hey everyone, or shall i say I stinka lol, thank you all for a fantastic week it was class, hope to hear from you all, and will cya soon hopefully next year when you can stay longer
Phill

Each year the Youth Ministry Team goes to Ilfracombe, Devon to be part of Celebrate, a family holiday/conference for 1500 people. During the week we provide a retreat programme to about 80 young people (ages 14-15) who are participating in the conference.

Going to Celebrate is one of the highlights for most Team members. This year we chose theme ‘Step up to Life’ which is based on the theme of the conference “Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster….” Deut 30: 14-16 (NLT)… so we chose life.

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The Youth Village being built by the Youth Ministry Team has not only the young people in mind but mother nature as well.  

How?

It’s a bit like rocket science (at least for me) so I am not gonna attempt to write an expert journal on it but I will explain it as simple as I can or as how I understand it to be. Otherwise google ‘geo-thermal heating’ and you might stumble on a Wikipedia entry that may be helpful to you. In the end I will give a link to a YouTube video which will explains it further but this is not an official endorsement from the builders, so believe it at your own risk.

Apparently, the temperature underground is constantly warm which means it can heat up the buildings without using gas or electricty but by simply running the pipes underground. The pipes are filled with a special fluid which heats up quickly which will be pumped into the radiators and in turn will warm up all the rooms at the Youth Village.

Below are photographs of the heating system being built at the Youth Village. I know what your thinking, you were expecting magma flowing out of the ground. So was I. But as this video presentation explains a couple of inches below the ground is enough.

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One part of my life that has influenced me the most has been the music that I listen to and the bands that I follow, and even for the Christian faith that I have today and growing up as a teenager, Christian Music played a massive part in giving me strength and joy when I really needed it. So is there anyway Christian Music out there for you?

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What ever your genre is there is mostly likely to be a band that has your same tastes, who might also make your faith a little bit more real…

So where are they? Well In New Zealand we have the biggest Christian Music Festival outside of America, called Parachute (visit: www.parachutemusic.com) I attended this festival each year throughout my teenage life and saw bands from the music I liked to listen too.

While here in the UK, I have attended or found out about the following festivals that you might be interested to check ot.

Frenzy09: Is a one day music festival Edinburgh, www.frenzyfrenzy.com

The Ultimate Event: This is where to spend a day out at the Alton Towers Theme park and attend a music concert after, www.ultimateevents.org.uk

Green Belt Festival: This is a four day festival that has a lot in it, a massive amount of singers, comedians, speakers and down to earth people come together to pitch up their tents on the Cheltenham race course to celebrate life for a weekend. www.greenbelt.org.uk

Soul Survivor: This a massive five day Christian youth conference in the summer break, which involves Music, Speakers, activities and fellowship. www.soulsurvivor.com/uk

The Big Church Day Out: Two Concerts across the lower UK. www.bigchurchdayout.co.uk

There are a lot more places where Christian Music is played, but these ones pull in a huge range of artists in and not all of them come from the UK.

But if you keen on finding out now what kind on music is out there, here is some bands/artists to look at… Mutemath, Newsboys, Swtichfoot, 29th Chapter, DcTalk, Jars of Clay, yFriday, Matt Maher, Chris Tomlin, Hillsong, Hillsong United, Brooke Fraser, L.A. Symony, Toby Mac, Casting Crowns, DJ MAJ, Bandwithnoname, Relient K, Delilious?, Micheal W. Smith, Tim Hughes, Ronan Johnstone, Crossbeam, P.O.D., Grits, Lifehouse, Shawn McDonald, Skillet and much much more…

Some of these artists above have had hits in the mainstream music scene, for example Mutemath has ‘Spotlight’ which is in the movie soundtrack of ‘Twilight’, Switchfoot: ‘Meant to live’ and Sixpence none the Richer: ‘Kiss Me’ we also both in the charts.

YouTube, Facebook and MySpace will give you good links to tracks, music videos and Christian festivals and help you open the door to a massive amount of Music for you Soul…

If your stuck about the events? What bands? Just post a message below…

(Kiwi) Paul

A Celebrity Golf Day took place at De Vere Slaley Hall on the 1st May to raise funds for the Youth Ministry Team.

A number of celebrities including TV presenters, footballers and reality show contestants swung into action to do their bit to support the work of YMT and the developments of the Youth Village.

In the evening the celebrities were joined by their friends, families and fans for a gala dinner with auction and entertainment.

Giraffe Sales sponsored the event and Able Construction (Northern) Ltd., main contractors of the Youth Village, were also instrumental to making the day happen.

If you want to come next year you might want to put your name down to make sure you get a place!

Below are images taken during the Charity Golf Day, can you spot the celebrities who graced the event?

Can you spot football legends Rob Lee, Chris Waddle and John Beresford TV/Radio presenter Matt Baker, Corrie star Alan Halsall (Tyrone), Big Brother Contestants Ziggy Lichman and Liam McGough, Strictly Come Dancing’s James Jordan, Comedian Brendan Healy, and YMT star Fr. Dermott Donnelly? Can you spot the rest?

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It’s been great having you at the Youth Village for the retreat. We hope you enjoyed it too. Please feel free to leave a message to the Team or tell us what you thought of the Retreat. God Bless, YMT