After almost a year of looking forward to Summer Festival ’10, I arrived back to the Youth Village yesterday feeling quite emotional and sad that it was all over. It was one of those clear events like the Sister Helen conference, and our trip to Celebrate that I knew for sure was coming and would be one of the absolute highlights of the year. I wasn’t wrong.

This year’s Summer Festival was my first, and I had heard a lot about it from friends from my secondary school who had been and also from a couple of the team members who had also been in previous years. The thing I was most excited for was seeing all of you who came to the Youth Village at some point throughout the year again, as well as meeting lots of new faces. I was also really excited for working with my small group and for the workshop that Sasha, Robert and I led.

As the Summer Festival went on, all of these thing were amazing, but it ended up running so much deeper than that. I was so inspired to see everybody enter into everything with such enthusiasm and through this you are really taking steps towards living your lives to the full. Remember God is with you all the way, and I hope that you can step up to the challenge of allowing yourself to live up to your full potential.

And so I want to say a big thank you. Thank you to each and every member of my small group, and everybody else who came along to Ministeracres for the event. You have all really made my experiences worth it, and my highlight doesn’t just remain as Summer Festival, but indeed working with all the young people like yourselves whom we have worked with on retreat, on missions and during events over the last ten months. Without you, there’d be no Summer Festival so thank you all for coming along and being open to the experience.

Throughout the three days we were exploring the notion of our own personal journies and although Summer Festival marks perhaps the end of the biggest journey of my life, I’ve now realised that it’s opening up a journey for myself which is perhaps just as exciting. As I depart the team in two weeks, the passion inside of me has been lit and I want to continue working and fighting for truth. And I invite you to take up the same challenge. If we all bottled up our experiences, nobody would learn anything. Without YMT, I’d have never had such amazing encounters and I want to share them with people. Tell people about what happened at Summer Festival, let them know what you experienced, what you learnt. Who knows what may come of it – all of our experiences affect other people as much as other peoples’ experiences have an effect on us.

“Sometimes it falls on a generation to be great” – we can all belong to that great generation, and we can all let our greatness blossom.

Thanks for such a great three days everyone, and the best of luck to each and everyone of you for your futures.

God bless,
Michael.

Some people call the end of a day the evening, some people call the culmination of a journey its end, and some people stand on the edge and take a step back. Others call the end of the day a new dawn; the same people call the culmination of the journey a new beginning, and some people stand on the edge and jump.

I have been wandering around the Youth Village today as it is prepared for it’s opening on Monday and as I wandered I pondered, I thought how lucky I am to stand with YMT and the Young people of Hexham & Newcastle as their Village is opened.

A great many people have been a part of YMT, a greater number have supported it, and the number gets greater still when we consider how many lives YMT has changed. As a team member today I stand on the shoulders of the scores that came before me, and I stand with those who serve in the here and now. And those who will come in the future will stand proudly on the solid ground that we build.

And so I say this, Christians are people who call evening the dawn Christians are people who call the end the beginning, Christians stand on the edge and jump, they look to the future as an opportunity to build the kingdom some more. And on Monday the 5^th of July 2010 we build some more.

Exactly 1 year ago today, I started my journey with YMT, it began on the year 6 feeder days, 22 June  2009, my 18^th birthday, as a matter of fact. The first day of adulthood for me was spent working with year 6’s from all across our diocese an experience I thoroughly enjoyed, but in a very real sense it began my journey as part of the Youth Ministry Team. So here I am on my 19^th birthday, and here I am again working with year 6’s from across the diocese. One year on it feels the same, but different; The similarities are obvious, same tent, same field, same age group, some of the team are even the same, Fran, Phillip, Mel, Tony, Robert, Sarah; Similar weather (so far), same hay fever.

The differences are also clear, different young people, new team members, Howard, Joy, Morena; Different me. I am year older now and I have a year’s worth of experience under my belt. A year of working with the fantastic young people of the Diocese of Hexham & Newcastle, Every group bringing new stories, new experience, new challenges, new memorable moments, funny moments, new people to admire. And the more I work with these young people I see how lucky they are.

YMT has taught me a great many things, from how to operate sound equipment, to how to bring the fundamentals of faith to young people. But there is one thing which has been running through everything I have done this year without me really noticing it, an undercurrent which is obvious to those who know it and live by it. Faith is the truth which YMT shares with young people across the world. Faith is the profound intangible, which, like the Holy Spirit we cannot see or perceive, we only see faith through action. We see faith through its results and affects. We are called to be faithful and to be faithful requires, and demands action and when we act in faith that is when and only when we can pass it on to others. Only when we live in faith, act in faith, can we truly witness to someone.

