What are you and your church doing for Youth Sunday 2011? We would love to hear your plans.

http://youthsunday.prayforyoungpeople.info/

From Youth Sunday on the 11th September 2011 to Sunday 18th September 2011 churches from across the Mersey Region will be praying specifically for young people.

As well as large prayer events happening all over the region, smaller groups and individuals will all be spending time interceding on behalf of young people, their youth leaders, their teachers and those who make the key decisions that effect them.

Nearer the time we will make a number of resources available to you so you can be part of this very special week and we will be publicising information about the various events in the weeks and months to come.

So what will you and your Church be doing for the Mersey Region Week of Prayer For Young People, 11th-17th September 2011? And for Youth Sunday – 11th September 2011? We would love to hear your plans.

For more information please visit http://prayforyoungpeople.info/

I watched Slumdog Millionaire over Christmas and felt gutted for the little kids in the slum? Its too easy for me to be challenged but make no effort to make a difference.

Its a drop in the ocean of the problem but Wirral YFC is taking 13 young people on a mission trip to work with real ‘Slumdog’ kids in the slums of Hyderabad. We will help set up a temporary clinic on the dump so the local workers can provide aid. We will also work in school that has been set up there to teach the young people Maths and English to help them find employment.

If you would consider giving between £1 and £100 to help us get the the young people there I would be very grateful. You can give here: http://www.everyclick.com/wyfc-india-mission-2011
So why not just raise money and give it to the local Indian folks who can make a real difference? Surely more could be done if you gave local organisations the money rather than blowing it on flights and a holiday for relatively ‘rich’ young people from the Wirral!

Its a very good question and one that is right to ask. We did ask this of ourselves and this is why we believe its a very good use of your money…

1. It provides us with an opportunity to take young people on a trip that will really challenge and shape them them on a number of levels.

2. We wanted some of the young people we know to to explore what it really means to lay down everything to serve the poor.

3. We wanted to have an opportunity to build on some existing relationships with a shared experience.

4. We wanted to have a genuine impact on the people we met. OM were very clear that they would be blessed if we brought out some people to serve and to come back and share the vision. They want the young people to teach others and inspire the Indian young people to do the same.

5. Its definitely not a holiday; they will be working very hard. No hotel too; sleeping on the floor at OM hq.

6. Many of the young people coming with us are from families who our government class as ‘deprived’. They too live in poverty although its by no means on the same scale as the kids in the dumps.

7. We dont have access to a pot of cash earmarked for a charity working in India, but we do have people who can serve. Its not like if we didn’t go that would free up money to send. The money will come so we can send the people.

8. Young people are raising money for the trip from their friends and family but the hope is that if we can find others to give then the young peoples money will be donated to OM for medical supplies for the slum kids.

The walkers started up ‘the Ben’ at 5pm as planned and were in good spirits making good time. However the expected rain began about 15 minutes later and quickly turned very heavy. It was at this point both tracking devices failed with water damage as the team’s water proof jackets and bags gave in under the force of the wind driven torrent. Apologies for any disappointment caused by this!

While other teams where being pulled off the mountain by the RAF Search and Rescue Helicopter (only feet in front of our guys at one point) our guys soldiered on and completed Stage 1 in around 7 hours finishing saturated and cold in the dark mist.

The overnight drive through the highlands was perilous and unavoidably slow particularly at Glen Coe which had begun to flood and so our hope to complete in under 24hrs was already looking out of our reach. Despite this disappointment, the walkers felt it was right to honour all those who had so kindly sponsored us and so we headed down the M6 for Scafell Pike in the Lake District.

On arrival at the foot of Scafell at 7:30am we were greeted by worse conditions than those at Ben Nevis. Aborting the challenge as this stage was discussed but as members of other teams began to drop out every member of the 6 person strong Wirral YFC walking team pulled on their drenched gear, stocked up on Mars Bars and set off in to the gale-force winds and horizontal rain.

Just over three hours later the walkers reached the summit of Scafell and after a brief rest at the top they returned back down for the journey to Snowdon in North Wales. Although 24hrs was now impossible we headed to Snowdonia feeling proud that the walkers had managed to complete 2 of the 3 peaks in conditions were most other would have simply given up.

