Once again, our annual youth weekend away was a fabulous time for many young people and their youth leaders.We welcomed 85 people to the event, coming from nine different local churches, from Leamington, Warwick and Coventry. It was a special time and seemed to be really enjoyed.
We focused on the theme of Basecamp – that God’s church is a basecamp, where we can be recharged, refreshed and refocused, ready to head out and to serve him in whatever ways he wants us to.
As always, there were a range of activities on offer, to encourage teamwork and to build courage and self-confidence, whether this was the swing jump on the high ropes course or the Spiderman scramble down the abseiling tower. The staff at the Pioneer Centre are always great at encouraging individuals to push themselves a little bit further than they first think might be achievable.
On the Saturday afternoon we had a choice of seminars for people to attend, including how to love the Bible, relationships and how to recognise your gifts. Each was run by a local youth leader with the help of a teenage young leader.
One girl came up to me having been to the seminar on discovering your gifts and was so excited. She struggles with a stammer and we had talked earlier that day. Now she was smiling because she had realised that God had gifted her with the ability to sing, as when she sings the stammer disappears.
As we were talking, our youth worship band were practising. She told me how she wished she could sing in such a band but that she would never have the confidence to perform in front of others. I quietly suggested that God might have other plans, that if he had given her the gift then he would give her the confidence as well. She was not convinced.
A few minutes later, I was chatting to one of the youth leaders when this beautiful, angelic voice started singing over the sound system. Who was this incredible voice? I turned round to see this girl now singing with the youth band, who were all encouraging her to keep going.
It was a wonderful sight to take in. Not only how she was loving being able to sing, but to see the musicians all rooting for her and willing for her to get involved. None of the band knew her before the weekend, but it demonstrated something of God’s kingdom that we had hoped the weekend would demonstrate – that of unity by the Spirit, and forming friendships across the churches.