Tickets on the door available – £5

The Band With No Name are set to say Farewell to Merseyside In June with an exclusive gig right here in Wirral. Just 200 people will be given the opportunity to attend this intimate farewell concert  that is taking place on the 25th June 2010 at the Wirral Christian Centre in Birkenhead. If you would like to be one of the special few please do get in touch with us.

Everyclick.com has launched a new way to donate which means you can search the web, shop on line from your favourite retailers, trade on eBay and raise money for Wirral Youth for Christ.

You get great search results from Yahoo!, content from leading shopping providers and access to all eBay auctions. Every search you make creates a donation for charity.

The special address is http://www.everyclick.com/wirral-youth-for-christ, all searches, shopping and eBay activity made from here will raise money for Wirral YFC.

Make sure you sign up so you can track your giving – it updates every 3 minutes, you’ll be amazed how quickly it adds up!

Everyclick has already raised over £1,184,558.16 for a wide range of charities around the UK, and Everyclick was voted website of the Year 2008 and has been recognised as a top 100 media tech company 2009.

Discover the new way to give to Wirral Youth for Christ.

For many years people have been under the impression that Christian churches are in competition with each other and with our society’s modern ways. The view presented is often that of an old, irrelevant, religious tradition that no longer has a significant role to play in life. We would like to ensure you that this is not the truth! The church in Wirral is working hard together and with others to make a positive impact on our communities. Pray for Wirral is just one expression of this and was born out of a desire to see our communities regenerated and revived socially, financially and spiritually.

Christians believe that prayer is powerful and that if we pray and ask God for His help he will heal our land. Pray for Wirral then is about Wirral Christians putting what they believe in to action for the good of the people and peninsular we love. Many different churches, Christian organisations and individuals are getting involved and each will bring their own distinct ‘flavour’ of prayer and worship.

Martin Dickson, the Director of Wirral Youth for Christ and the Pray for Wirral Co-ordinator writes,

“There is no agenda other than to inspire people to pray specifically for the Wirral… and all that could mean. My hope is that Pray for Wirral will play its own small part in reigniting our passion for prayer. I am also hoping that many people will be encouraged to spend more time with God. I am inspired by the stories of Moses’ encounters with God in Exodus. When Moses returned to the people after meeting with God in His glory the people noticed a tangible change in him both physically and spiritually. I am convinced that we too are noticeably changed when we spend time in God’s presence and that this must positively impact those around us. If Pray for Wirral inspires people to spend more time deliberately connecting with God, both individually and corporately, seeking His face and patiently waiting for His response I will be so pleased. The amazing thing is that we know God will respond; He says in 1 Chronicles 7.14 that if we humble ourselves and pray and seek His face and turn from our selfish ways, then He will hear from heaven and will forgive ours sin and He will heal our land. What an awesome promise!”

Although there are many aspects of the Pray for Wirral initiative the main focus is an ongoing series of well informed termly prayer updates with themes that are pertinent to the Wirral and its people. Each of these will be written by Christians with experience in the areas in questions and will include various related bible studies, prayer points and creative prayer ideas. The information will be sent to every church in the Wirral and made available to all via the pray for Wirral website; the impetus will then be with those who have received the information to use it in ways which best suit their context.

Pray for Wirral starts with a high profile launch week from the 17th – 23rd October 2010 which includes a launch event on the evening of Sunday 17th October 2010 at Woodchurch High School. For more details on the exciting plans for launch week and for a clearer picture of the people behind Pray for Wirral and the aims, objectives and plans for long term sustainability please do visit the Pray for Wirral website at http://prayforwirral.info, email admin@prayforwirral.info or call the Wirral Youth for Christ office on 0151 647 8400.

Here are the words of an insightful new song by Regina Spektor called Laughing With, it is the first single from her new album Far, due for release on the 26th June. I think we will be using in assemblies before long.

Laughing With: Regina Spektor

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one’s laughing at God
When they’re starving or freezing or so very poor…

But God can be funny
At a cocktail party when listening to a good God-themed joke, or
Or when the crazies say He hates us
And they get so red in the head you think they’re ‘bout to choke
God can be funny,
When told he’ll give you money if you just pray the right way
And when presented like a genie who does magic like Houdini
Or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket and Santa Claus
God can be so hilarious

One of the best things about the YFC Staff Conference is the opportunity to network with a huge variety of people who bring vastly different perspectives, experiences and methodologies to a united mission – the declaration and demonstration of the gospel to the young people of the Great Britain.

This year Martin met Nick Shepherd who is the Leader of the Centre for Youth Ministry and he provided some very interesting food for thought with a simple question,”Does the mission look like Superman or Robin Hood?” – The answer has some huge implications! As Martin continues:

Superman is a super hero whose mission is to save people from a corrupt world. He steps in and rescues people from their problems.

