Following on from the mission

week, we have been able to build

on the relationships kick started by

Stance, and met new young

people in our detached work who

recognise us from the dance

workshops that Stance provided.

Many young people have also told

us how much they enjoyed the gig,

and one family who came said that

it was the first time they had been

into a church.

Pictures from top to bottom: Teachers at St. Mark’s enjoy the assembly, Guvna B takes a rap

workshop, Happi performs in the assembly.

Jesus died to help bring us back

into perfect relationship with Him.

Rebecca used this tool throughout

the week and the young people

really enjoyed hearing this

innovative way of

sharing the

gospel.

was introduced to the Rubik’s Cube

— but we bet you didn’t know that

these two things can work together

to share the Good News relevantly.

During our mission week Rebecca

from Stance used her Rubik’s

Cube to share about God’s love.

She started by saying that when

she first got her cube it was

perfect, all the colours in the right

place, but it didn’t stay like that for

long. She drew a parallel between

the state of the cube and the state

of our lives, explaining how sin

entered the world to mess up

God’s perfect creation. But

Rebecca had learnt an

algorithm to solve her

Rubik’s cube and as she

solved it, she explained that

Friday night gig The week finished with a gig

featuring Guvna B, Happi and

Stance at Cheltenham Elim

church.

As well as young people from local

churches attending we were very

encouraged to see young people

from our schools work. We had

given every young person who

attends our school groups a free

‘VIP pass’ to the event. Many of

our young people were very

excited by this and loved the fact

that they were a VIP! We had

students from our groups in All

Saint's, Pate's, Winchcombe and

Bournside come along to the

evening, all of whom had a great

time. One young person came

because they had been in a

lesson with Stance in the week

and they wanted to hear and see

more.

The evening started with Stance

dancing followed by an uplifting

set from Happi, who sang about

his relationship with God, and how

God had helped him through

difficult times. It was great to see

young people listening carefully to

lyrics about how God can

transform lives.

Guvna B's set followed with the

young people and leaders jumping

and dancing whilst Guvna rapped

about how to live as a Christian,

and encourage the young people

to "Spread a Little Love". After the

gig, young people who come to

our schools group got their VIP

passes signed by Guvna and

Happi and spent some time talking

to them about music and the

challenges in their lives.

One advantage of having a mission

team with us is the opportunity to

try some work in a new school and

to support local churches in their

mission. The Stance team gave us

the opportunity to do both of these

things in Tewkesbury. They spent

a day running dance workshops

with students from year 7, 8 and 9.

Tewkesbury School has developed

an excellent reputation for dance

and the team commented on high

standard of dancing ability that the

students showed. Stance worked

in the school in conjunction with the

Tewksbury Schools Work team,

made up of people from the local

churches. They then spent the

evening at the Tewkesbury Baptist

Church Girl’s Group. Working with

the girls throughout the evening

they also had an opportunity to


share their testimonies and to

encourage the girls to seek after

God. Ruth West, Tewkesbury

Baptist’s Schools Worker

commented after the day that “It

was a really good day, both at

school and in the evening. Stance

were fantastic at getting alongside

the students really quickly and

making them feel like they matter.”

1974 was a world changing year in

two very different ways. Firstly,

Cheltenham Youth For Christ

founded and secondly the world

Tewkesbury workshops

Rebecca shares the gospel using a Rubik’s Cube

A Gospel puzzle

Hair raising!

On Sunday 8th June, one of the

team had an incredibly close

shave!

Francis has been on placement

with us from Moorlands Bible

College for the year. His most

distinctive feature has been his

hair, which as the picture at the top

left shows was a mass of

dreadlocks. Finding Francis was

always easy, even if you were

looking around a busy school

lunch hall, as you simply needed to

look for the dreadlocks. His hair

was a talking point with young

people but since 8th June, it has

become a talking point for a

different reason. On that day he

had his head shaved in aid of our

work, raising over £700 in the

process. It took Gemma Winrow

of the Hair Retreat in Suffolk

Parade eleven minutes to radically

restyle Francis' hair. The cut itself

took place at St. Mark C of E

church at the end of their Sunday

morning service. To

much excitement three of

the church’s children took the first

snips before Gemma took the

clippers to the rest of it.