Faith is the true Shibboleth, a wise man once said, and I am the first to admit it wasn’t me. Shibboleth is a word which is used in the book of judges by the Gileadites, to distinguish themselves from their enemies, who were unable to pronounce the `sh` sound. So it became known as a means of establishing whether a person was truly of God. What Jesus did in the new testament was to shake up the idea of faith, to demonstrate faith was not about words, rules or regulations but about actions and responsibility to act in love. Jesus made faith the true Shibboleth, the true identification for anyone of God. YMT has taught me and continues to teach the people of the diocese, and the world, that we have a responsibility to live our lives in faith and live them to the full. Thank you YMT.

Hi everyone,

I just want to extend a massive thank you to everybody in the Pulse stream at Celebrate 2010 and tell you all what an amazing week I had. When I arrived in Ilfracombe last Thursday I had absolutely no idea what to expect as I had never been to anything like Celebrate before, but once Monday came around and we all were introduced to each other, I knew it eas going to be a fantastic week!

I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed everything in the stream from the CeleBRITs music videos, to the fashion shows, to all the music, and experiencing all the wonderful gifts and talents that you all have.

I want to let you know just how much I enjoyed being part of the Fiver Challenge.. it’s not something that happens every year at Celebrate so to be involved with that is a real blessing. A massive well done to everybody for contributing to the massive amount!! Having experienced to types of projects that money will go to, and visiting many people and communities whose lives will be changed as a result of your creative ideas, bounding enthusiasm and strong dedication, I feel so inspired by everything that happened this week. When I spent my month in Liberia, I was truly affected by the real lives I was given an insight to, and I was so overwhelmed by each and every one of you who stepped up to the challenge. So a big congratulations for that!!

I also want to say a big thank you for all your friendliness! Everybody in the stream was so kind and never failed to say a cheery Good Morning even though everybody was knackered! It really helped get through the week, so thank you!

A big, big shout out to Christ’s Cartoons.. I adored having each and every one of you in Joy and I’s small group, and it was so much fun and such a joy to lead you. I’ll take away a lot of fond memories from this week, especially remembering our High School Musical video!!

Finally, I hope you can all step up to the challenge of Witness. You’ve all been given great gifts, and I believe in you to go out there and be a speaker of truth to all mankind. Change the world people of the Pulse!

Thanks again for such a wonderful week, and I hope I can see some of you again in the future, perhaps Celebrate 2012?

God Bless, Michael.

I can’t quite believe that we only have 4 months left of our year with YMT.  It has been a rollercoaster but totally amazing! There’s been so many things which i would never have experienced without YMT and for that i am incredibly grateful for all the opportunities. We have met so many wonderful young people through retreats, missions and other events and i will never forget them. I have been given the amazing gift of my fellow team members as well, getting to know them and living and working with them has been fab! And i have no doubt we’ll all keep in touch for years to come!

It’s difficult to choose a highlight of the past year but i must say meeting Sister Helen Prejean and Bud Welsh is up there at the top! However, there’s still plenty more to come in the next few months. I’m definately looking forward to Celebrate conference and all the other retreats we have coming up!

Without trying to sound like im an advert for YMT, it is definately something i’d recommend! It gives you real life experience aswell as skills and spiritual development that will stay with you forever!! I feel like i’ve grown so much as a person since joining the team and it’s not over yet! I wake up everyday and look forward to what we’ll be doing, the people we’l meet and that to me is just great I’ll miss it when i’m gone but they can’t get rid of me that easily as i’ll be visiting as much as i can

Since arriving back from Africa, I’ve had so much fun on all the retreats!

Thank you to Our Lady and St. Bede’s Year 11, St. Leonard’s Year 9, St. Mary’s Year 7 and St. Joseph’s Years 5 and 6!!

I’ve had so much fun, and I’m so happy to be back at the youth village on retreat.

I hope everybody enjoyed reading the blogs we sent through and liked our photos. They’re all still on the YMT website so flick back to “Step into the Gap” to read more about the project and also our time out in Africa.

When I was a young lad, I loved watching the movie “The Polar Bear King” and the main reason was the snow. It was also the snow which enticed me to watch the movie Narnia.

Growing in a tropical country, I thought snow was just a dream. However, with mere innocence of a child, I actually prayed to God pleading to snow in the Philippines, which is absolutely impossible. I could vividly remember that it would take me ages to leaf through the succeeding pages of a book or a magazine every time I would see quaint pictures of snow. I would imagine a young lad making a snowman, playing snowball fight with his mates, or a little boy waiting for Santa’s sleigh. As a child, being in a place covered with snow was a paradise.

When I went to Australia in 2008 for the World Youth Day, it was winter. I couldn’t hide my excitement for my childhood dream, seeing the snow, which I all thought was impossible, would be a reality. The temperature has gone down to freezing -4˚C. But sometimes God is a bit tricky. It didn’t snow. I went back to the Philippines without seeing the snow. Not maybe that time but in God’s perfect time.

September 7, 2009, life brought me to England. The long wait was over. The dream would be a reality. In the 30^th of November at exactly 6:45 in the morning on our way to our mission at St. Anthony’s School, in my whole existence here on Earth, I have seen the snow. My face was frozen with a massive smile on our way to the mission. That moment I was neither the richest nor the most famous but I was the happiest man alive.

