Magnitude is an immersive, carefully curated five-day adventure in the heart of Scotland, designed specifically to enable young people to encounter more of the magnitude of God: in His Word, in worship, and in wonder at His creation. This year we took the festival online for 3 days in July and saw an amazing 1046 young people and youth leaders engage with the programme.
We saw God working in incredible ways through the online sessions and we are hearing stories of young people encountering God’s love for the first time, and others inspired to seek God’s heart for justice after hearing about the work of IJM and We Are Tearfund.
Focusing on Ephesians 3:14-21, the evening sessions highlighted the importance of putting God first in our lives, the power of God’s love, and then what it means to be a Christian and how we can have a personal relationship with Jesus, even during this time or uncertainty and lockdown. Several youth leaders commented that some of their youth had been disconnected over this time, and had not been joining in with the church youth programme for months, however during Magnitude they were captivated by the content, and were encouraged to watch the videos each day and to join in with the zoom calls afterwards. “Magnitude lifted our young folk after a long time of drought.”
A particular highlight of the festival was the worship which was led by our teams from Powerpoint Glasgow and Edinburgh. We were able to set up a studio and record the sessions live and with the whole band, which was so incredible given that most of the worship we have seen over lockdown has been recorded separately, and in people’s living rooms. We wanted to focus on creating a space for young people to encounter the Holy Spirit in an authentic and tangible way, despite not being able to gather in person.
On the Monday and Tuesday of the programme, we had optional seminars for attendees to watch in the morning and afternoon. These were led by speakers who had been due to join us at Lendrick Muir this summer. The seminars were fantastic in letting young people explore more of God’s heart for us, through practical challenges and thought-provoking questions. Laura Hancock from YFC led a seminar on Hearing from God, which was incredibly well received. Many young people commented that they had engaged with the session and had experienced hearing from God in very real way for the first time. We are so encouraged that even under these different circumstances, God was still at work and wanted to move in the lives of those who attended.
One youth leader shared with us that it was amazing to stand back and watch God at work. Over this time of lockdown we have been able to see Him pursue the young people. His youth felt so encouraged and blessed by the seminars and loved the fresh opportunities and time to respond.
This year has been quite the adventure as we have launched Magnitude. God has taken us on a journey where we have learned the importance on relying on Him in everything, and that He is in control and going ahead of us. We praise God for the wonderful blessings He has poured out on us, and for His faithfulness to us. Over this next year, we hope to grow the ministry of Magnitude, and to spend time sowing into the many friendships we have formed with youth groups across Scotland. Our heart is to raise a generation of young people who are secure in their identity in God’s bigger story and His plan for their lives. Please do continue to pray for us as we seek to follow Him.