We would like to say a huge thank

you to Francis for being willing to

take on such a challenge and all

those who have given so

generously. We would also like to

thank St. Mark Church for being so

willing to make the cut such an

event. Special thanks also go to

Gemma of the Hair Retreat who

gave her time to make the most

drastic haircut of her career.

Farewell Francis A year ago Francis approached us

about doing a year long placement

with us as part of his course at

Moorlands Bible College.

Francis quickly settled into the

team and got stuck in. As a

Cheltenham lad he did not have to

worry about getting used to

unfamiliar territory but rather the

opposite as he was going into All

Saints Academy with many of the

staff having taught him from his

time at Christ College. The year’s

placement was an opportunity to

develop in his youth work.

Moorlands also have a strong

emphasis on growing in character,

a key aspect of any ministry.

Francis has grown and developed

through his placement and as he

comes to the end of his time at

Moorlands he is looking to build on

this through his next opportunities.

One year may not be a long time in

youth work but in that time he has

had the opportunity to develop

skills in youth work. He was keen

to develop his relational youth

work skills, a key aspect of our

work, and Francis has worked hard

at honing these over the year. As

a result he has built up very strong

relationships with a number of

people that have allowed them to

develop in their faith. Being part of

the team that has pioneered the

work at the National Star College

has been challenging but very

rewarding for him.

As with Joe he will continue to be

involved in our work whilst he

looks for his next role. We would

like to thank Francis for all he has

done and look forward to hearing

where God is leading him next.

Short stories

Since Easter we have been

working with St. Aidan’s Church

and Dean Close School running

the After School Club at the

church. About twenty young

people come to the club where

they play games, chat and have

fun. It is also a club where the

young people appreciate being

able to have time talking to adults

who will listen to them.

Sometimes these conversations

are about incredibly challenging

situations they find themselves in.

Over a game of pool the young

people feel able to open up and

seek support. In recent weeks

they have been asking if they can

read a Bible passage they have

discovered.

For two weeks in June we were

joined by Charlie, a Year 11

student who had just finished his

GCSEs. Rather than sit at home

after his exams watching TV and

playing on the PS3 he wanted to

do something more interesting.

During his time with us he got

involved in our school work and

helped around the office. At the

end of the time he said he had

found it really interesting and

couldn’t believe how much we put

into things to make them happen.


The end of the year

James is going to be working for

YFC as the Nomad team leader.

Nomad is a mission team that uses

cage football as a way of reaching

out to young people. We have had

Nomad work with us in previous

years so we are sure we will be

seeing James back in Cheltenham

before too long.

We would like to thank them for all

they have done this year and for all

that they have brought to the team.

They have made a tremendous

impact on the young people we

work with and will be missed

greatly.

If you would like to explore how you

or someone you know could apply

to take part in a life changing YFC

gap year visit www.yfc.co.uk/get-

involved/gap-years or talk to a

member of the CYFC team.

have been a part of this with all

three of this year’s volunteers.

Talking about her year Rukaya said

“My gap year has been the

toughest, challenging, best and

rewarding year of my life. The

people I've met and relationships

I've built have been

amazing, I've met some

truly brilliant people! It's

been an amazing journey,

I'm a completely different

person finishing the year

than when I started; I have

grown so much

confidence in God and in

myself and it's all down to

God and his faithfulness.

This year has been an

adventure, doing things

beyond my comfort zone

and learning so many new things.

This year has ended but I'm about

to begin a new journey which is

very exciting!

All three of our volunteers this year

are heading off to new challenges.

Rukaya is returning home to

Ammanford, South Wales where

she will be involved in her church’s

youth work. Megan is returning to

Denver in the United States and is

looking to do some further study.

Since September James, Rukaya

and Megan have been part of the

team but sadly their time with us

has come to an end.

Each of them were on the YFC One

gap year programme which is a

combination of practical youth work

training and

teaching designed

to release and

equip young people

into God’s service.

As they come to the

end of their year

with us we are

grateful for all they

have brought to the

team. Throughout

the year they have

got stuck in with all

of our groups and

learnt to lead sessions and support

the young people we work with. It

is a year where they have achieved

things they didn’t know they were

capable of, whether it be speaking

in front of a group of people,

leading a small group, mentoring a

young person or taking on

leadership roles.

