Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde & Argyll

Hi everyone.

What's your sound of the Summer?  I'm just back from SU holidays and inevitably there is always a song that is played more than most at these events. Sometimes while we are watching photos at the end of the day, or on the minibus (over and over and over again!) or in the case of Scoughall camp as a soundtrack mini movies we made of Paul the Apostle. The theme tune from 'The Littlest Hobo' is the tune that is still going through my tiny brain and to be honest it's bringing back some good memories.  (I realise that for some of our younger readers 'The Littlest Hobo' will mean nothing - that is what Google is for).

At both Lendrick Muir and Scoughall we looked at Paul's life using the book of Acts and a couple of things struck me. Firstly, what God purposes and promises he will perform. At the beginning of the book of Acts, Jesus says that the Gospel will go throughout Judea and Samaria and further...and the book goes on to describe just exactly how that took place.  And of course, within that Good News message is God's great promise from centuries before: to send One who would bring about forgiveness and restoration.  Secondly, as we looked at the stories of Paul, although some of them were full of adventure (meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus, escaping in a basket from the city walls, prison, earthquakes, shipwrecks, riots etc) alongside are days of plodding on. Days, weeks, months of holding on to what he knows and sharing it with others; of making the conscious decision to keep following Christ.

For many of the young people who go to SU holidays the events are the only time they will get a proper space to hear and consider the Gospel. For many of them who are already following Jesus it will be a highlight in the year - an adventurous time. We need to pray for the plodding on times when it will be just them reading the Bible, praying. We need to pray that they will find other Christians who go to church, and who speak about faith. We need to pray above all for the Spirit of God to be at work to bring to completion the good work that he has began.

Take a look at my Summer photos...

At the moment I am looking forward to the new school year.  Below are some of the activities that I will be involved in but also some of the things which you can be involved in either in your church or as a volunteer with SU Scotland. If you want to know if YOU could be involved I would love to have a chat - there are so many opportunities for doing Gospel work in school SU groups, joining SU teams for holidays or perhaps you could think about starting a Prayer Group for your local schools after the summer - why not start planning now?  Get in touch with me or speak to Elizabeth McDowall who heads up the Schools Prayer Network or look at the webpage.

Please get in touch and invite me along to speak at your church or church group about the work of SU in your area and beyond.

There is a need for financial support too - your support really does make a difference and allows me to get round the region to visit schools and supporters.  I hope you will consider this - there are a number of ways this can be done and you can specify any donations to target Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde and Argyll & Bute.  Click here for details.

BACK TO SCHOOL WITH GOD SUNDAY 2010 - WILL YOU GET INVOLVED?

Is your church going to take part this year?  There are a whole lot of resources on the website to help you make this a memorable service and a really good start to the school year.  Let the young people in your church know that you value them and will show that by praying for them as they head into the new term.  Suggested date is August 29th but you can adapt that for your own circumstances.  

DIARY

In the next few weeks I will be filling my diary with school visits and plans for the meeting with volunteers who are leading SU groups in schools. Pray as I do this, to know where I should be putting my focus and to see where the opportunities for growth in the work are.

In the summer at the SU holidays I wrote material for each day based on the Toy Story movies and I am hoping to adapt this material for use in school setting for Religious Observance events.  

LAST SATURDAY

New session starting in September

The Last Saturday events are great for opportunities to contunue relationships that have started at SU Holidays and weekends away. We meet in the basement of the Tron church in Glasgow. It's a really informal time, cafe style, with a different focus each month.

There will be new information out soon - check the Last Saturday page for up to date stuff.

GO CONFERENCES

I will be part of the leadership team for the Go Mad part of the conferences again this year. We are already taking bookings for the 4 day 'weekend' in October. (4 day weekends are the best type of weekends, wouldn't you agree!)
SU's conferences for senior pupils  (Go Live for S4 and Go Mad for S5&6) pupils are taking bookings at the moment - Check the Go conference pages for more details and booking.

Please give me a call if you want to know more about these events. They are part of our COmMISSION programme and a great way of helping your young people grow in faith and see how they can make a difference in the local church and in their schools

SU GROUPS

Pray as the new school year starts for the groups continuing from last year - the volunteers who run these things are often very busy people and I'm sure there is always the temptation to give it a miss - pray that each of the volunteers will see how vital they are to the work and how vital a ministry it is. There are so many young people I came across at SU groups just in the last 12 months who would not have had a chance to open a Bible, pray or hear the Gospel without a group in their school.

COmMISSION

I was in Arran again in June for Basecamp - a residential training week which is part of our COmMISSION programme for young people.

Apart from the hottest week of the year (more Base tan than Basecamp) it was also an important week for the young people there as they look seriously at what it means to be in a position of leadership, what it means to serve and how to take their place in a team - and later in the Summer it was good to watch the same trainees put what they had learned into action.

If you have young people in the 16+ age group in your church please consider how you could encourage and sponsor them to get involved in mission through SU's training. A real benefit for the young people and for their local churches where they can serve.

Please take the opportunity to look at the COmMISSION page - this has all the details of our training for young people, including the popular BASECAMP and LEAD UP residential training events.

BOOK SUGGESTION

'If I were God I'd make myself clearer'

This is the name of a book which you could give to any older teenager as they face a world where they are under pressure to be just hazy enough about what they believe about God in order to fit it and not be seen to be bigoted or narrow minded. After all, with so many religions on offer can one of them be considered true?  A really helpful book by John Dickson which struggles honestly with the dilemnas facing 'believers' and 'unbelievers' alike.

 

PHOTO GALLERY

Take a look at my Summer photo gallery...

In addition, here are some photos from the groups I have visited this year...

1. Eastwood SALT group or 'Danny and friends' as it's sometimes known
2. Langcraigs SU group
3. Kirkhill SU Group showing off the rather laissez faire attitude to school uniform in Newton Mearns

 

 

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Supporting me

I would really value your prayers and financial support  - there are a number of ways this can be done and you can specify any donations to target Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde and Argyll & Bute.  Click here for details.
Martin