As we drove along the A55 and in to Snowdonia the foreboding peak of Snowdon became clear and we all breathed a sigh of relief on discovering that the top was clear of cloud and rain. Taking the Pyg path the walkers set off up their last peak. Sam and Richard Williams reached the top in a stunningly fast time and still had the energy to run the last mile of the Miner’s path back to the minibus hurdling the car park gate to finish in a total time of just over 29 hours. Given the conditions this was simply incredible!

Sarah Hockley and Christine Rushworth arrived around an hour later after a mammoth effort and finally Brendan Gillooliy and Joel Hockley arrived to great applause with heads held high as darkness set in.

The whole team worked so hard and while we would have liked to have completed the challenge in under 24hrs we are all still very pleased. It is a huge achievement to climb one of the peaks individually; to climb all three in 30 hours in horrendous conditions is amazing.

A huge thank you to all who sponsored to walkers and helped us raise nearly £3000 to take good news relevantly to more young people in Wirral. If you have not yet sponsored the team and would like to please do get in touch.

Pictures to follow shortly!

On the 9th July 2010 Sarah, two young people, our Chair of Trustees and two of our supporters will be setting heading for Fort William to take part in the National Three Peaks Challenge, a mountain-endurance challenge in which participants attempt to climb the highest peaks of each of the island’s three countries.

Whilst the challenge has no official rules or time restrictions, many participants, our team included, will try  complete the challenge within 24 hours using motorised transport to travel between the mountains.

The mountains climbed, in order of elevation, are Ben Nevis in Western Scotland, 1,344 metres (4,409 ft), Snowdon in North Wales, 1,085 metres (3,560 ft), and Scafell Pike in North-Western England, 978 metres (3,209 ft). In all the challenge involves some 42 kilometres (26 mi) of ascent and descent, and a round trip of nearly 900 miles.

We will be leaving on Friday the 9th July and spending the night in Fort William before starting the clock at 5pm as the team leaves for the summit of Ben Nevis.  24 hours, and some 900 miles of driving later, the team hopes to be standing on the top of Snowdon in North Wales having climbed to the peak of Scafell pike on the way.

• Sponsor the team online here: http://dld.bz/3peaks-sponsor-us
• Track the team live here: http://3peaks.wirralyfc.org.uk/track/
• Facebook Group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=136340556382189&v=wall&ref=ts
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/wyfc_3peaks
• Get 3 Peaks updates via SMS by texting follow WYFC_3Peaks to 86444 in the UK – charges apply

The next Catalyst will be taking place on the 21st February at St Michael and All Angels in Newton, West Kirby.

• Start: 8:00pm – Finish: 9:00pm,
• Worship led by Jonny Brennan from YP2,
• Creative Prayers led by Aimee Farlam from Chester College
• Martin Dickson speaking.

For more details about Catalyst go here.

We are currently looking for as many people as possible to join us on the sponsored Wirral Coastal Walk which is being held on the 23rd May 2010. This annual event run by the Rotary Club of North Wirral gathered 4,500 walkers last year and raised an estimated £330,000 for numerous charities and good causes.

This year we would like to raise somewhere in the region of £5,000 for our work with young people in Wirral and we would like you to help us make it happen. Please do consider walking with us.

As well as having the satisfaction of completing the walk in the knowledge that you have helped WYFC in their mission to take good news relevantly to every young person in Wirral, you will also get:

• A map of the course (your choice of 5,10, 13 or 15 miles)
• An official sponsorship form
• Free refreshment stops along the way
• A Wirral YFC 2010 Coastal Walk team hoodie (or T-shirt if you would prefer)
• A Wirral YFC commemorative mug
• £10 gift voucher
• A certificate/thank you from the Wirral YFC Director, Martin Dickson

Should you wish to take part please do get in touch. We need to have final numbers by the end of April.

Follow us on twitter for regular updates from the conference.

We have just found this photo of the 2009 fourball winning team. This fantasic day gathered over 50 local golfers and raised over £800 for Wirral YFC. If you are a golfer keep an eye out for details of our 2010 tornament.