Summer!

Lots has changed since the last youth work blog!

At Gunville we've seen a huge growth in numbers at Rock Solid over the past few months and we're looking forward to lots of exciting activities that are coming up.

We decided to take a break from The Space, but now we're hoping to start a new group sometime soon.

Over the summer, some of the girls from Rock Solid attended SPREE - a residential youth weekend at Westbrook where we had lots of fun with bouncy castles, a swimming pool and a big water fight among other things and also lots of time to talk about God and sing some great songs.

Gunville Rock Solid also took part in the Rock Solid Sports Night where we competed against other Rock Solid groups in lots of sports activities.

YFC took around 100 young people from the island camping at Soul Survivor this summer where we got to spend loads of time worshiping God, learning some great truths and having loads of fun with 8,000 other people.

Soul Survivor

Since then we've said farewell to 3 core team members, but also welcomed 4 new ones! The team is getting on really well so far and we're excited about all of our plans for the coming year. We ran a Catalyst youth worship event a couple of weeks ago when Hannah spoke about 'keeping the fire burning after Soul Survivor'. We also have lots of great events coming up.

At Moorlands, we've really hit the ground running after the summer break with a block week of lectures followed by a 3 day residential called 'Personal Development Exercise'.

If you'd like to be involved in youth work at Gunville or to find out more, please leave a comment or get in touch!

8th June 2014

Rock Solid:We played lots of games such as 'doughnut face races' and 'rapi-doh' this week, as well as having a chat about why we have an Old Testament and a New Testament.

Schools Work:
We went into Carisbrooke on Monday to give out free juice and to CTK  on Friday during lunch time to chat to young people there. This week it was warm and dry enough to do it outside, and the sun seemed to make the students much more thirsty than normal so we were very busy!

Moorlands:

We had our final day of our first year at Moorlands with talks about preparations for second year and an extended chapel service which was great.

The Space:

The space moved to a later time this evening and we had the opportunity to play some games and have a chat with one of the local young people.

Emerge:

We ran Emerge on Friday with help from a team of people from the Jubilee Training Centre on the Mainland. We shared in some sung worship and heard a talk about 'sonship'

Other stuff:

Other than a few meetings that you probably don't really want to read about in a blog, the 'other stuff' this week includes a Rock Solid film night on Saturday when we watched The Lion King which was great fun, and the youth led service this morning themed on worship.

25th May 2014

Rock Solid:
We had been planning a scavenger hunt for Rock Solid this week with Newport Rock Solid, however, the weather didn't seem to agree with our plans, so we postponed the scavenger hunt in favor of some games in the dry with the boys from Newport Rock Solid.


Schools Work:
We went into Carisbrooke on Monday to give out free juice and to CTK  on Friday during lunch time to chat to young people there.

Moorlands:

We continued our lectures on Hermeneutics and the Old Testament. We looked at Amos in OT, and at allegory and typology in Hermeneutics - the way that some parts of the Old Testament point towards a better version of what they are in the New Testament (I think!)

The Space:

This week we held The Space, as it currently is, for the last time. After half term the time will be changing to 6.30 - 9pm. If you'd like to help out, please let me know! 

(This basically involves drinking hot chocolate, eating cake, and hopefully chatting to young people - who wouldn't want to come and help out?!)

DofE:

The young people at DofE continued their map work this week. We have been planning an expedition for the end of the month, but unfortunately it has been postponed.

Map work at DofE

Catalyst:

At YFC we held a youth worship event on Friday evening called Catalyst. It was themed around peer pressure and we shared in a time of sung worship together.

Other stuff:

I had a meeting with YFC as usual and another meeting with my YFC mentor to chat about how everything is going as a YTP at Gunville. 

I'm leaving the island for a few days over half term to spend some time with my family back home whilst the schools are off and we're not running our usual activities.

COMING UP:

On Sunday 8th June we will be holding a youth led service at Gunville Methodist with some young people from Cowes.

18th May 2014

Rock Solid:
Rock Solid was great fun again this week. We played a 'running around version' of 'Rock, Paper, Scissors' among other games, had a chat about what makes you a good or bad person and spent some time making bookmarks.

Craft at Rock Solid

Games at Rock Solid

Schools Work:
We went into CTK as usual on Friday during lunch time to chat to young people there and build relationships.

Moorlands:

We had lectures on Hermeneutics and Old Testament again this week, but we also had the author of the book 'Living Out' come in to do a Q&A session in the afternoon which was brilliant.

DofE:

The young people at DofE worked on their plans for their expedition this week. We're hoping to get them out to complete their practice expedition during half term.

Other stuff:

We have plans for an upcoming service to be led by young people from Gunville and Cowes, so this week I met up with a youth worker from Cowes to start making plans.
I also attended a first aid course this week along with others who are on the youth team at Gunville... so now we're fully prepared!

