What a busy and exciting time it's been!
I can't believe how quickly this term has gone. But I feel so blessed at what God has let me be part of since the last time I wrote to you.
I hope you enjoy reading what Raise has been up to since the Summer and what's coming up!
If you don't have lots of time - please just read the highlights in the box below.. If you have a little bit more time then skip over the highlights box and read on.
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HIGHLIGHTS FOR RAISE THIS TERM
- A huge thank you to those who have supported me
- Continuing support and work with North Breckland Youth for Christ
- Prayer Space in Thurton Primary School
- Two Praise Parties for a church in Norwich
- Prayer and Encounter Space for a church in Peterborough
- Christmas Experience Training Session
- Christmas Experiences in five schools
- Kids work at a church weekend away
- Planning for EPIC 2016
- Can you help Raise?
- Happy Christmas!
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A huge thank you!
I want to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to those of you that have supported Raise in so many ways.
Thank you to the amazing volunteers who have given up their time and energy to take part in one of the events. Whether it's from volunteering at a prayer space, a praise party or a weekend away. Thank you so much!
At the end of my time with Hope Community Church in August - I was totally blown away by the thank yous and kind words that were given to me. I am humbled and honoured to have so many amazing people in my life.
For those that have already given financially to help Raise through one off gifts or regular giving - I am so grateful.
Whether you have given financially, volunteered or been there to encourage and cover me in prayer. You are amazing! Thank you! |
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Continuing Support
Raise continues to be a project of North Breckland YFC. It has been so great to be part of the team there. NBYFC are looking after the details of Raise (like finance) so that I can focus on doing the work. I also have been developing their three lunch clubs in three primary schools and am working on starting up a monthly kids club in the new year as well. I'm very appreciative of Ang and all the team there. Please click on the blue button below to see their website.
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Prayer Spaces
At the beginning of September it was so great to be able to go into Thurton Primary School and be given the whole hall for three days to help the children engage with prayer. After school the parents kept coming back and spent some time with the children as well.
The RE coordinator said :
"We had a fantastic 3 days looking at the different prayer spaces. The children had a brilliant time and really enjoyed having the time to reflect upon their own lives. This has given us lots of ideas to re-vamp our own prayer spaces within school and the children have now gained more knowledge about how to use these spaces."
In October I was able to go to the London Prayer Spaces in Schools Conference Day which encouraged and inspired me to continue making an impact into the schools in this way.
I am really looking forward to 2016 with some new prayer spaces in the pipeline. In January there's plans to transform a local youth double decker bus into a prayer space for a village school. Very exciting! |
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Praise Parties in Norwich
In October and November I had the privilege to work with St Thomas in Norwich to present to Praise Parties. The first one looked at how we have a Bigger God and the November one saw the very first Christmas Experience. I was amazed by the volunteers from Raise and also from the church. They worked really hard and made both events two great evenings for all ages.
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One of my favourite moments from the first Praise Party was when we gave the children the chance to stand inside a big bubble to remind them that we can't escape from God's presence. We then prayed for the children and shared what God was saying. Seeing the children line up and wait for that was amazing.
Edward Land, the curate said :
"The children really enjoyed the session that Raise put on for us. It had so much variety, fun and creativity. We were impressed by their passion and enthusiasm when working with the children. Above all we were so delighted that they created an atmosphere which meant the children were engaging in prayer in creative ways."
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Encounter Space in Peterborough
In November I was able to go to Peterborough to serve them at their ENOUGH prayer event by setting up a family prayer and encounter space before the meal.
With probably about 100 people coming through the doors and praying creatively and spending some time in the Encounter stations as well (we had the throne station, Healing station and Comfort station)
Wouter, an Elder of the church said :
"Excellent session seeing families engage in prayer together in a creative way with high quality set-up and material. "
Adam, another elder said:
"Andy, this was a brilliant session. Thank you so much!!!!"
I'm looking forward to returning to Peterborough in 2016 for more!
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Christmas Experiences!
Starting in November and going right through into mid December we dived into Christmas in a big way.