Robin Hood is a heroic rebel whose mission is to fight on behalf of justice, peace, freedom and truth. He provides for those in need and seeks to uphold the values of the kingdom against oppression until the king returns. He sets people free from the clutches of their corrupt masters in the process.

Jesus was, and is, both and the implied nature of Nick’s challenge was ‘are you sure Wirral YFC are both too?’

Wirral YFC are primarily Proclamational Evangelists, to put it simply we tell as many young people as possible the truth about themselves as people who were created by a loving God (Jesus and Paul often told people who and what they were in God’s eyes before they told them how to behave), the nature of sin, the relevance of Jesus and particularly the Atonement. As such we affirm, or engage, in something of a ‘Superman’ mission. We present Jesus a future, almost eschatological, means of salvation from a corrupt and sinful world and I think Paul did something  similar – Paul’s gospel message was ‘I was a sinner who needed to be saved and because of my trust in Jesus’ death and resurrection I have been saved, I am saved and I will be saved’. I had always thought this was the gospel but now I need to reconsider – is the gospel more Robin Hood than this? Future salvation when the physical body dies is certainly gospel truth, but what of the ‘Kingdom Come’ now, is that part of the gospel too?

What would it mean if our thinking shifted to a Robin Hood style of mission; there are many who would suggest that this is more like the mission Jesus defined for the church? A Robin Hood style of mission would certainly see us sharing the gospel with less young people each year, of that I am certain. Proclamational Evangelism would still figure but it would also see us looking for ways to provide for young people who are from deprived families, or no families for that matter. It would mean more time spent fighting for youth justice perhaps by advocating or lobbying at local government level on young people’s behalf. It might also mean providing more drop in centers, diversionary activities, ASDAN support and one-to-one counseling.

But then the specific call God gave to the founders of Wirral YFC comes to mind. The call is not to be Superman, or Robin Hood, or any other analogy, metaphor or typology for describing mission. The call is obedience! Jesus I am sure does call the Church to a mission of massive scope, its paradigm not any task or calling but Christ himself… But Wirral YFC were never called to be the/a church, nor are we Parachurch I hasten to add; instead Wirral YFC are one part of the body of Christ – part of the Ecclesia. An evangelism focused, ‘superman mission’ styled part of a much bigger body that God has used mighty over the past 20 years to share the good news of the atonement with many many 1,000′s of Wirral’s young people.

I would love to hear what you think?

The second Romance Academy on Wirral took place at the Oasis centre in Wallsaey and the weekend away this term was definitely one of the highlights. 13 of us visited the outdoor pursuits centre Colemendy for one weekend in November and took part in some daring activities including the favourite 3G swing.

This was a serious adrenaline rush for the young people! Safe in helmet and harness the rip cord is released and they feel the G force as they fall into an exhilarating massive swing back and forth. This gave the young people a chance to conquer their fears and test their nerves, being winched as high as they dare! The weekend away was  a great success in developing relationships and creating an open space for the young people to talk about issues that otherwise may be hard to talk about. The 10 young people have recently graduated from the 3 month academy and we are confident that they have been given a good foundation on which to build healthy God intended relationships. The next academy starts in january and is being ran in Pensby. Email zoe@wirralyfc.org.uk for more information.

Some may have heard the recent news that Richard Dawkins and the British Humanist Association (BHA) have launched a series of billboard advertisements in capital cities which suggest that ‘labelling’ children as Christian, or any other religion for that matter, is a form of brainwashing. You can read the story here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8366225.stm.

But they have made a bit of a blunder; we know who the ‘happy free from religious labelling’ children featured in the ad are. They are none other than Charlotte and Ollie Mason and their Dad is Brad Mason. Brad is Noel Richards drummer.

“It is quite funny” said Brad, “because obviously they were searching for images of children that looked happy and free. They happened to choose children who are Christian. It is ironic… Obviously there is something in their faces which is different. So they judged that they were happy and free without knowing that they are Christians. That is quite a compliment. I reckon it shows we have brought up our children in a good way and that they are happy.”

As Gerald Coates has said: “I think it is hilarious that the happy and liberated children on the atheist poster are in fact Christian.”

Thanks to all those who attended including our prayer and financial supporters, Bishop Keith Sinclair, Jess from our Worship Academy who played one of her own songs, and the lads and girls from the Romance Academy.

Thanks too to the folks at Oasis Wallasey for hosting us and to Mel Clarke who is the Pastor at Oasis for praying for the team as they head out in the field this year.

A PDF copy of the presentation powerpoint is available here but it has no script. If you would like to talk about Wirral YFC’s work with your group/church we can give you a script to acompany the powerpoint or we can visit with our team and deliver a presentaion. For more details please do contact us.