Show Me All the Blue Prints.

Has it really been three weeks?
My sincere apologies, but I've been busier than busy. I took the half term week off and went home, as there wasn't much going on in the church that week. So I spent my first couple of weeks back catching up!
The photos are the following:

1. (and 2) Rehearsing for the recording session
2. (and 1) Rehearsing for the recording session
3. Gingerbread man-eater
4. My Dad and his new contact lenses
5. Sunrise over Eastbourne
6. Making blueprints for the new arts centre.

So half term was a week spent at home. The meat in my half term sandwich was the very first recording of my band Silence Sung. We spent the week rehearsing (as you can see in the photos) then on the Saturday we actually went and did it. It was fairly disasterous, we only came out with two complete songs. I won't go into wha went wrong, but a lot did. But. It was a learning experience, and we now know what not to do next time! And at the end of the day, we got a couple of songs out of it. I also spent a lot of the week seeing lots of friends and family, which is always lovely! Somehow, and I really don't know how, I got roped into doing my home-church's half term holiday club. Please bear in mind that it was my week OFF of children & youth work. But alas, it was still good fun! It was great to be back at Parkside (my home church) and to see everyone there. The Grand Finalé of my week off was the unbeatable Littlehampton Bonfire Night. A classic show and the usual planet-annihilating, mega-bonfire.

But then it was time to get back to the Bourne. Man-alive, did I have some work to catch up on. I got back and was in my first meeting within 25mins. What with it coming up to Christmas (time to admit it), it's all systems go at church. I have normal Christmas churchy things to organise (nativities, christingles, carol services, club panto trips) but I also have two clubs that are about to kick off! I've just started up a breakfast club and afterschool club which is being advertised to literally thousands of children. The breakfast club I am running in collaboration with a local baptist church which is perfectly situated directly opposite the biggest secondary school in Eastbourne, so they will be our target audience. The afterschool club will be advertised to all the local primary schools, including the biggest primary school in Europe. So a lot of work!

I've also been designing blue-prints (but not on blue paper) for the church as I start planning the new arts centre. It was originally a theatre/ballroom so rooms for things like box office and changing rooms are in the right place, just not in the right state. So I've been designing plans for this big change to the church, which should be amazing! It will be a great way for the community to get into the church as well.

I've been a leader at a youth group in the area for a few weeks now. This group has up to 100 children attending, so is therefore split into two sessions. It means that as a leader, I arrive at 5.30pm and leave at 10.30pm. Last week I had an opportunity to do the teaching bit. We've been looking at 'BIG Questions' and so I had to come up with a question and then answer it for them. I chose an old favourite, 'Was Jesus a Man or God?' It went very well, and I love having the opportunities to share my faith with kids and young people and to teach them a little bit about Jesus. I was asked at the end
"Did Jesus have a winkle?"

Sigh. I looked around the room at the other leaders. Some looked absolutely outraged, some saw the lighter side. I took it with good humour and emphasised my point that Jesus was 100% God, but also 100% man, so of course he had a... winkle. He seemed content with my answer. This is what I have to work with, ladies and gentlemen! So this group is an amazing chance to reach out to the youth of Eastbourne, and I have been offered the job of head-honcho of the first session. This will give me the responsibility of 50 kids and 15 leaders. So I need to decide now. It would be good training, but this group is not conncted with my placement church in any way.

I also had the opportunity to preach to a slightly more mature congregation. It was the mid-week communion service with a very small attendance, but it gave me a chance to give a sermon in an Anglican church. I talked about how our faith is incomplete without a relationship with Jesus. It got a good response and I felt it went well.

The scouts have asked me to come back to give another session and also to plug the Tuesday evening 'Impact'. Talking of Impact, they've taken to the new format very well, they enjoy the more study-based part of the evening and they also enjoy the more organised leisure part of the evening, with group games and organised craft. We've just taken on another two leaders, which is great for the team. We finally have the much needed female leaders! The group of teenagers was pretty much a group of individuals when I started in Eastbourne. It was a group that didn't connect with each other (except in particular friend groups) and did not open up or share thoughts. They are becoming much closer and obviously feel more confident with each other. I've been doing a Q+A session over the last three weeks where they can ask questions which I will try and answer, share any thoughts or feelings, testify or give prayer requests. So far, there hasn't been any of it, but this week we had loads of each thing. What's more, two of the boys prayed in the open prayer time which has never happened before! I hope that this will encourage the others.

M'Ladies and Gentlemen, a few prayer requests from myself, if you will;

• Continual strength during this mad time of year
• Children will hear about the new clubs starting up and will want to come
• Clarity on what to do about the offer of head-honcho
• The fellowship in Impact will grow and grow

And finally, a verse of encouragment for those who are as tired as I have been (which is very).

"Come to me all or you who are tired and have heavy loads, and I will give you rest. Accept my teachings and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in spirit, and you will find rest for your lives. The teaching I ask you to accept is easy, the load I give you to carry is light."

I'm up for some of that.
It's been an amazing 3 weeks. Half term was great and the last two weeks in Eastbourne have been very fruitful and have made awesome progression. I hope and pray that this next week will be much the same!

Cheer-chap!
Mikey x