Every time I introduce myself in missions and in retreats, I would always mention that I have never seen snow in my entire life and I would always ask everyone to pray for me for a white Christmas because I heard it may not snow in England during the Yuletide season. I think for every kid in this world, so as for someone like me who hasn’t seen snow ever, a white Christmas is a joy of the heart. A couple of days ago, Anna, a co-YMT member, knocked on my door early in the morning and asked me to go to our lounge. I felt something strange. I was a bit worrisome thinking that something wrong might have happened. I just followed and walk through the lounge half asleep. To my surprise as I reached the lounge, it was so magical looking out the window seeing snow flurries gently falling down the white snowy ground. It was the first time I have seen it snowed that much and the whole village nearly covered with snow. I ran outside under the falling snow only with my pyjamas and shirt and thought to myself “It’s a white Christmas!” I just realized there might be a lot of people who prayed for me. Thanks for the prayers. It only proves prayers could really move mountains.

I danced under the snow with Joy and Morena feeling like the prince in The Polar Bear King and Edmund in Narnia. I took pictures with Fr. Paul. I had my first snowman with Hannah and Fran. I am enjoying my latest sports, snowball fighting with Matt. I am always excited to share my first snow experience with Michael. I went sledging with Sasha and Anna. Yes, I am living the dream.

Paulo Coelho is correct. The universe will truly conspire for the purest desires of our hearts because the God of the universe is always listening.

I rang my family in the Philippines and I told my nephews and my nieces about the snow. They told me that they also want to see some snow. I told them that they could also see snow just like when I whispered to the universe by praying to God when I was as small as them. Then I asked each of them what do they like as a Christmas present from me. One of them said in a cute tiny voice “Could you please send me a bagful of snow?”

Merry Christmas to everyone!

[Show as slideshow]

Well what can i say, it has been such an amazing opportunity to come back to my old school (which i only left in June 09) and share this Mission with you all. The last St. Robert’s mission happened when i was in year9 and it honestly had such an impact on my life. I think the fact i am now a YMT team member really illustrates how much i got from the last mission, and i’d just like to say that even if only one person feels changed or has benefited from that last week and a half then all the hard work has been more than worthwhile.

Thankyou to all of mission control, i’ll not name names but you were all fantastic, and a massive thankyou to Mrs Burke, without whom the Mission would not have been all that it was.

The final assemblies and the family night really prove how much of a community feeling St.Robert’s and it’s parishes have. The turn out for the family night was fantastic and it is great to see everyone getting involved to support the young people of the school. Without the support of the parishioners, teachers and parents, i feel the young people would not benefit as much from the experience, so a thanks goes out to all who support the faith journeys of young people.

I also just want to encourage any young people to bug Steve and Tracy to let you go to Summer Festival. I went twice during my time at St.Roberts and it’s amazing!! You make so many friends, people you’ll have so much in common with and overall it’s just a fun few days!

Thanks again for letting me come back to St. Robert’s!!!

Fran x

It is saturday night, I am watching X – Factor, and my mind drifts back to the past week & a half, to the St. Bede’s Mission,  my first.  It was not easy for me being in front of over a thousand people during the mission. But the welcome we recieved from everyone at St. Bede’s, especially their chaplain Kirsty and the mission control team who were a great laugh and very kind to us all here at YMT made it all very easy. Your warm welcome was the fuel we all needed to keep us going, after all the early mornings don’t really agree with me. But when your greeted us with warm and enthusiastic faces all the tiredness fades away into insignificance. So for that I wanted to thank all the staff & Pupils of St. Bedes. Your Invited! I’ll be there! Thanks.

Matthew

Life: Live it, Love it

We moved into our new YMT Team Chalet (also known as Suite 1) just hours ago and already I feel like we have all started a very important Journey in our lives. I suppose in the first few weeks it didn’t sink in quite what committing ten months of your life to YMT meant. But a new place to live has provided me with a different perspective, not only on the Beautiful Derwent Valley countryside but also on where we as YMT are heading.

Anticipation is the emotion I think we are all feeling, along with a little excitement and I don’t mind saying a little bit of fear (maybe more than a little bit). But as St. Michaels (my old school) Year 10 retreat approaches this monday the fact we don’t have time to be scared or to think about it much at all, has helped us all deal with the whirlwind schedule. The excitement and eagerness to deliver the message we are here to deliver has gradualy increased, and as the date approaches I think we all feel an increased senseof the presense of God nudging us in the right direction and helping us to see whats infront of us. Which is always helpful when entering a new phase in life, this is an importany time for me, and for the rest of the team and for young people everywhere, so I feel confident that there are many people back home in Billingham and across the Diocese, and indeed across the world praying for me, the team, and our mission, and I want everyone to know I am praying for them too.

Matthew Brannen,

Good Night & God Bless you all.