Once Raise had gathered all the materials for it all... It started with the Christmas Experience training and then straight into experiences in 1 church (St Thomas) and 5 schools and 1 church residential. Raise also had the chance to partner with Hope Community Church for one of the schools. We had the great opportunity to share the Christmas Story through upfront monologues, videos, puppets and the story in different stations around the school. Around 700 children heard the Christmas Story and enjoyed sticking nativity stickers in their colour story booklets they could take home.
I am so thankful for all the amazing volunteers who gave up their time to make the Christmas Experiences so great.
I've already started thinking about Easter and how to make it the best Easter Experience ever!
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Kids Work at Church Residential
Raise went off to Hothorpe Hall (what a stunning venue!) in the beginning of December to serve the Bridge Church, St Ives.
It was great to have a team of three to serve the kids and I'm so thankful for the couple that gave up their time to do this. I loved putting a crown on the kids heads and praying for them. I'm so amazed at how they patiently wait to be prayed with.
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The table here is the start of an encounter station where the children asked God for words about what he thought about them. The verse is :
"How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand." Psalm 139:17-18
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EPIC 2016
As I moved on from working for Hope at the end of August I went knowing that the EPIC Kids Weekend was one of the reasons God was leading me to set up Raise. To give our kids the best and to see kids and leaders enthused and raised up. Hope Community Church, Wymondham and Raise will be partnering this coming year to make sure EPIC continues to serve over 100 kids in May (13-15th 2016).
I am so excited to be working with some amazing leaders from all over the place and after an initial meeting a couple of months ago I am already keen to get the creative stuff underway for I'm sure that God is promising another awesome, blessed and even EPIC time in 2016.
Please pray for continuing development and for the leaders as we all prepare for another great weekend. Click on the blue button to go to the website
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Some things that are coming up?
January
I'll continue to work with North Breckland YFC with their lunch clubs and developing a new kids club. I'll be leading a Prayer Space in double decker bus for a local village school.
I'll also be planning to write some new material for the coming year.
I'm going to the Glory Kids Leaders Conference in Crawley which I'm looking forward to immensely.
February
I'm hoping to deliver a Training Day for a church to encourage them in their invaluable work with the kids.
It's time for another Praise Party!
March
The Easter Experiences in schools will begin. I'm so looking forward to these!
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Please Pray for...
It would be fantastic for you to cover Raise with prayer over these coming months.
Here's some things you can pray for:
- That I continue to find favour in the schools I visit for new prayer spaces and other opportunities.
- That God inspires my writing time as I prepare the new things.
- Finances - that I continue to find regular support on our faith adventure.
- That I am able to find the right volunteers for the different activities and events that I run, and that they would be blessed in their serving.
- That word spreads and new opportunities come up for Raise.
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Four things you can do to help!
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Pray
It is so important that this ministry is covered in prayer. Please pray for me! If you need ideas, see prayer points above. |
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Spread the Word
For the work of Raise to grow and impact more children's lives - people need to hear about us!
There are a number of ways you can do that :
- Like and Share on facebook - we can be found here: www.facebook.com/raisekidswork
- Encourage people to sign up to the newsletter
- Visit the website and tell others about the website www.raisekidswork.org.uk
- Follow us on Twitter. Tweet about us! @RaiseKidsWork
- Tell people about Raise!
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Volunteer
Raise is always looking for volunteers to join teams to help with the different activities it is involved with. If this something that you would like to be part of then we would love to hear from you.
Some of the activities include helping host a prayer space in a school...Being part of a holiday club... helping at a church residential.... being part of a one off event.
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Give
If you could support us financially that would be amazing! Whether it's with a one off gift or a regular gift - we would love to hear from you. |
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Contact
andy@raisekidswork.org.uk |
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Happy Christmas!
And finally I just want to take this time to wish you an absolutely amazing Christmas as you celebrate the birth of the One that brings life, freedom and salvation.
Thank you so much for being on this journey with me - be blessed, be happy and remember God is with you always.
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