You don't need me to tell you that this is a strange time, you've no doubt been in precisely the same boat as us. Nonetheless, it is worth saying that things have been more than a little odd for us in BYSP.
Firstly, I'd like to assure you that we've been doing everything we possibly can to support the young people and schools which we know. Unfortunately, with social interaction being limited, we've not been able to contact anyone who we didn't previously have in one of our Bridge or Stir sessions. It's so sad to think of so many young people cut off, and it's sobering to live in a time where the Scripture Union coined '99% unreached' are more cut off than ever.
Online groups
We first shut the doors of The Bridge on the 16th March, which feels a long time ago; however, we were ready and up and running with online groups for young people by the following Monday. Since that point Becki and I have been running weekly groups for around 20 young people, three times per week, using online resources which allow us to watch movies with young people remotely, play games, chat and deepen relationships with Jesus. Becki has also been hard at work, creating immersive content for our social media accounts and has posted something encouraging every single weekday since the lockdown began.
Schools work
As you will imagine, schools have had to become very careful about visitors at this time, which has meant we've not visited at all; however, we have provided schools with assemblies and supportive personal development teaching videos. To make the most of the opportunity we've made these videos in conjunction with our partner ministry Catalyst Youth Trust which has meant that we've been able to support schools in Telford too.
You may night be aware that we managed to host our last Stir Gathering on the 15th March, just before the lockdown. We were thrilled to be able to host that, and despite the impending lockdown, we still had around 20 young people attend from Bridgnorth, Highley and Perton. Interestingly, on that night we were ready to promote our next two gatherings which were planned for 17th May and 14th June. Thankfully, with the help of some pretty smart online resources, we launched our very first Online Stir Gathering, which again, we ran through the Catalyst Youth Trust. The benefit of running Stir Gathering Online through Catalyst was that we could support a far broader base of people, who also recognise Catalyst as part of running Spree West Midlands. On the 17h May, we had nearly 70 young people take part, and it went so well that we're running a second online event on the 14th June.
If you'd like to watch the first Stir Gathering, you're welcome to click the links below.
