Weekly Email September 29th 2008

Afternoon, and welcome to the greyness of late September!

Things are developing nicely at the moment, we have some extras looming, so keep your eyes open for them!

This Week:

Wednesday - Starbucks from 3 and ALF from 6.30 @ St P’s.

Thursday - CU @ George Spencer at Lunchtime in Room 64 and Showcase after school in Base 4.

Friday – Ju Yeon and I are at Bispham School for Harvest Festival on Friday morning, and between us covering Play & Praise, GYM and rock Solid the rest of the day!

Saturday – Although not a youth event, please remember Sarah Coleman as she is Licensed as a Reader at Southwell Minster.

Sunday – The top 2 groups from Sunday School are heading out and about to do some voluntary service with Friends of Toton Fields – meet at the Greenwood Centre @ 10.00 am and we’ll be finished by 12.00 noon. Wear scruffs, and give me a shout if you need more info or a consent form please. Alpha @ Breathe continues on Sunday evening @ St P’s from 7.00 pm.

Looking Ahead:

Two big events to let you know about, one of which needs a fairly swift response from you please!

Alpha Weekend Away

We are looking at 2 dates for this, and need to know which one suits more people. Please email me back with your name and which of these dates - January 23^rd -25^th or February 13^th-15^th (the beginning of half term) would suit you better. Once we know a definite date we’ll be able to confirm venues and cost. As always, if cost is an issue, please let me know.

Youth Exchange

Note the date for your diary now – Wednesday October 22^nd @ 7.30pm. I’m hosting an open evening to sound out how much interest there is in a youth exchange between Toton Churches and another youth group in another country. I have been part of 2 – one in the early 1990’s as a young leaders exchange and more recently in 2006 & 2007 when I lead a trip to Washington DC (in 2006) and then in 2007 hosted a group from there. This is a chance for anyone involved in the churches to find out a bit more about what’s involved, how we would go about organising one and looking at selecting prospective partners. And don’t just think it’s for teenagers only, there will be some adult spaces available as well! Please bear in mind that it will take about 18 months to organise, so although you might think you are too young now, we are looking at travelling potentially in 2010. There will be a minimum age limit, but that will depend on what part of the world we partner with, what we would look at doing etc. As a guide, for the trip to America in 2006 there was a minimum age of 14 to travel, but a trip to Africa might involve a minimum age of 16.

I will be putting together basic information packs later in the week, please keep an eye out for them.

A night out for leaders, parents, volunteers

On Thursday October 9^th, Rob Parsons will be speaking in Derby on his recent book “Teenagers! What every parent has to know”. Rob is a very insightful, thought provoking and encouraging speaker, as well as entertaining! Here are some quotes from his book “The Sixty Second Marriage”

• “It’s never okay to kiss a boy. They always slobber all over you… That’s why I stopped doing it” Joanne, aged 10.
• “Be a good kisser. It might make your wife forget that you never take out the rubbish.” Dave, aged 8
• “It’s better for girls to be single but not for boys. Boys need someone to clean up after them!” Lynette, aged 9.

If you are interested in going, let me know, cos I fancy it. The web address is http://www.careforthefamily.org.uk/.

That’s it for this week. Please let me know about dates for the Alpha weekend, and keep your eyes peeled for the youth exchange info.

Have a good week, and keep smiling! God bless,

Andy