We always love telling the stories of the churches, Faith Guides and projects you support. But these are often just snapshots of the day-to-day adventures that continue all year round. With this in mind, we have picked a few of the stories we’ve featured this year to celebrate over again and find out how things are going as the projects progress.
You might remember the ‘So, What’s Next’ resource we showcased earlier this year. A joint project between SU and with New Wine’s Luminosity youth team, specifically designed to help young people after they’ve responded to Jesus.
We introduced you to Faith Guide Joel Barwick who, alongside his role as a youth pastor in Newcastle, is also involved with New Wine’s annual Luminosity youth event (at which Scripture Union gives talks and runs workshops and activities as part of a wider partnership with New Wine).
Joel says, ‘Every year, hundreds of young people at Luminosity decide to follow Jesus, including some from the 95. Making that commitment is a huge moment in their lives! However, Luminosity only lasts a week. After that, these new Christians are back home and on their own. We don’t want young people’s faith to depend on festivals, but on Jesus and knowing him every day.
‘So, we wanted to give them something to take home which would help them navigate faith, but we couldn’t find anything suitable. Existing resources tend to presume a level of knowledge about faith that some of these young people don’t have. And that’s why we developed our own.’
We signed off our story before the summer began and now we are delighted to be able to fill you in on some of the story going forwards.
Lots of the SU team were at Luminosity in a range of different capacities, and reports from the field (or the tent in some cases) have been very encouraging. More than 5,000 copies of the ‘So, What’s Next’ resource were either purchased or given away over the summer events, and it was well received by young people and their leaders.
SU Mission Enabler Lucy Pearson was also at Luminosity, hosting in the ‘Rooted’ Tent. After the event she shared this: ‘Rooted at luminosity…what a week! The Rooted Tent offers space to respond and grow for the young people at Luminosity. Away from the louder and busier settings, it offers a space for conversation, friendship building and prayer.
‘This year we saw an influx of young people using the space as their own. Rooted hub cards were popular, with many engaging in some pretty deep conversations sparked through the questions. Many were keen to take Rooted grow journals to help live out their faith at home, read the Bible and pray.
‘We had regulars who really valued the space, and a number of people who had come to New Wine on their own left with a group of mates. We had the chance to pray over situations such as anxiety, doubt, boldness, healing and questions, and saw many young people praying for each other too!’
Our relationship with New Wine continues and we are already looking forward to seeing how we can work together to create more opportunities for young people to connect and grow with God’s word as they journey with him into the future.