COMING UP:

For Rock Solid this week, we're meeting up with Newport Rock Solid for a scavenger hunt up at the forest - should be good fun!

11th May 2014

TWO WEEK UPDATE!

Rock Solid:
We welcomed yet more girls to Rock Solid recently and have been starting to have some really good discussions about faith, life and God. I'm so excited to see the young people really thinking in depth about these kinds of issues and sharing some insightful thoughts. We've also played a bunch of crazy games like 'bed sheet relay races' and 'the water challenge'.

Rock Solid

The Space:
After a quiet week at the end of April, we welcomed 'Go Deeper' (a youth group from Cowes) this week, and after playing a game of dobble and having a drink and cake, they helped us to hand out free cakes around Gunville.
After half term we have agreed to change the time of The Space to 6.30 - 9pm. We hope that this will enable us to fulfill the vision of The Space better and welcome more young people from the local area who have nowhere to go in the evenings.

Rising Tide:
Last week we had a look at heros and talked about how Jesus has saved us. As I was away today at RS weekend Away, Emma led Rising Tide.

Rock Solid Weekend Away and RS Quest:
This weekend I've been at Westbrooke in Ryde helping to lead IOW YFC's annual 'Rock Solid Weekend Away'. The whole weekend is for young people in year 8 from across the island who go to a Rock Solid club. We had a great weekend playing games, eating good food and learning about Jesus.

On Saturday afternoon, everyone else who goes to a Rock Solid club on the island joined us for 'RS Quest' - an afternoon of challenges. Some of our young people from Gunville Rock Solid came along and we teamed up with Niton Rock Solid to form 'NUNVILLE!' Everyone did really well in the challenges and we came in third place!

Some of Team 'Nunville' at RS Quest

Uganda Evening:
Last Saturday I ran a social evening at Church all about Uganda. People got to try some typical Ugandan food, have a go at speaking Luganda and even played a game! 

Local food at the Uganda Evening

Moorlands:

This week I finished my last essay for this year and next week I'll be handing in my portfolio - I'll still have a couple more weeks of lectures, but the end of my first year at Moorlands is in sight!

DofE:

At Duke of Edinburgh the young people have been starting to plan their route for their first expedition which we're hoping to do in May half term.

27th April 2014

An insight into what I get up to as the YTP student in Gunville

At Gunville Methodist Church:

• Rock Solid:
  Rock Solid was brilliant this week, we had lots of fun with parachute games, human play-doh and crazy relay races involving bed sheets(!), and everyone got so engaged in a discussion about identity that we didn't even have time for our last activity!

• The Space:
  Unfortunately it was raining during The Space this week so we didn't have any takers for cake and hot chocolate because everyone wanted to get home and change out of their wet school uniform.

• Rising Tide:
  In Rising Tide this week we'll be thinking about the responisibility and mission that we have as Christians.

Moorlands:
I've almost finished my current essay for Moorlands which is due to be handed in on Tuesday. We had lectures this week on Hermeneutics and on the Old Testament.

With Youth For Christ

• Team Meeting
  Because we didn't have a meeting on Monday, we met on Thursday to plan Rock Solid Weekend Away.
• Lunch Club
  We went into Christ the King on Friday for lunch club. As it was raining we couldn't run any games so we just spent some time chatting to young people whilst they were eating their lunch.

• Emerge
  Emerge is our most 'in depth' youth event. We moved it into a different room this week which is much smaller than usual which gave it a very different feel. We shared in some sung worship together and Simon gave a talk on freedom.

Duke of Edinburgh:

Before Easter we took the young people from DofE on their first day walk, so this week we reviewed how it went and put a programme together for this term - everyone agreed that we need to do a lot more work on navigation and map and compass skills!

WAYS TO GET INVOLVED:

• We need another leader to join Gunville Rock Solid on the 10th May at RS Quest at the Westbrook Centre in Ryde.

• If you'd like to be involved in baking or providing cakes for The Space please let me know or sign up on the sign up sheet in the church.
• If you'd like to be involved in helping at Rock Solid, Rising Tide or The Space, or if you have another idea, please contact me.

Things to pray for:

• Thank God for all of the girls at Rock Solid and pray that they will continue to learn and grow.
• Pray for The Space and for guidance on how best to move forwards.

Lorna Randall
07582778489
lornarandall812@hotmail.com
www.lornarandall.blogspot.com

13th April 2014

Its the Easter Holidays! 
...So everything is a little different at the moment.

I've taken a few days holiday to visit home and friends over the Easter break whilst we don't have our usual term time activities (And to write an essay!). 
But before I left, the girls from Rock Solid spent a couple of hours washing cars at the church on Tuesday afternoon in aid of Smile Charity Uganda. We had a brilliant afternoon and raised an impressive total of £50! Well done to all the girls, and thank you very much to everyone who brought their cars along and helped out!

Rising Tide, The Space and Rock Solid will resume after the Easter Holiday.