Watching people grow and develop

through their gap year is always

amazing and we are thankful to

“Can’t believe that yet more of you

are leaving. To that ones that are

leaving, apart from you'll regret it,

have fun in what ever you do and

best wishes.“ A young person

commenting about the team

members who are leaving.

Rukaya is returning to her hometown in Wales

where she will be involved in the youth

work in her church. Top Banner photo, Megan and

James taking on a challenge in Rock Solid.

At the end of the year the team

set a day aside to review the

year and look back on all that

God has done in and through us.

We also spent time praying for

each other for the future. The

day finished with some archery

and a barbeque before final

good byes. Whilst none of us

would have qualified for archery

at the Commonwealth Games

we did have fun!

End of year team day

The Flat, The Pavilion, Hatherley Lane, Cheltenham. GL51 6PN [email protected] 01242 524408 Charity Number 1059805

Ways to give

To make a one-off or regular donation to our ministry

you can give via our Virgin Money Giving page. You

can also set up a fundraising page if you wish to do a

sponsored event. Visit www.tinyurl.com/give2cyfc

Keep in touch

cheltenhamyfc.blogspot.com

facebook.com/cheltenhamyfc

@cheltenhamyfc

Balancing the books In our last update we advertised for a part time book

keeper. We are delighted to say that Barrie Wyatt has

taken on the role. Barrie and his wife Gill, members at

Cheltenham Network Church, have been involved with

CYFC for many years and therefore know lots about

our work. Barrie has a great financial background and

also supports a number of charities through advice and

training. He comes with a great set of gifts and already

we can see the advantage of having someone

managing the accounts in the office. Over the years

we have had an amazing group of volunteers who have

taken on the role of treasurer but as the role has grown

so has the time needed to complete it. Those

volunteers have laid a great foundation from which

Barrie can build.

Are we there yet? Summer brings those long family drives that inevitably

bring about the familiar question “Are we there yet?” It

feels a little similar with the launch of YFC

Gloucestershire. We are currently in the process of

applying to the Charity Commission for CIO status. We

expect to have it established in October and will do a

full launch in January. This will not change our work

initially but will allow it to expand and grow and to

continue developing our work in Tewkesbury,

Gloucester and wider afield across the county. We

have a few more roads to navigate down but we are

getting closer.

Join the team?

Could you be involved in our work? We need volunteers to

help us develop and grow our work amongst young people.

Church Link co-ordinator (2-3 hours a month)

Responsible for contacting churches and supporting local

church CYFC representatives. If you love talking with

people, encouraging and supporting them and have good

organisation skills you could make a huge difference to our

work.

Office Manager (1 day per week)

We are looking for someone who is able to run an office,

providing support to staff, managing our database,

overseeing projects to ensure they are completed,

overseeing policy implementation and ensuring we run as

efficiently as possible.

Web Designer (Variable to suit)

We need to develop a website and are looking for someone

with some experience to build one.

Graphic Design (2-3 hours per month)

We are always in need of design work for events and

publicity. If you have the relevant skills you could release the

team to be undertaking more face to face youth work.

Event manager (Variable to suit)

We have two main events each year, our auction and quiz

night. We would like to do more but we do not have the

capacity. If you are organised and would like to be involved

in co-ordinating these and other events such as our mission

weeks you could make a real difference in the lives of young

people.

Fundraiser (Variable to suit)

If you have skills in bidding for grants from Trusts or would

like to gain them, we need someone able to spend time in

identifying and applying to trusts.

All of these positions are voluntary but will play key roles in

helping us to change young peoples’ lives. You can give as

much or as little time as you are able. Contact Paul on 07855

408068 or email [email protected] for details.

Upcoming Events

Weekly

9am Thursday Mornings CYFC

prayer meeting: All are welcome to

join the team to pray for our work.

September

6th Our new gap years

students arrive

14th Paul preaching at Holy

Apostles

21st Paul speaking at

Christians Together in

Shurdington

26-28th Leading the youth work

at the Gorsley Chapel

weekend away

October

5th National YFC Director,

Gavin Calver preaching

at Cambray Baptist

November

22nd CYFC Auction: Venue

TBC

summer 2014

Documents